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Hawaii Women in Filmmaking

Indie Lens Pop-up Series: Join us for Free Films in January, March & April

On January 16 we are hosting our second film in the Indie Lens Pop-up series, which we’re hosting in partnership with Hawai’i Women in Filmmaking, Hawai’i People’s Fund and PBS Hawai’i.

The Indie Lens Pop-Up Series is an opportunity to share riveting, untold stories from around the US, from Maryland to New Mexico to Alabama. This is the seventh year HWF has been a partner for Indie Lens pop-up, and a first for us as a host space.

According to HWF, the Indie Lens Pop-Up series is, “a neighborhood screening series that brings people together for community-driven conversations around documentaries from the award-winning PBS series, Independent Lens on PBS Hawaiʻi. Over the past decade, nearly 6,500 Indie Lens Pop-Up events have brought an estimated 370,000 participants together to discuss issues that impact local communities.”

All films in the series are free and open to the public, and all screenings will be held at Impact Hub HNL from 5pm to 7pm on dates listed below.

Indie Lens Pop-Up 2018-2019 Films and Schedule

The Providers | By Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin
Date & Time: Wednesday March 13, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm


Set against the backdrop of the physician shortage and opioid epidemic in rural America, The Providers follows three “country doctors” in New Mexico at clinics offering care to all, regardless of ability to pay. As their personal struggles at times reflect those of their patients, the providers work to reach rural Americans who would otherwise be left without healthcare.

Charm City | By Marilyn Ness
Date & Time: Wednesday April 10, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm


Filmed during three years of unparalleled violence in Baltimore, Charm City delivers a powerfully candid portrait of those on the frontlines. With grit, fury, and compassion, a group of police, citizens, community leaders, and government officials grapple with the consequences of violence and try to reclaim their city’s future.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? 
Date & Time: Wednesday April 17, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

For over thirty years, Fred Rogers, an unassuming minister, puppeteer, writer and producer was beamed daily into homes across America. In his beloved television program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fred and his cast of puppets and friends spoke directly to young children about some of life’s weightiest issues, in a simple, direct fashion. Though he may be best known today as a soft-spoken, cardigan-wearing children’s television host, in reality, Fred Rogers’ career represents a sustained attempt to present a coherent, beneficent view about how we should best speak to children about important matters and how television could be used as a positive force in our society.

In Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet from Stardom) looks back on the legacy of Fred Rogers, focusing on his radically kind ideas. While the nation changed around him, Fred Rogers stood firm in his beliefs about the importance of protecting childhood.

Wrestle | By Suzannah Herbert and Lauren Belfer
Date & Time: Wednesday May 8, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Wrestle is an intimate, inspiring coming of age portrait of the wrestling team at a struggling high school in Huntsville, Alabama. As they fight towards the State Championship, wrestlers Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan face injustices and challenges on and off the mat, grappling with obstacles that jeopardize their success, while their coach wades into the complexities of class and race in the South.

Previous films: 

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World | By Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana
Date & Time: Wednesday January 16, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Rumble brings to light a profound and missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. Featuring music icons Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, Randy Castillo, and Taboo, Rumble shows how these pioneering Native musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives.

Indie Lens Pop-Up at Impact Hub HNL

In partnership with Hub member organization Hawai’i Women in Filmmaking, we are pleased to announce that we’ll be hosting the 2018-2019 season for the Indie Lens Pop-Up series. All of these film events are free and open to the public.

This is the seventh year Hawaii Women in Filmmaking has been a partner for Indie Lens pop-up, and a first for us as a host space.

HWF explains that the Indie Lens Pop-Up series is “a neighborhood screening series that brings people together for community-driven conversations around documentaries from the award-winning PBS series, Independent Lens on PBS Hawaiʻi. Over the past decade, nearly 6,500 Indie Lens Pop-Up events have brought an estimated 370,000 participants together to discuss issues that impact local communities.”

Learn more about Indie Lens Pop Up in this short video here:

The 2018-2019 film series covers a range of timely topics from around the nation, and we look forward to being a community partner along with Hawai’i Women in Filmmaking, Hawai’i People’s Fund and PBS Hawai’i. All films will be held at Impact Hub HNL, 1050 Queen St. Suite #100, from 5pm to 7pm on dates listed below.

Indie Lens Pop-Up 2018-2019 Films and Schedule

Dawnland | By Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip

Date & Time: Wednesday October 24, 2018 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Dawnland tells the story of the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission in the U.S., investigating the devastating impact of Maine’s child welfare practices on Native American communities. With intimate access to this groundbreaking process, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World | By Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana

Date & Time: Wednesday January 16, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Rumble brings to light a profound and missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. Featuring music icons Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, Randy Castillo, and Taboo, Rumble shows how these pioneering Native musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives.

The Providers | By Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin

Date & Time: Wednesday March 13, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Set against the backdrop of the physician shortage and opioid epidemic in rural America, The Providers follows three “country doctors” in New Mexico at clinics offering care to all, regardless of ability to pay. As their personal struggles at times reflect those of their patients, the providers work to reach rural Americans who would otherwise be left without healthcare.

Charm City | By Marilyn Ness

Date & Time: Wednesday April 10, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Filmed during three years of unparalleled violence in Baltimore, Charm City delivers a powerfully candid portrait of those on the frontlines. With grit, fury, and compassion, a group of police, citizens, community leaders, and government officials grapple with the consequences of violence and try to reclaim their city’s future.

Wrestle | By Suzannah Herbert and Lauren Belfer

Date & Time: Wednesday May 8, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Wrestle is an intimate, inspiring coming of age portrait of the wrestling team at a struggling high school in Huntsville, Alabama. As they fight towards the State Championship, wrestlers Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan face injustices and challenges on and off the mat, grappling with obstacles that jeopardize their success, while their coach wades into the complexities of class and race in the South.

Humans of Impact Hub HNL: Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking

hawaii women in filmmaking

You can support creative endeavors for young women and girls by supporting Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking’s Summer Programs crowdfunding campaign!

Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking (HWF) is a dynamic team of women that creates opportunities for creative expression and skill-building in film for young women and girls. Their work is focused on amplifying the voices of women, sharing their stories, and providing an opportunity to express their own unique identities through the powerful medium of film. We are so happy to have this passionate team based at Impact Hub HNL!

HWF is made up of Executive Director Vera Zambonelli, Daní Ortiz Padilla as Development & Community Relations, and Valerie Narte, their Filmmaker in Residence.

As a non-profit, ensuring funding for their projects is one of Vera’s primary – and most challenging – tasks. Their current crowdfunding campaign is called Amplify Their Voices.

This crowdfunding campaign is a way to raise funds to support HWF 2018 Summer Programs for Young Women – Making Media that Matters and Reel Camps for Girls. About 90% of the campaign funds will go to scholarships for deserving young women; “Registration fees should never be a barrier for entry for any girls for either of our summer programs,” Vera says.

Making Media that Matters is a filmmaking program where young women develop the technical and critical-thinking skills needed to create both narrative and documentary films. Each session explores and examines social justice issues that impact the lives and communities of these young women.

Reel Camps for Girls is an intensive basic filmmaking and animation programming intended to introduce technical filmmaking skills to produce a short film. The participants are organized in production crews and work together to create films that interrupt gender stereotypes and change the way women view themselves, each other and our future.

HWF is also really clear about their goal: they want to create a safe and creative space for girls and young women to learn valuable technical skills and the tools needed to tell their stories. Film industry statistics regarding women’s involvement in the filmmaking and creative process are pretty dire, and HWF works to redress that inequity. HWF believes that more female involvement in the creative process behind-the-scene affects what we see in front of the screen. Moreover, HWF offers production services for other nonprofits and local businesses and hires HWF graduates. The young women are always paid for their work, and HWF has a policy of never asking the girls to volunteer their time – this allows them to gain marketable skills and earn income, ensuring that even at a young age, they understand the value of their work, time, and brilliance!

These filmmaking programs for young women have been underway for seven years and many former attendees have gone on to become mentors, and mentors to become teachers leading to a virtuous cycle of creative peer-to-peer mentoring.

The crowdfunding campaign culminates on Saturday, May 26 with a Movie Trivia Benefit Night. Register for the event here, learn more about Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking here, and if you feel inspired, you can donate to their campaign here.