Reflections on Watching Shorts at the Hawai’i International Film Festival as a New Filmmaker

October 24, 2025October 22, 2025 Lauren Lola

I’ve been covering the Hawai’i International Film Festival (HIFF) for several years for The Nerds of Color, yet haven’t attended its festival in-person since 2019. When I obtained many ticket vouchers from serving on the screening committee for its 45^th iteration, I realized before me I had a really good excuse to actually travel back to Honolulu this year to attend it. Little did I expect at the time of starting in the committee back in March that by the time I flew out to O’ahu, I would also be attending this year’s festival as a new filmmaker.

Interview, Streaming, Television

Siua Ikale’o on Bringing Life to His Breakout Role in ‘Chief of War’

September 19, 2025September 19, 2025 Lauren Lola

In the Apple TV+ historical drama, Chief of War, the cast is made up of many Polynesian actors; ranging from the hot shot that is Jason Momoa, to industry mainstays like Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis, and newcomers like Kaina Makua.

Interview, Streaming, Television

Temuera Morrison on Portraying Ruthless Chief Kahekili in ‘Chief of War’

August 1, 2025July 31, 2025 Lauren Lola

Chief of War is a historical drama series co-created by Thomas Pa’a Sibbett and Jason Momoa. Set at the turn of the 19th century, it tells the story of how the warring Hawaiian Islands were unified, in the midst of the threat of colonization.

Interview, Movies

Disney’s ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Cast Reflect on What Ohana Means to Them

May 23, 2025May 23, 2025 Laura Sirikul

The heart of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch centers on family, a.k.a. Ohana, and what that truly means. For some, it’s blood and legacy. For many others, it’s their found family and community.

Animation, Interview, Movies

‘Lilo & Stitch’ Director and Producer on Authenticity and the Colorism Debate

May 21, 2025May 21, 2025 Laura Sirikul

Disney’s Lilo & Stitch didn’t have the best track record when the animation first premiered in 2002. White actress Daveigh Chase portrayed the titular Native Hawaiian character, Lilo. With the announcement of the live-action version, many fans were excited for Disney to rectify that mistake by casting Pacific Islander actors for the lead roles.

Animation, Movies, Reviews

‘Lilo & Stitch’ Captures the Heart of Animated Original While Adding More Layers

May 20, 2025May 20, 2025 Laura Sirikul

It has been 23 years since Disney’s animated film Lilo & Stitch premiered. And though what was considered cultural appropriation was different back then, the film was a bit ahead of its time by casting a few Asian or Pacific Islander voices for the main humans (except for Daveigh Chase as Lilo).

Movies, Trailers

‘Lilo & Stitch’ Trailer Reveals a Live-Action Hawaiian Roller-Coaster Ride

March 12, 2025March 13, 2025 Michael Lee

At long last, the first official trailer for the live-action reimagining of Lilo & Stitch has arrived. Based on the 2002 Disney animated hit of the same name, the film promises to be wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.

Movies, Reviews

Titles to Watch For From the 44th Hawai’i International Film Festival

October 10, 2024October 9, 2024 Lauren Lola

A content, unmotivated 29-year-old ignites a toxic relationship. The origin story of shaka. A glimpse at the life of the Ambassador of Aloha. A look at Israeli occupation in the West Bank of Palestine before October 7, 2023. Delinquent girls plot their escape from an abusive reform school. Three kids band together to climb up a mountain.

Conventions, Music

‘SoCal Slack Key Festival’ is the Biggest Hawaiian Music Event of the Year

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 Edward Hong

Kala Koa Entertainment celebrates 17 years of bringing the biggest and brightest names in Hawaiian music to the mainland with the 2024 Southern California Slack Key Festival returning to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center on Sunday, January 14, 2024.

Animation, Television

‘Hailey’s On It!’ Exclusive Clip: Sing a Sea Shanty!

June 8, 2023June 8, 2023 Laura Sirikul

Are you ready for a music competition?!

The Nerds of Color have received an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming episode of Disney+/ Disney Channel’s new original animated series Hailey’s On It. In the episode called “Splatter of the Bands,” Hailey must decide between perfection and fun in order to win a local music festival.

Interview, Streaming, Television

Sydney Sweeney, Brittany O’Grady, and Fred Hechinger Discuss ‘The White Lotus’

July 9, 2021July 12, 2021 Sophia Soto

Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), Brittany O’Grady (Little Voice), and Fred Hechinger (Fear Street) star in HBO’s newest show, The White Lotus. The six-episode limited series is a social satire set at an exclusive Hawaiian resort and premieres on Sunday, July 11 at 9PM ET/PT. The White Lotus will air on HBO and also be available to stream on HBO Max.

Interview, Movies, Streaming3 Comments

The Stars of ‘Finding ‘Ohana’ Discuss Filming in Hawaii and Hawaiian Representation

January 29, 2021May 15, 2021 Lauren Lola

Pili and Ione a.k.a. E Kawena reconnect with their Hawaiian roots by way of a treasure hunt of a lifetime in the latest Netflix film, Finding ‘Ohana. After finding themselves with their widowed mother in rural Honolulu to take care of their grandfather, the Brooklyn-raised siblings are initially skeptical about the arrangements. However, things change after Pili comes across a journal hinting at treasure hidden in the island’s caves and mountains. Together with E and their new friends and putting her geocaching skills to good use, they make their way onto forbidden and dangerous turf.

Continue reading “The Stars of ‘Finding ‘Ohana’ Discuss Filming in Hawaii and Hawaiian Representation”

Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Waikiki’ Doesn’t Pull Any Punches about the Realities of Tourist Hot Spot

November 27, 2020November 28, 2020 Lauren Lola

The Hawai’i International Film Festival is capping off its 40^th rendition with Christopher Kahunahana’s feature film debut, Waikiki. The story follows a woman, Kea (Danielle Zalopany), as she works multiple jobs in order to break away from her abusive relationship and get herself a place to call home. When she accidentally hits a homeless man, Wo (Peter Shinkoda), with the van she’s living out of and later finds her van missing altogether, the two sporadically travel and connect with each other, all the while Kea confronts the traumas of her past.

Continue reading “‘Waikiki’ Doesn’t Pull Any Punches about the Realities of Tourist Hot Spot”

Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Water Like Fire’ Explores Life and Loss in Contradictory, Unexpected Ways

November 25, 2020November 24, 2020 Lauren Lola

Water Like Fire is another film part of the lineup for the 40^th Hawai’i International Film Festival. Directed by Mitchel Viernes, Chanel (Taiana Tully) navigates her days working at a local restaurant, while surfing in her spare time. With both her parents gone, her only remaining family member is Caleb (Randall Galius); her brother who’s fighting a drug addiction. No matter how strained their relationship is, nothing keeps Chanel from being by Caleb’s side, after he winds up in the hospital from a hit-and-run. Continue reading “‘Water Like Fire’ Explores Life and Loss in Contradictory, Unexpected Ways”

Movies, Reviews

‘Story Game’ Navigates Celebration of Storytelling Through Odd Plot Choices

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 Lauren Lola

The Hawai’i International Film Festival is marking their 40th year with a 25-day virtual program. Of the wide variety of stories coming from Hawaii and beyond, Jason K. Lau’s Story Game stands out as a film about just that: storytelling.

College friends James (Alberto Rosende), Chika (Lyrica Okano), and Nicole (Greer Grammer) go camping in Hawaii when they decide to challenge each other to telling the best story possible. With the guide of an app called Story Game, each friend must telling a supernatural story set in Japan, featuring a character with green eyes. Each friend goes at it as they attempt to one up one another, as their narratives come to life.

Continue reading “‘Story Game’ Navigates Celebration of Storytelling Through Odd Plot Choices”

Podcasts, Television

Southern Fried Asian: Christine Ko

March 7, 2018March 28, 2018 Southern Fried Asian

On a new episode of Southern Fried Asian, Keith welcomes Hawaii Five-O actress and Atlanta native Christine Ko.

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Movies17 Comments

Surprise: Hollywood is Still Whitewashing POC Characters

May 9, 2017May 10, 2017 Laura Sirikul

Happy Asian American Pacific Islander Month!

Good news! The story of the Ni’ihau Incident is coming to the big screen. Bad news? Hollywood has learned nothing from the whitewashing outrage that has been in the zeitgeist for the last year.

Continue reading “Surprise: Hollywood is Still Whitewashing POC Characters”

Animation, Movies6 Comments

Get Your First Look at Disney’s Moana

October 7, 2015October 7, 2015 Keith Chow

Even though the movie is more than a year away, we cannot contain our excitement for Moana, the newest addition to Disney’s iconic princesses. Set for a Thanksgiving 2016 release, the movie will star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the demigod Maui and 14-year old newcomer Auli’i Cravalho has been tapped to play the titular Princess Moana. That’s right, a Disney Princess movie about Hawaii starring actual Pacific Islander actors in the roles of Pacific Islander characters. And Emma Stone is nowhere to be found!

Continue reading “Get Your First Look at Disney’s Moana“

DC Comics, Movies6 Comments

James Wan to Direct Jason Momoa in Aquaman

June 4, 2015June 4, 2015 Keith Chow

Last night, Warner Brothers made waves across the geek-o-system by finally announcing a director for its solo Aquaman movie, due in theaters on July 27, 2018. James Wan — who took the wheel of the Fast and Furious franchise from Justin Lin and steered the franchise into record-breaking, billion dollar box office territory — has been tapped to helm the most intriguing film in the DC Cinematic Universe.

Starring Khal Drogo himself as the titular King of Atlantis, Aquaman is the rare blockbuster superhero movie that is unafraid to defy comic book convention and place a person of color at the center of its narrative. And now, DC/WB is the first studio to entrust a person of color to direct its superhero franchise. Your move, Marvel.

Continue reading “James Wan to Direct Jason Momoa in Aquaman“

Movies51 Comments

These Actresses are Not Asian or Pacific Islanders

June 3, 2015June 3, 2021 Keith Chow

Depending on where you stake your claim on the internet, there has been a lot of chatter about a movie that tanked at the box office¹ and another one that isn’t due in theaters for at least another year. The thing that links these seemingly disparate films is that both thought casting white women as characters who are written as Asian American and Pacific Islander was a good idea.

Last night, the director of one of those films — Cameron Crowe — finally broke his silence and offered this explanation for why he cast Emma Stone (Amazing Spider-Man) as a character called Allison Ng:

Marvel, Movies15 Comments

Hollywood’s Strange Erasure of Asian Characters

June 1, 2015April 13, 2016 Jenn

Originally posted at Reappropriate

A mere week after I wrote a post swearing off of sharing fan news, the fandom insidiously pulled me back in.

This week, rumours began circulating that Tilda Swinton was in casting negotiations for Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange film starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role. Swinton is being considered for the role of the Ancient One, a nearly-immortal Tibetan sorcerer who becomes the young Doctor Strange’s mystic tutor and personal mentor.

That’s right. Tilda Swinton — a British actor whose Wikipedia article notes that she can trace her Anglo-Scot heritage back to the Middle Ages and who is about as far from “Tibetan” as one might get — may be cast to play a racebent and genderbent version of one of the few Asian characters of prominence in the Mystic Marvel world.

Continue reading “Hollywood’s Strange Erasure of Asian Characters”