2025 Slate

Director:  Amo Ieriko | 2024

Aotearoa/Samoa | 14:00

 Sunset, a significant time of day for ancient Samoan culture. A time to tutu le afi (light the fire) and prepare for the hosting of the po ula (night dancing of play and pleasure). The po ula was a passionate and erotic practice banned by the missionaries over 200 years ago.

Director: Jaimee Poipoi | 2025

Aotearoa | 9:10

When two single ladies attend an orgy for the first time, they end up exposing more than they ever could have imagined.  

Director: Jana Kealohaokeakua Park | 2025

Hawai'i | 12:49

Honolulu, 1959: Over a family dinner, two women hide their love for each other as one resists her impending marriage and the other her countryʻs admission to the U.S. [Based on Real Events] 

Director: Louis Sale | 2024

USA | 52:00

A film produced entirely by incarcerated people. Incarcerated men striving to reconnect to culture and reach their ceremonial Makahiki. Despite the toxic environment, ideals of American masculinity, and their personal struggles, will they succumb to the pressure or will they persevere and reach their zenith and celebrate Makahiki. 

Director: Hana Mcevilly | 2025

USA | 3:33

Ho‘omau is a hand-drawn short animation that honors generational strength, ancestral love, and the resilience passed down through Hawaiian lineage. Through surreal imagery and symbolic transformation, a young woman journeys across ocean and memory, guided by the voices of her ancestors. As grief, identity, and connection intertwine, she learns that to carry her story forward is to continue theirs. Ho‘omau — to persist, to perpetuate.

Director:  Kā'eo Luke | 2025

USA | 2:26

Kāinga Tupu brings attention to New Zealand’s endangered forest parrot, the Kākāpō, as he tries to escape monsters that seem to be following him.  

Director: Kath Akuhata-Brown | 2024

Aotearoa | 1:47:00

Māori elder Hamo and local delinquent Jo form an unlikely bond on a road trip. As they confront past traumas and each face their demons, their shared path becomes a journey of healing, community and reconciliation.
 

Director: Lisette Marie Flannery | 2025

Hawai'i | 29:46

MĀHŪ:  A Trans-Pacific Love Letter is a short documentary about an innovative theater production by master hula teacher, Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne, which aims to reclaim and celebrate the traditional place of honor and respect given to māhū (transgender) people.

Director: Bridgitte Leilani Axelrode | 2024

Hawai'i | 4:13

A Pasifika femme dancer moves between two worlds with the narration of Kanaka ʻŌiwi poet Noʻukahauʻoli Revilla. By shifting between ʻāina (land) and the dark expansive landscape of cultural memory, she becomes a conduit for ancestral connection and resistance.  

Director: Caleb Young | 2024

Fiji | 15:00

With six weeks to prepare for the World Choir Games, the odds stacked up against the newly formed Fijian choir PRIMANAVIA seem impossible to overcome. What would unfold is a triumphant story of faith, love of music and relentless drive to prove that anything is possible.  

Director: Lani Cupchoy | 2025

USA | 9:16

Stolen ancestors lie in museum vaults, waiting to return home. Oceanbone is a poetic reckoning with history, confronting the colonial theft of Indigenous remains and the urgent fight to bring them back. 

Director: Jessica Qinyue Luo | 2024

Hawai'i | 12:35

This short film follows a subject through this revolutionary program or… de-programming. A film in three parts, through three therapy sessions and three core memories. We address each damaging narrative forced upon us as a collective and through radical honesty, we come to a reckoning. 

Director: Skylar Chen, Rayne Sullivan | 2024

Palau | 19:50

"Palau, An Ocean Inheritance" transports viewers to the incredible islands of Palau, where ancient legends, cultural connections, and unparalleled marine biodiversity converge. This documentary celebrates Palau’s natural wonders, from vibrant coral ecosystems to the majestic species that call these waters home. At the film’s core is a powerful call for ocean justice—a recognition that ocean solutions can be found in Indigenous knowledge and community-led stewardship. 

Director: Tanu Gago | 2024

Aotearoa | 11:30

Tomasi craves connection amidst the isolation of a rural apple orchard manned by a picking crew of young guys. He befriends Api and together they navigate the pressures of masculinity, slowly revealing to each other their deep desire for acceptance. 

Director: Aroha Awarau | 2024

Aotearoa | 14:42

A teenage girl living in poverty in an urban city in New Zealand loses her innocence while making the ultimate sacrifice to help her family. 

Director: Hermann Retzlaff | 2024

Aotearoa | 13:30

23 year-old James returns home after completing his university degree, but finds himself overwhelmed by conflicting memories from his past while attempting to find solace at his old childhood hangout. 

Director: Niel Darren Romero | 2025

Guam | 58:00

"Something to Call Our Own" is a compelling documentary that delves into the origins, obstacles, and evolution of modern CHamoru dance. From the small island of Guam to the international stage of FestPAC, the documentary showcases the inspiring story of cultural revival, resilience, and the ongoing journey to reclaim and preserve a tradition that belongs to the CHamoru people. 

Director: Annelise Hickey | 2024

Australia | 14:31

When Adam, a self absorbed and lonely millennial, wakes to find his estranged half-brother on his footsteps one morning, he must face the family he’s been running away from. 

Director: Alice Uheina Lolohea | 2022

Aotearoa | 9:44

Forty-five years after his parents were wrongfully imprisoned for overstaying, a Tongan New Zealander finally admits the painful truth behind what really happened to his family during the Dawn Raids.  

Director: Sonny Ganaden | 2025

Hawai'i | 15:25

Set  in a tough Kalihi neighborhood, "The Arrangements" tells the story of  12-year-old Micronesian boys living at Kamehameha IV housing apartments  who cope with loss through adventure and resilience. 

Director: Elizabeth Koroivulaono | 2024

Aotearoa | 1:13:00

The Forgotten Pacific is more than just a documentary; it's a journey into the hearts of our Pacific people who stand on the frontline of the climate crisis. Presented by our young pacific climate warrior, Suluafi Brianna Fruean, this documentary offers a bold and inspiring look into how five Pacific Island communities (Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu) are using indigenous knowledge in the modern day fight to adapt, rebuild and save their islands from climate change. 

Director: Rachel House | 2023

Aotearoa | 1:29:00

Explores the journey of three young people as they seek solace under the watchful gaze of the Taranaki mountain and companionship in the spirit of adventure. 

Director:  Kā'eo Luke | 2025

USA | 2:21

The Rain features a narrated poem written by myself about living in the moment like the birds do day to day. Different types of birds are animated along to the poem. 

Director: Taofia Pelesasa | 2024

Australia | 18:00

When Tokelauan-Australian woman Nifo’s mother dies suddenly, she is faced with the task of packing up her Mt Druitt home. Nifo and her sisters find that not all things can just be packed away; some things have to be set free.