Production
The documentary, titled "Hawaii's First Banker", tells the story of a man of integrity, commitment and caring. The core values he established long ago still guide us today.
Arirang is a compelling and moving two-part documentary beginning with the journey of more than 7,000 Koreans from their homeland to new lives on the sugar plantations of Hawaii, and continuing with the dramatic renewal of migration to America as a result of the Korean War and subsequent changes in U.S. immigration law. Producer Tom Coffman has created a dramatic documentary that covers the background of political forces in Korea that drove immigrants overseas, their arrival in Hawaii 100 years ago, and the work by political leaders in exile to restore sovereignty.
In 1998, a locally-made film exposed what Native Hawaiians had written, talked and sung about for a century: the true story of how and why Hawai‘i became part of the United States.
This 1995 film by Tom Coffman chronicles the history of the Hawaiʻi from arrival of the first Polynesian explorers through the establishment of four separate kingdoms on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi to the formation of one kingdom encompassing all islands. Featured in the film is Kumu John Keola Lake sharing stories and chant, artist Herb Kāne and author and scholar Rubellite Kawena Johnson.
