Filmmakers Cindy Iodice and Alana Bombino shared their experiences working on their films screened as a part of the Women of Wonders Film Festival held at the Doris Duke Theatre. Each film was inspired by personal experiences and made possible thanks to a strong collaboration among all the crew members.
Cindy’s film, The Bridge, is a story about a young Hawaiian boy, who lives with his family in a five-story tree house in Mānoa Valley and how a tragedy affects him and his family’s life. It was inspired by a story in Cindy’s childhood and she claims that this film would not have been possible had it not been for her trusted team.
“I didn’t trust myself to be the only narrator,” she said. “I really depended on other people to help me see my vision. And then, what was most remarkable was Tom Schneider, who was not on set for any part of it and we had some discussions. I literally handed him the script and the footage and I was shocked that he told the story that I wanted to tell.”
The Bridge had been screened at many film festivals between Hawaiʻi, California and Florida, and Europe and Australia. It has won awards including Best Short Film at the Reel Time International Online Film Festival from Australia and the Award for Best of Hawaiʻi in the Hawaii International Short Film Festival.
“I just trusted the Art Department. I trusted the Make-Up Department,” she said. “I really just trusted the people in the departments that came on board.”
Alana’s B Movie was shot as a class assignment when she was still in film school. Her film was about Liann, a competitive 5th grader who is paired up with the class clown for a video assignment. Loosely based on her own life growing up in Hilo, Alana returned to her hometown with her film school classmates to film the project over the course of a week. Even though it was her script and her vision, she also took it as an opportunity to learn from her peers.
“My crew was made up of five people including myself. We were all students. We had to wear lots of hats,” she said. “Since it was my first time directing, I tried to accept input as much as possible… I reached out to my friends that I trusted in film school and said ‘Let’s make this project. Come aboard, follow me let’s go.’ They went all in so I’m really grateful for that. I learned as much from them as I could. “
The festival was presented by Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking and made possible thanks to the generosity of the Hawai‘i Women’s Legal Foundation. Their films were viewed as a part of the Short Films Program #3. The panel discussion was moderated by HWF’S Carter Schneider.