On a stage regulations, A group of friends find a small box of coins while swimming near a waterfall in Nuʻuanu. While planning the funeral, they embark on a journey to gift their deceased friends with their treasures.

“This was the boy’s treasure that he hid before he died,” Peter Alifios said in an interview. He is of Chuukese origin and is one of the main characters of the film. “We had to find a memory of him and put it in this coffin before he left.”

Located in a tough Kalihi neighborhood Regulations It tells the story of 12-year-old Micronesian boys living in Kamehameha IV residences coping with loss through adventure and resilience.

It will be released on November 13 Regulations It features an all-local cast, including veteran Chuukese actor Kathy S. Martin, who starred in the local play There Is Nothing Micro About Micronesia. The children featured in the movie are Billy and Peter Alifios, Erika Essa, Dianson Kasty, Ambu Rodrigo and Rev Victor.

Origin of the movie

The story is based on the true story of children. Peter Alifios, 12, said his friend died by suicide at the KAM IV residence two years before the film was made.

sonny ganaden, the director and writer has known children for nearly five years while working at a non-profit organization Kōkua Kalihi Valley. He said he witnessed their experiences, from buying a custom t-shirt to picking flowers for a funeral. He also saw how children had to interpret with the funeral director on behalf of their mothers or grandparents.

“This is something that immigrant children whose parents are not native English speakers have to do, and I’ve seen the work they have to do while they’re grieving,” Ganaden said. he said.

Courtesy of Sonny Ganaden

More than 18,000 Micronesians live in Hawai’i, including residents of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. Because Pacific countries share agreements with the United States called the Convention of Free Association, they can immigrate to the country without a visa for education, work and health services.

Located on the border of the city of Honolulu, Kalihi is home to a variety of cultural groups, including Filipinos and Pacific Islanders, and The number of low-income immigrants is huge.

Children have to grow faster than most children, Ganaden said. Some of the children grew up in single-parent homes. Another child sleeps mostly at his friend’s house. This year in Kalihi, another child’s older brother was shot while on a public bus.

Billy Alifios, Peter’s younger brother, said growing up in his neighborhood was fun but difficult.

“The big boys are telling us to get in (the house) because they’re protecting us,” he said.

Ganaden wants to show the humanity and resilience of children in the short film, despite the difficulties they face; He said this is their reality.

“Even if something bad happens when you’re 12, you don’t live your life as a tragedy,” he said. “There’s adventure to be had, there’s things to be done, and life pushes itself forward. So we tried to write a script that reflected that experience.”

Emphasizing durability

The kids are first-time actors and took weekly acting lessons last summer.

Billy Alifios played the comedy relief and even worked with a trained rooster named Wowo Fat Ching, who was bred by local artist Kahi Ching. Alifios said he enjoyed his acting classes.

“I was a little nervous, but I got used to it because I kept learning,” he said.

Courtesy of Sonny Ganaden

He remembered his favorite scene in the movie, the one where the kids outmaneuver a cop while hiding the treasure.

“My cousins ​​and my brother were distracting the police because they were so funny,” he said. “I think people will find it funny too.”

He said this right outside the house where his friend died. Alifios said that although he was only 11 years old, he had lost many friends over the years and that he and his friends were numb to this situation.

The film took less than a year to produce and received up to $10,000 in funding from Pacific Islanders in Communications and `Ohina Labs.

Courtesy of Sonny Ganaden

Ganaden said the children surprised him in the scenes in the movie where Billy acts out and Erika Essa naturally looks sideways at her brother.

Ganaden predicts that the short film will make people laugh and cry. He underlined that he does not want children to feel sorry for children, but to see them as human beings.

He said children deserve a movie about them.

“The kids deserved it. The kids that passed deserved it,” said Ganaden. “I felt it was an important story about life, loss and progress. Even though it was a short film, I tried to show that these kids are resilient, strong, funny and human.”

The kids said they want to be more on the big screen and hope it will inspire more Micronesians to get involved in the movies.

“Hopefully we can get out of that neighborhood and start living life,” Peter Alifios said.

Arrangements will premiere at Ward Village on Wednesday, November 13th. Click for more information about the movie Here.