From the director of the Sundance Audience Award-winning film PICTURE BRIDE ( www.picturebridefilm.com ), comes a new short film based on the acclaimed novel, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers , by Hawaii writer Lois-Ann Yamanaka.   A comic coming-of-story about 13-year-old Lovey Nariyoshi, FISHBOWL brings to life the brilliant and idiosyncratic vision of a local writer whose work has captivated audiences around the world.

Shot on location in Honolulu and the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii,   FISHBOWL brings to life Yamanaka's bitingly funny account about growing up in Hawaii where for some kids, life was anything but a "paradise."

FISHBOWL is a fresh take on one of America's most popular tourist destinations, yet least understood culture.   Founded on a sugar plantation economy that attracted an intense melting pot of world cultures, the impact of turn-of-the-century Hawaii continues to be felt on every level, socially, economically--and as will be seen in this film, culturally and linguistically.  

Boasting a cast made up mostly of local kids--most of whom have never acted before--another exciting and unusual aspect of "Fishbowl" is its unprecedented use of language.    The voiceover and dialogue is spoken entirely in Hawaiian Pidgin English, a rich and vibrant American Creole that evolved out of plantation culture, where diverse cultures had to create a new language to communicate with each other.   This is an American vernacular that rightfully takes its place alongside America's host of regional dialects that speaks to its diversity and history.   Long regarded as a social and cultural impediment, local educators have historically sought to eradicate Pidgin and implement Standard English among Hawaii contemporary youth. "Fishbowl" celebrates the poetry and power of Hawaiian Pidgin English.