Riding the Waves of Resilience in UNCLE BULLY’S SURF SKOOL
Written By Olivia Trice
A film review for the Hawai'i International Film Festival, written as a fellow in the HIFF Online Creatives & Critics Immersive (HOCCI). The program supports sustainable film criticism in Hawai'i through mentorship and paid career opportunities, and the 2023 cohort was backed by Critical Minded. My review covers a documentary that started as a portrait of a Maui surf instructor teaching youth through the pandemic. After the Lahaina fires, it became a visual archive of the town before and after the disaster, and a story about community resilience and kuleana.
The Art of Survival in ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
Written By Olivia Trice
A review written as a HOCCI fellow at the 42nd Hawai'i International Film Festival. HOCCI uses influencer branding strategies to open career paths in film criticism for Hawai'i-based writers, wherever they live. This piece looks at Laura Poitras's documentary on photographer and activist Nan Goldin and her P.A.I.N. campaign against the Sackler family's opioid profits. I focus on how Poitras's slideshows, audio interviews, and protest footage turn an activist story into a layered cinematic portrait.
