A new documentary short film, "Uncle Bully's Surf Skool," initially focused on Lahaina surf instructor Robert "Bully" Kotter and his impact on local children. But when the Aug. 8 wildfires devastated his town, his business and his home, the crew picked up their cameras again.
Filmmaker Leah Warshawski first learned about Bully when she took one of his surf lessons.
"Once I found out that he was doing free surf camps for local kids, and then also engaging a lot of the homeless kids around the island, that's when the light went off," Warshawski said.
The short film shares the challenges that Bully has overcome, and how he relates to young people who are going through similar challenges: homelessness, addiction, bullying, and more.
"He's really speaking from his own experience, his own wounds, and what he's had to do to heal that trauma for himself," she said.
Warshawski and Todd Soliday, a married couple, filmed during the pandemic and finished editing in February. They submitted the film to the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival and other festivals around the country. Then the Lahaina fire happened and it became part of the story.
"A lot of the families in our film lost their homes. The kids lost their schools. Bully and his wife lost their home and his business," Warshawski said.
Warshawski and Soliday were on the continent during the fires, but they returned to Maui when they heard the news.
"And just thought, you know what, we need to pick up the cameras again, there's more happening here. There's more to this story. And so, for the last couple of months, we've been filming and just refinished the film 10 minutes longer, just in time for HIFF," she told HPR.
In a rare move, HIFF allowed the directors to resubmit the film. "Uncle Bully’s Surf Skool" debuted as the opening film at last month's festival.
"They were so accommodating and have been such great partners. I mean, they just agreed to be our fiscal sponsor, which is unheard of for a short film," Warshawski said about HIFF.
Back on Maui, Warshawski said Bully is doing what he can to take care of himself, his friends and his loved ones.
"I think the best lesson that can be taken from that is just to do whatever you can for the people around you, and try and be a kind person, try and be an upstander," she added.
The filmmakers are trying to set up more community screenings around the islands.
This story aired on The Conversation on Nov. 28, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
