Our latest film, Holding Fast The Dream, is progressing nicely, with the end of principal photography well in sight.
The biggest challenge remains funding, though. Despite strong and continuing sentiment that this film is a much-needed project that will fill a gaping void in Hawai‘i history, we remain well short of the amount required to complete the film.
We’re very grateful to those who have so generously supported the project, from the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities, the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation, and many other organizations and individuals. And we know that the necessary resources will be provided; the unknown is in what form, and when…
If you’d like to help, you can donate online (and all contributions are tax-deductable) at the film’s website, holdingthedream.org. You can also learn more about the project there, as well.
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- July 13, 2008 – 10:54 pm
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Thanks to the kindness of a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous, A Most Unlikely Hero will not be collecting dust on the shelf of history’s forgotten documentary films.
This very generous donation has enabled us to renew licenses for materials used in the film, including key segments from 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. License fees for all the materials totalled many thousands of dollars; without this gift, A Most Unlikely Hero would have been pulled from broadcast, sales, distribution, and exhibition.
But now that all is by-the-book-legal once again, the film can continue to be broadcast on public television stations nationide, purchased through CreateSpace, and exhibited for groups across the country.
If your organization, educational institution, or community group wants to screen the film, contact us or go to the film’s website at unlikelyhero.org.
And mahalo to all for your continued support of this important film.
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- July 1, 2008 – 10:45 pm
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Still as relevant today as when it premiered in 2003, A Most Unlikely Hero will be shown in Chicago on Friday, November 16. The screening will be at the DePaul University museum (Kelly Hall), 2350 North Kenmore, at 6:00pm. The film’s central character, Capt. Bruce Yamashita, will join Steve to introduce the film and lead a discussion afterward.
Bruce will also be the co-keynote speaker at the gala banquet of the Organization of Chinese Americans at the Chicago Marriott on the following day, November 17. We’ve managed to sneak in the trailer for the film as part of Bruce’s presentation.
Also keynoting that night–former Hawai‘i resident and filmmaker par excellence Eric Byler, who’s also a friend of A Most Unlikely Hero, having seen it at a film festival in Boston a couple of years ago. I look forward to offering aloha to Eric again; he’s done remarkable work in recent years. And he’s posted some of it on YouTube…
More information on both events at OCA’s website.
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- November 4, 2007 – 11:46 am
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The controversy over “Dog, the Bounty Hunter” and his racist remarks provides an appropriate hook for a broader conversation about race and racism in the multi-ethnic society that is Hawai‘i.
That’s of course a major theme in Holding Fast The Dream, now in production (and for which support is still critically needed). We firmly believe that the more each of us knows about the rainbow of races and ethnicities that populate our islands and our planet, the greater the potential to grow past the limits that racism imposes.
It also prompted Hawai‘i’s NAACP to move the bigger issue forward via a public forum on November 4, which hopefully shines some light on our islands’ little secrets involving race, understanding, and acceptance.
We’ll be shooting that forum in hopes that what comes out of it advances the theme of our film…and our ability to fully appreciate the diversity that Hawai‘i offers.
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- November 3, 2007 – 11:45 am
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Our pioneering documentary film on the African American experience in Hawai‘i is in production. Holding Fast The Dream is proving to be both a wonderful opportunity to break new ground in exploring Hawai‘i’s diverse society…and a major financial challenge.
Read more about what we’re doing at the film’s website, and if you’re so moved to support this landmark project, you can donate online. It’s all tax-deductible, too.
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- November 3, 2007 – 11:39 am
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