Solrun Hoaas

Aya, a young Japanese war bride, arrives in a small Australian town during the 1950s. She and her husband, Frank, are very much in love. Yet somehow Aya still feels more comfortable with the Japanese-speaking Mac, a close friend of Frank's, whose wartime experiences left him with a deep regard for Japanese culture. But Frank wants Aya to forget her Japanese past. Aya finds work in a Japanese restaurant and has a short affair with an Australian-Japanese businessman. With her marriage falling apart, Aya leaves Frank.

Explores the tension between a Japanese theatrical mask-maker and the mask itself.

This documentary records Hoaas' personal encounter with the closed society of North Korea. As with her earlier work, Hoaas approaches her film as a cumulation of fragments encompassing different perspectives that together offer a point of entry into a complex society. Her diary-style narration signals her limited personal perspective into this culture, especially given the brief filming period and her difficulty in breaking through the facade of the showcase version of Korea insisted upon by her official guides. Hoaas' restricted visual access, and her reluctance to present over-familiar images of the hardship and depravation informed her decision to use this narrative device to frame her film within the context of the famine crisis that began in 1997 following the failure of crops caused by two consecutive years of heavy flooding.

GREEN TEA AND CHERRY RIPE tells the story of six Japanese women who married Australian servicemen after the Second World War, their efforts to build new lives in Australia and the challenges they faced in an alien land.

A documentary on daily life on a small depopulated island using a combination of diary narration and English subtitles. The film uses an ebb-and-flow structure to capture the recurring events and images of life on an island that once had over 600 people, but now only little over 40 due to the move to the cities 'for the sake of the children's education.' -Ronin Films

A portrait of the only remaining priestess who lives permanently on Hatoma. She also runs the only remaining shop, thus providing for the islanders in both a spiritual and material sense. Through a series of quiet conversations, the film reflects the priestess's gentle personality and her own view of the role of ritual in the daily life of the island. -Ronin Films

Documentary filmmaker researching film on motherhood faces personal decision on whether or not to have a child of her own This film blurs the boundaries between documentary and fiction and develops into a critique of documentary methods.

A mini film from Hatoma showing a 76-year-old woman weaving a basket for the fishing. During the task, which takes from morning till late afternoon, she talks about herself and her life. -Ronin Films

RUSHING TO SUNSHINE is a personal essay film that looks at South Korea's uncomfortable but growing acceptance of North Korea over a two year period. Hoaas gains unprecedented access to former political prisoners, student dissidents and others affected by a Government caught between its new open door 'Sunshine Policy' and the remnants of a cold war anti-Communist mindset. The film is a combination of the essay genre and a filmmaker's journey of exploration and probing, to unravel the things that intrigue and puzzle her about Korean society and its engagement with the North. It draws on footage recorded over a period of two years from March 1998 to March 2000 which has been a period of economic upheavel as well as enormous change in Korea, particularly in the relationship to North Korea.

A fictional comedy about Australian and Japanese culture clash.