Through a time of personal struggle and tragedy, a young Polynesian stage performer named Marc discovers a new meaning of hope. This hope is found through a support system he never knew he had. As he pieces together the support of family, friends, and culture, Marc realizes something of great worth and value, the Aloha within.
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Review by Andie Kay:
This is a really beautiful film from Elvis Maleko about grief, healing, community and the deeper meaning of the word “aloha”. Elvis was the creator, co-director, he starred and edited this film which is definitely a labor of love. I really loved learning that the deeper meaning of Aloha is: “the presence of life”. Plus the on screen rapport between Elvis and Rex was lovely.
The music for this film was done exceptionally well, the vocalist at the very beginning had this amazing high tenor voice that was just breathtaking. Plus the filmmakers were very smart letting the music tell a portion of the story so there was no dialogue needed. The story was really well thought out and beautifully told.
It was stunning to watch the different performances, the fire work and the various traditional dances were incredible. I think it was very clever that the filmmakers used a voice over and sound effects to help the audience understand that they were watching a “live performance before an audience”- it’s such a simple effect but one that worked brilliantly.
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