The short film "Dear Aloha" opens with a scene of Native Hawaiian filmmaker Cris Romento's father, Eric, envisioning the shores of Hawaiʻi.
Romento and her family moved to Washington state, more than 2,000 miles away, from Hawaiʻi when she was 7 years old.
The scene quickly transitions to an airplane taking off, with the flight attendant speaking into a microphone, "Until we have another opportunity, we do wish you a fond aloha."
The 16-minute short documentary tells the story of two Native Hawaiians living in the continental U.S. and why they moved away from their ancestral homeland.
As a Native Hawaiian in the diaspora, Romento said her life inspired the film.
"The term diaspora is native people or people who are from a specific place moving away from their homeland," she said. "However, when you talk about contemporary Hawaiʻi right now, it is not necessarily a choice."
The film profiled her father, who lives in Washington state, and another diasporic Native Hawaiian woman, Leialoha Ka‘ula, who lives in Aloha, Oregon.
It touches on topics of colonization and current events in Hawaiʻi such as news media reporting on why Native Hawaiians are leaving the islands and experiencing homelessness.
U.S. Census numbers show that more Native Hawaiians live in the continental U.S. than Hawaiʻi. Many have left because of the rising cost of living.
"What we're going through is painful," Romento said.
Hawaiʻi also has the highest percentage of people experiencing chronic homelessness in the nation. Native Hawaiians make up a disproportionate 28% of the homeless population, according to the 2023 Point In Time Count.
Each protagonist in the film gives tear-jerking interviews about why they left Hawaiʻi and could not return, even if they wanted to.
Romento's father, who is from ʻAiea on Oʻahu, and Kaʻula of Hilo share why they are in the diaspora. Romento's father said that working multiple jobs was not a way to survive while raising a family.
Ka‘ula said she was only away for school but realized she couldn't afford to live back home.
The film captured how Eric Romento and Ka‘ula stayed connected to Hawaiʻi. Romento plays the ʻukulele and listens to island music, while Kaʻula is a kumu who teaches Hawaiian cultural practices in Oregon.
One scene that stood out to Cris Romento was when she and her father went through family photos and stumbled upon a picture of her dad smiling with his hula hālau.
"I asked him why he stopped dancing, and he said his father said he couldn't make any money dancing and that it wasn't useful," she said. "It was at that moment I really felt his sadness, and it was heartbreaking."
Romento said she hopes the film will provide a sense of healing to the community.
"I want people to feel comfortable talking about our diaspora, no matter where they come from, and to feel less alone," she said.
The film was funded with $45,000 from Firelight Media and seed funding from Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking when Romento was developing the project. It premiered with the Homegrown series at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival last October.
Four months after its debut, "Dear Aloha" is already scheduled to be screened at several film festivals across the United States.
