Synopsis

A valiant island warrior, wounded in battle against foreign invaders, falls into a mysterious underwater world. Everything changes when the octopus who rescues him transforms into a handsome young man.

Director Biography – Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson 

Director and animator Daniel Sousa is an Oscar-nominated animation director who uses the themes embedded in myths and legends to examine archetypes of human nature. Born on Cape Verde, he approaches filmmaking from a painter’s perspective, focusing on the fragility of fleeting moments, memories and perceptions. His work includes Feral, which premiered at Sundance and was nominated for best animated short film at the 86th Academy Award, Fable, which won awards at festivals around the world, and Native Stories, nationally broadcast on PBS. Sousa has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Harvard University, The Museum School, The Art Institute of Boston and the Animation Workshop in Denmark.

Director and writer Dean Hamer is a New York Times Book of the Year author and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker dedicated to telling stories that emanate from the voices of those on the outside. His documentaries and animated films with Qwaves creative partner and husband Joe Wilson have screened and won awards at Toronto, Tribeca, Berlin, and Annecy, and have been viewed by millions of people on PBS, Netflix, and international broadcast networks. Kapaemahu, Dean and Joe’s previous collaboration with Daniel Sousa and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, was shortlisted for Best Animated Short at the 93rd Academy Awards. It was subsequently developed into a children’s book, feature documentary, and immersive museum exhibition.

Director and producer Joe Wilson, an Emmy and GLAAD Award-winning filmmaker and longtime human rights activist, helped pioneer the movement to use film and media to catalyze community engagement, dialogue and action on a range of often overlooked issues. From LGBTQ equality in small town America to gender diversity in public schools, from cultural erasure in Hawai’i to the criminalization of sexual and gender minorities in the Pacific Islands, Wilson’s Qwaves impact campaigns have helped to elevate and center the stories of affected communities in movements for change and have been supported by the Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communications, ACLU, and Native Hawaiian Education Council.

Director Statement

LGBTQ people are under attack in disheartening ways around the world. From Florida to Texas, Russia to Uganda, there has been a wave of restrictions and rollbacks that threaten our dignity, our identities, even our very right to exist. In this climate, as love like ours once again becomes love which dare not speak its name, we believe that telling a queer love story with a happy ending is an urgent and beautiful form of resistance.

As we searched for a title that would express the depth of the relationship between the two characters in this story, we realized the only word that would suffice comes from the place we are fortunate to call home: Aikāne, the Hawaiian term of respect for intimate friends of the same sex. Inspired by that unique understanding and embrace, we created an imaginary world that also drew from myths and legends, places and peoples across space and time, in which the characters’ mutual magnetism is celebrated rather than scorned, arousing strength rather than weakness.

We hope this heroic gay romance reflects the world we’d all like to live in – a world where courage has no limit and love has no bounds.