THE STORY
"Ethan lives separate lives as a socially awkward college student by day and a fearlessly glamorous drag queen by night. That is, until his life is turned upside-down by Kekoa, his school crush. As his two worlds collide, Ethan is forced to confront his fear of change in order to win the boy of his dreams."
THE WRITERS BEHIND THE STORY
TONY DIA
Director, Writer
Tony Dia is a first gen Fil-Am whose goal is to shine a light on local POC as well as queer communities and stories through film. He hopes to serve as a platform to the underrepresented, colorful voices that he believes should be heard. He is a two-time Abernethy Screenwriting Award winner and SCA’s Best Live Action and Best Experimental Film recipient.
VON Ka’anā’anā
Writer, Production Designer, Co-Producer
Von Ka’anā’anā is a Kānaka Maoli + Tangata Whenua O’ahu-born Māhū Drag Artist. He is the set designer of “The Party Monsters” cast performing every first Friday at Scarlet Honolulu. He is an advocate for radical social activism, indigenous freedom, and queer expression.
writer’s statement
“We believe QTIBIPOC deserve happy endings. Our purpose behind the creation of this project was to uplift the talents, stories and spirits of the vibrant and diverse Queer community of Hawai’i. We as Māhū belong to a chosen family whose lineage trace back to ancient times- as such we want to remind the world of our ability to heal through story telling. We created a universe of Homonormativity where people can be themselves without cause or restraint. We wanted a story that is free from queer traumatic experience used as a vehicle for cishet entertainment- this is a film made by Queer people.”
writteN by
Von Ka'anā'anā & Tony Dia
BASED ON A SCREENPLAY BY
Tony Dia
WHAT IS “I AM”
I AM is a queer short film that will premiere at the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival on September 22nd. It is produced at the School of Cinematic Arts at UH Mānoa.
Filming dates
Filming has concluded.