Layover, on the Shore
url: www.layoverthefilm.com
Introduction to the Film:
"Layover, on the Shore" is a 20-minute film to be shot on location in Honolulu, Hawai'i and Los Angeles, California. "Layover, on the Shore" is writer-director Christopher Makoto Yogi’s MFA thesis film for the USC School of Cinematic Arts, produced under the supervision of faculty mentor Amanda Pope. The Hawaiian segment of the film will be shot over ten days in Honolulu using a combination of local talent and USC students and alumni. The film will be completed in the Spring of 2009.
"Layover, on the Shore" is a very intimate, personal, yet unconventional script that Christopher hopes will expose others to a side of Hawai'i that they may never have considered before. It contributes to a growing number of native films currently produced in the islands. Like the growing and inspired film industries of Taiwan, China, and South Korea that produced such acclaimed filmmakers as Hou Hsiao Hsien, Jia Zhangke, and Hong Sang-soo, Christopher envisions a Hawaiian cinema that highlights Hawai‘i’s cultural richness, diversity, and beauty.
Synopsis of the Film:
Seeking to present an authentic and intimate depiction of contemporary Hawai'i, "Layover, on the Shore" interweaves two stories, blurring the line between real and imagined notions of paradise.
The first is a love story of innocent bliss. Laura reconnects with her old friend Christian when she returns home to Hawai'i for her Grandmother's funeral. She realizes that the simple and perhaps idealized Hawai'i of her childhood seems to have passed. The second story takes a closer look at today's Hawai'i. Cameron is one of the many aimless and ineffectual youth that haunt Honolulu's nocturnal bars and streets. He drunkenly wanders through the dark and grungy downtown with Emi, a nostalgic young woman who inspires Cameron to make a film about his home—Innocent Bliss.
Together these two stories present two sides of one coin. "Layover, on the Shore" offers a nuanced portrait of a community in transition—a city of sadness, uncertain about the future and nostalgic for the past.