A feature-length film that tells the story of the shaka will debut at the Visual Communications Film Fest in Los Angeles this year.
The festival is the largest showcase of Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmaking in the United States. It was formerly known as the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival.
“Shaka: The Story of Aloha” presents multiple stories of how the shaka came to be the gesture with a pinky and a thumb out.
Steve Sue, the producer and writer of the 74-minute documentary film, says “we’re essentially letting the audience decide for themselves.”
“You can imagine there are different factions here on the islands, different tribes so to speak, different families that have their own version and they swear by it,” Sue said. “So I don’t want to insult anybody by telling them no, yours is not as credible as somebody else’s story. I just present them all."
“They’re all very entertaining. They all have plausibility,” he continued. “To me, what’s more important is, what is the meaning of the shaka, and what are the uses. And the moral of the story is how to use the shaka to make a better world together.”
The film festival will be held in California from May 1-10, with “Shaka: The Story of Aloha” to be screened on the second day of the festival’s opening night at the Japanese American National Museum.
