Cultural & Visual Literacy Program

(open to students grades 7 to 12 on Oahu)

The Cultural & Visual Literacy Program (CVLP) provides free theater screenings of outstanding films that are rarely available in Hawaii. These films are applicable to many subjects; teachers in previous years have incorporated CVLP films into classes ranging from social studies and language arts to media production and character education. Whenever possible, HIFF invites the film's director to participate in a post-screening discussion with students. (Students may be required to read subtitles. Schools will be responsible for their own transportation. One adult chaperone will be required for every twenty students.)

Cultural & Visual Literacy Program Films

SAIGON ELECTRIC

Tuesday, October 18 at 9:45am
2011 Vietnam, United States | Directed by: Stephane Gauger
Vietnamese with English Subtitles | 109 min.

View SAIGON ELECTRIC Trailer

Note: SAIGON ELECTRIC producer Anderson Le will be in attendance for a Q&A session after the film.

Hip Hop, or Hip Hop as it was during its inception in the projects of New York City, has long been co-opted, commercialized and bastardized out of recognition, but in the harsh urban confines of Saigon, Hip Hop thrives in the emerging youth movement in Vietnam with the urgency and relevance of a 1979 South Bronx block party. Disenchanted inner city youth, while caught between rapid modernization and the demands of traditional ideals, adopted the now global but still distinctly U.S. form of expression. From rap music, to its graffiti street art and most prominently in Stephan Gauger’s (award winning writer/director of OWL AND THE SPARROW) energetic SAIGON ELECTRIC, its dance form, Hip Hop as a vital and emblematic lifestyle has now been embraced by Vietnamese youth.

SAIGON ELECTRIC leaves everything on the dance floor and that makes for one gratifying entertainment experience. It is a film that offers all that a paying audience could ask for as conflicts and tension arise from every single angle, but in the end it all comes down to genuine human relationships and the overwhelming and cathartic need to dance. There’s the country girl looking to make it in the city.  The talented yet volatile and complicated B-Girl. The B-Boy with a big heart and a heartbreaking past.  There’s the washed up impresario. The rich boy conflicted between his allegiance to his father and the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Love is found and love is lost. Friendships are challenged. And of course, there’s the heartless land developer threatening to tear down the beloved community center and displacing the dance crew. Throw that all together along with an attractive and charismatic cast, a banging Vietnamese Hip Hop soundtrack, plenty of exhilarating dance sequences and you have one irresistible film.

A vibrant 80’s throwback approach to Vietnam’s modern youth culture while instilling an abundance of contemporary bluster, SAIGON ELECTRIC is the ultimate mash of current dance films (HONEY, SAVE THE LAST DANCE) with a healthy dose of BEAT STREET and a nod to BREAKIN’ 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO. A stylish and highly charged film filled with gentle moments while never relinquishing its drive to move you in your seat. Synopsis written by: Joel Quizon

THE BULLY PROJECT

Wednesday, October 19 at 9:45am
2011 United States | Directed by: Lee Hirsch
English

(This film should be restricted to grades 8 to 12)

View THE BULLY PROJECT Trailer

Directed by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, THE BULLY PROJECT is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America’s bullying crisis. THE BULLY PROJECT follows five kids and families over the course of a school year. Stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals’ offices, the film offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children. As teachers, administrators, kids and parents struggle to find answers, THE BULLY PROJECT examines the dire consequences of bullying through the testimony of strong and courageous youth. Through the power of their stories, the film aims to be a catalyst for change in the way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children and society as a whole.

THELMA

View THELMA Trailer

Thursday, October 20 at 9:45am
2011 Philippines | Directed by: Paul Soriano
Tagalog with English Subtitles | 111 minutes

Note: THELMA director Paul Soriano will be in attendance for a Q&A session after the film.

From running in the fields to competing in the national finals, THELMA follows one girl as she races against tragedy and poverty, and beats the odds. Thelma (Maja Salvador), is a mischievous and tomboyish teenage girl, who loves to run in the fields of her hometown of Ilocos Norte, Philipines. But Thelma’s irresponsible behavior is a disappointment to her father, Aldo (John Arcilla) and her mother, Floring (Tetchie Agbayani). One day, disaster strikes and her sister, Hannah (Eliza Pineda), is injured and faced with being crippled for life. Her only hope to walk again is an expensive operation. Determined, Thelma enters a road race and wins. This sets in motion her journey to use her gift of strength and speed, run for her sister, rise from desperate poverty, and redeem herself from the past. Thelma studies and learns to be disciplined, winning a scholarship to run at a high school in Manila. But when tragedy strikes again, homesick, hungry, and heartbroken, Thelma must decide to give up and go home, or go the distance with everything she’s got. Some People run away from their problems, Thelma runs to fix them.