Saipan filmmaker receives prestigious Hawaii film award for "Kunyari"

An intimate perspective into love and longing is how a Hawaii film jury described a short film called "Kunyari" by writer-director Justin Ocampo.

"Kunyari, in the Filipino language, means to pretend. And the way I see the film is it examines all the different ways in which Filipinos pretend in a very lighthearted and entertaining type way," he told KUAM.

"Our intention is not really to expose. It's more so just to shine a light upon these different performative social behaviors that Filipinos may exhibit and the reasons why they do so.  And the lens through which we see that is through the emotional journey of the main love team Isa and Allos," he said. 

Ocampo, who grew up on Saipan, took home the inaugural Hawaii International Film Festival and BMW Hawaii Driven Student Filmmaker Award for his film. 

The jury said, “Its strong aesthetic choices, well-written characters, and dreamy cinematography create a genuine and refreshing portrayal of Filipino culture.” They added, “In a time of divisiveness, this story highlights love in all of its forms through an underrepresented lens.”

Ocampo added, "So their journey is all about, you know, pretending to be together at a party in the sort of act of self-preservation against the expectations of their family members."

The University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Cinematic Arts graduate first turned to film in high school at Mount Carmel on Saipan. Since then, he has passionately pursued the craft of telling culturally nuanced and deeply personal stories.

He said, "And it's just so great to kind of feel the recognition of the filmmaking community, you know, especially from people who have been more established and also see their interest in the film, especially from people that I look up to and people who are also award-winning filmmakers from HIFF."

Ocampo and his team have screened the film in various communities in Hawaii, including at his university and a local high school. They plan to showcase the short film throughout Asia and make it publicly available online in a year. 

He said, "So I took a risk. I did something different. And I am just very happy that it paid off. And that we are able to go to this length and this rewarding extent for our world premiere."