Media Kit

ʻONO, Foods of Aloha

ʻONO is a feature-length documentary on the food history of Hawaiʻi foods from “canoe foods” brought by Polynesian settlers to European explorers and missionaries to plantation-era immigrants from many countries who invented original recipes to entrepreneurs in the tiki, showroom and current day eras of Hawaiʻi tourism.

LOGLINE — Short
ʻONO means delicious in Hawaiian—but as beloved local eateries disappear and chains move in, Hawaiʻi faces an “OH NO!” moment. Join a delicious quest through the foods and cultures that came together to create Hawaiʻi’s unique food paradise—and discover what it will take to preserve and grow it.

LOGLINE — Long
ʻONO means delicious in Hawaiian—but as beloved local eateries disappear and chains move in, Hawaiʻi faces a cultural and economic “OH NO!” moment.

Is there hope for Hawaiʻi’s food future?

Part food encyclopedia, part storytelling adventure, ʻONO explores the iconic dishes, people, and places born from generations of cultures sharing, adapting, collaborating, and coexisting in the islands. The result is a food culture found nowhere else on Earth.

Join a delicious quest through Hawaiʻi’s past and present to discover what makes its food truly ʻono—and what it will take to preserve and grow Hawaiʻi’s unique food paradise for generations to come.

BACKSTORY — The Global Aloha Movement
ʻONO is the third documentary in our Global Aloha series of films that explore Hawaiʻi and the many ways aloha takes form. The first in the series, SHAKA, A Story of Aloha explored the origins and meanings behind Hawaiʻi’s iconic gesture and ultimately helped inspire Project Shaka and the broader Global Aloha movement. The second film, THE 100TH, Seeds of Aloha explores the extraordinary story of Hawaiʻi’s 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team—and how men who endured unimaginable war planted seeds of aloha that continue to grow generations later. And now, ʻONO explores aloha through food—the flavors, people, traditions, inventions, and gathering places that have made Hawaiʻi one of the world’s most distinctive food cultures.

Media Contact: Steve Sue, producer/writer/director | steve[at]id8.org | (808) 220-6449 | @histevesue

For more, see Filmmaker’s Statement » | Logline & Synopsis »