3rd Annual
Lady Filmmakers
Film Festival
October 2011
Lychee Thieves
Director: Kathleen Kwai Ching Man
Producer: Angela Laprete, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Titus Y. H. Chong
Cinematographer: Anne Misawa
Writer: Kathleen Kwai Ching Man
Editor: Carsten Kurpanek, Tyler Nelson
Production Designer: Everett Galisa
Synopsis:
Pomaika'i Brown (50 First Dates) gives a moving performance as Keoki in this serious yet funny tale about four Hawaiian locals who clash over an abundant lychee tree. When Keoki offers to pick Arnie and Ethel's tree, Arnie refuses, but suspects that Keoki will return and steal his lychee probably with the help of the Chinese widow next door who has been eyeing the branches hanging into her yard. Paranoid, Arnie attempts to thwart their plans, no matter what the consequences. It is up to Keoki to break a longstanding cycle of fear and save the "mana" (spiritual power) of the tree.
Lychee Thieves is a beautifully woven tapestry of greed and desire whose lush dream sequences take us from the mystical valleys of Hawai?i to ancient China, where a smitten Emperor will stop at nothing to feed his lady's lust for the scrumptious and highly sought-after fruit. Lychee Thieves features a haunting original score by German composer Emanuel Heinstein and a soundtrack filled with Hawaiian favorites by acclaimed musical artists Makana, Hapa, and Raiatea Helm
Lychee Thieves is a beautifully woven tapestry of greed and desire whose lush dream sequences take us from the mystical valleys of Hawai?i to ancient China, where a smitten Emperor will stop at nothing to feed his lady's lust for the scrumptious and highly sought-after fruit. Lychee Thieves features a haunting original score by German composer Emanuel Heinstein and a soundtrack filled with Hawaiian favorites by acclaimed musical artists Makana, Hapa, and Raiatea Helm
Movie website: http://www.lycheethieves.com/Home.html
TRAILER:
Lychee Thieves trailer HD from Lychee Thieves on Vimeo.
Biographies:
Kathleen Kwai Ching Man is an independent filmmaker, Yale graduate, and Fulbright Scholar who hails from Hawai'i. She is the writer/director of a diverse body of award-winning documentaries and dramas including THE INTERVIEW, a Kafkaesque French-language film set in Paris, SITA: A GIRL FROM JAMBU, an ethnographic drama about child sex trafficking in Nepal, and BEAUTY MARK, a social documentary exploring America?s obsession with body image, perfection and success. Man was also the producer and director of photography of KIND OF A BLUR, a film festival favorite starring Sandra Oh. Man is a tenured professor of film production at Vassar College in New York, where she teaches directing, screenwriting and narrative and documentary filmmaking. She recently directed WALK THE FISH, a short film collaboration with Vassar film and drama students, and the award-winning Hawaiian short, LYCHEE THIEVES, which has been touring the festival circuit this year. Man is the associate producer of the feature film GRASSROOTS, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starring Jason Biggs, Joel David Moore and Lauren Ambrose. She is currently writing and directing COSMOPOLITAN, her first feature film.
Angela Laprete hails from O?ahu and is a graduate of Moanalua High School and received her B.A. in film studies from the UC-Santa Barbara. Her love for Hawaii brought her home to pursue her passion in independent filmmaking. Angela, whose company is cre808 Films, produced the homegrown indie film, ONE KINE DAY and the Lifetime movie, DEADLY HONEYMOON. Her long list of credits as Production Manager/Supervisor/Coordinator include major studio and indie features PRINCESS KAIULANI, INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL, THE REEF: INTO THE BLUE PART 2, SNAKES ON A PLANE, YOU ME AND DUPREE, ALONG CAME POLLY, and most recently Julie Taymor?s THE TEMPEST and the remake of HAWAII FIVE-0. Angie has been vice-president of the Board for the Hawaii International Film Festival the last 9 years and is currently serving on the Board for the Film and Video Association of Hawaii (FAVAH).
Anne Misawa was born and raised on O?ahu. She received her M.F.A. in Film Production from USC. Her directorial credits include: WAKING MELE (Sundance 2000) and EDEN?S CURVE (Emerging Film Best Feature, NCGLFF 2003), among others. Her work as a cinematographer include many award-winning films: KAMEA (HIFF 2004 Best Short), TIME OUT (directed by Xelinda Yancy, executive producer John Singleton, HBO Award), SALT (Caligari Award for Innovative Filmmaking at Berlin Int?l Film Festival 2003) and LIV, (directed by Edoardo Ponti, executive producers Robert Altman and Michelangelo Antonioni, Venice Int?l Film Festival 1998). She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Cinematography (TREELESS MOUNTAIN), directed by So Yong Kim, in Korea, which screened recently in such festivals as the Toronto Int?l Film Festival, the Berlin Int?l Film Festival, and the New Directors/New Films series at Lincoln Center. Anne also teaches film production at the University of Hawai?i?s Academy for Creative Media as an Assistant Professor.
Angela Laprete hails from O?ahu and is a graduate of Moanalua High School and received her B.A. in film studies from the UC-Santa Barbara. Her love for Hawaii brought her home to pursue her passion in independent filmmaking. Angela, whose company is cre808 Films, produced the homegrown indie film, ONE KINE DAY and the Lifetime movie, DEADLY HONEYMOON. Her long list of credits as Production Manager/Supervisor/Coordinator include major studio and indie features PRINCESS KAIULANI, INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL, THE REEF: INTO THE BLUE PART 2, SNAKES ON A PLANE, YOU ME AND DUPREE, ALONG CAME POLLY, and most recently Julie Taymor?s THE TEMPEST and the remake of HAWAII FIVE-0. Angie has been vice-president of the Board for the Hawaii International Film Festival the last 9 years and is currently serving on the Board for the Film and Video Association of Hawaii (FAVAH).
Anne Misawa was born and raised on O?ahu. She received her M.F.A. in Film Production from USC. Her directorial credits include: WAKING MELE (Sundance 2000) and EDEN?S CURVE (Emerging Film Best Feature, NCGLFF 2003), among others. Her work as a cinematographer include many award-winning films: KAMEA (HIFF 2004 Best Short), TIME OUT (directed by Xelinda Yancy, executive producer John Singleton, HBO Award), SALT (Caligari Award for Innovative Filmmaking at Berlin Int?l Film Festival 2003) and LIV, (directed by Edoardo Ponti, executive producers Robert Altman and Michelangelo Antonioni, Venice Int?l Film Festival 1998). She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Cinematography (TREELESS MOUNTAIN), directed by So Yong Kim, in Korea, which screened recently in such festivals as the Toronto Int?l Film Festival, the Berlin Int?l Film Festival, and the New Directors/New Films series at Lincoln Center. Anne also teaches film production at the University of Hawai?i?s Academy for Creative Media as an Assistant Professor.
