Maui made film, ‘Uncle Bully’s Surf Skool’ to begin theatrical run en route to qualify for consideration in Academy Awards

Maui-made film “Uncle Bully’s Surf Skool” will have its Academy-qualifying theatrical run at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, CA, Sept 13-19 at 1 p.m. daily. The film will play as part of the “Shorts By The Sea” program with other qualifying short films.

The week-long theatrical release in one of six cities identified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is part of the standards outlined for consideration for its prestigious awards program.

Uncle Bully’s Surf Skool, from Inflatable Film, is about local Maui surf instructor Robert “Bully” Kotter and his mentorship of underserved youth during the pandemic. This powerful story about one person’s quest to shape a hopeful future for the next generation is one of the last stories filmed in Lahaina before the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires.

Leah Warshawski, Producer/Director and Todd Soliday, Director/Editor (based on Maui) began filming Kotter’s work with local children who lived in Lahaina encampments and his free surf lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Three years later, the fires destroyed Bully’s home and business, left several of the film’s crew and cast homeless, and threatened many of the encampments where the children lived. After the fires, Leah and Todd picked up their cameras once again to share the ongoing story of resilience. 

“Since day one of filming we had the goal of qualifying the film for an Academy Award. The fact that it’s finally happening four years later is very surreal. Especially since it’s at the Santa Monica Laemmle Film Center, a theater that I used to live a few blocks away from! We are continuously grateful for the opportunity to share our film with the world, and to keep Lahaina in people’s hearts and minds,” said Warshawski.  

This short film received acclaim at the Hawai’i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani, winning the Audience Award for Best Documentary, and has since won four other awards at film festivals across the United States. Earlier this year in April, the film team traveled to the midwest for screenings and community impact events at a prison, work-release program, middle school, high school and in theaters. 

The Maui documentary short has a run time of 39 minutes.