My Partner, directed by Keli’i Grace, is the first Filipino American and Hawaiian language film set on the island of Maui before the fire destroyed nearly all of Lahaina. You don’t see too much of Lahaina in this film. My Partner played the film/festival circuit, as is the case for most independent films, and was deservedly awarded many festival laurels. The film centers around Edmar, a Filipino studious gamer portrayed by Jayron Munoz, and Pili as played by Karpov Dudoit, who is a Native Hawaiian boy set to star in the live action remake of the 2002 animated film, LILO and Stitch.
Edmar and his Filipino friends fish in a stream to feed his family and is encountered by Pili and his Hawaiian friends who let them know the fish is not meant to be caught but was restocked to replenish the native pond, There is the altercation fist fight between two different ethnic groups, The two/boys attend the same school and are brought together by a teacher to team up on a project together, a presentation on a food that an ethnic group prepares. This brings the two antagonists together. The two over time fall in love and in the end everything works out well.
The film can be pitched as Romeo meets Romeo in a tropical setting with a fairly happy ending. I am glad that this movie was not the usual boy meets girl story because it made a much more engaging story.
I am not the demographic for this film, as a 60 year old Asian male born and raised in Honolulu, in a different time and place, I did not watch this film in the ideal screening format. Despite this, I found myself enjoying this film. The acting and directing felt naturalistic, The story resolved itself. The two ethnic groups Filipino and Hawaiian became friends at the end. I found it interesting that each ethnic group on occasion spoke their group’s language, Tagalog or Hawaiian. There are Hawaiian language immersion programs so there is a cohort of people who speak Hawaiian, and if you are a recent Filipino immigrant, you would speak Tagalog. Historically the Filipinos in the Hawaiian islands are from Ilocos Norte and speak Illocano,
This film can be watched by all ages as the romance is not explicit and is understated. This film is well worth viewing on many levels.
