The Women of Wonders Film Fest 2020

Writer and director Erin Lau creates emotional narrative films about families and relationships featuring strong women protagonists, including The Moon and the Night and Empty Spaces. In her 20's, she is already a working director in Los Angeles with a clear sense of her own voice, her creative process and a deep understanding of why she wants to tell stories based on her own Hawaiian culture and community.

Independent filmmaker and hula dancer Lisette Marie Kaualena Flanary creates documentary films that celebrate a modern renaissance of hula and Hawaiian culture. Her film American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai'i aired on the critically acclaimed POV series. Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula, features legendary Hawaiian master hula teacher and entertainer, Robert Cazimero. She is also passionate about mentoring the next generation of filmmakers through her work as a professor of film at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

For half a century Myrna Kamae and Eddie Kamae were partners in life, music and film. Myrna produced and Eddie directed ten films about Hawaiian music, language and culture, beginning with Li'a Legacy of a Hawaiian Man in 1988. They documented renowned Hawaiian kumus (teachers) and kupuna (elders) to preserve their knowledge for future generations. Their music driven films include songs and performances of celebrated Hawaiian musicians and composers, including Eddie's band, the Sons of Hawai'i.

Director/producer Marlene Booth had a thirty year filmmaking career in Cambridge, MA before relocating to Honolulu in 2000 and turning her eye toward Hawai'i stories. Her films KU KANAKA: STAND TALL and PIDGIN THE VOICE OF HAWAI'I recount Hawai'i history and culture through powerful character driven narratives. PIDGIN won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2009 Hawai'i International Film Festival. She teaches film at the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Editor and producer Lisa Altieri is best known for the documentary features she has edited about Pacific Islander culture and history including Skin Stories, Papa Mau and Under a Jarvis Moon. Undaunted by the hundreds of hours of raw footage and thousands of images she must consider and shape into a compelling hour long film, she connects deeply to the Hawaiian stories she edits through the stories of her own family.

Animator Laura Margulies creates by hand using oil paints, watercolors and gouache to create lush moving paintings in motion. From her commissioned works for Sundance and PBS to her personal films like Rolling Down Like Pele, many of her animations are inspired by her work as a dancer and choreographer and her love of dance and music.