Parity Pipeline

Genre

Synopsis

WANLE is a 12-minute short film written by Alison Week and Zoë Eisenberg based on the short story by Kristiana Kahakauwila from her debut story collection “This is Paradise.” Mourning the murder of her father, second generation Hawaiian-Filipino cockfighter Wanle trains the fighting birds her father left behind on the rural farm in upcountry Maui she shares with her Native American boyfriend Cal. Wanle returns to the cockfight derby against the wishes of Cal, where her uncles Lee and Zoo lose big. They tell Wanle they never lost when Wanle’s dad was around and blame her father’s rival Mr. Oh for both her father’s death and their subsequent losses in the fights. Her uncles wish someone else would beat Mr Oh like her father used to, and Wanle gets an idea: why not her? If she were to beat Mr. Oh in the fall derby, she could both avenge her father and prove that, like her dad, she’s the best “pitta” around. At home, Wanle trains her birds harder than ever. Though Cal continues to pressure her to give up her birds and her family’s history in the violent sport, when the big fall derby rolls around, Wanle signs up and makes sure her uncles tell Mr. Oh that she is coming for him in the ring.