Award-winning film, WAIKIKI to make Hawaiʻi premiere with Maui Mall showing Nov. 5

WAIKIKI hits theaters in major cities this week and will start showing in selected Honolulu theaters on Nov. 3, and at the Maui Mall on Nov. 5. WAIKIKI is a dramatic film that challenges the stereotypical image of paradise.

Filmmaker Christopher Kahunahana is in New York for the film’s Oct. 27 theater premiere at Regal Theater. It will also show at Regal Theaters in Miami and Los Angeles. 

WAIKIKI will be shown at theaters on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island and Maui.

On Sunday, Nov. 5 the first forty Maui Mall Theater guests will receive free tickets for each matinee showtimes (12:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m.). Tickets are on a first come, first serve basis. Maui residents are encouraged to arrive early.

“This is a small gesture to show our aloha for the Valley Isle as we bring WAIKIKI to the Maui Mall Theater,” said Kahunahana. “We don’t talk about how we are using our land and resources in sustainable ways. I hope that this film will stir up conversations as we reflect on how to do better.”

WAIKIKI earned a number of international film festival awards when it debuted in 2020 – from Best Feature Film to Best Cinematography. The film tells the story of Kea, (Danielle Zalopany) a hula dancer escaping her abusive boyfriend. She crashes her van into a mysterious man and finds herself flung into a surrealistic journey of self-exploration and reconnection to nature within the shadows of Waikiki. 

“The Hawaiʻi of my childhood is a world far different from the glossy misrepresentation presented in Hollywood films. The repercussions of colonialism and Statehood have left a people severed from ancestral land and culture,” said Kahunahana. 

For information on WAIKIKI Hawaiʻi showings visit www.waikikithemovie.com.