Revisiting the Classics: Cane Fire

Cane Fire​ examines the past and present of the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi, interweaving four generations of family history, numerous Hollywood productions, and troves of found footage to create a kaleidoscopic portrait of the economic and cultural forces that have cast Indigenous and working-class residents as “extras” in their own story.

Taking its title from what is thought to be the first Hollywood feature ever shot on the island of Kaua’i (1934’s White Heat, alternately titled Cane Fire, now considered lost), Cane Fire plumbs the archive of classic Hollywood cinema, tracing its complex ties to the ongoing colonization of Hawai’i and mobilizing cinema itself as an incendiary political tool.

Filmmaker Anthony Banua-Simon will join moderator Tyler Morgenstern(Assistant Director, Carsey-Wolf Center) for a post-screening discussion of Cane Fire.