Cane Fire
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release: Premiere Showcase
USA | 2020 | DCP | 90 min.
Director: Anthony Banua-Simon
The exotic beauty of Kaua’i has been captured in countless Hollywood productions and made the Hawaiian island a premiere site for tourism, but these industries exact a heavy toll on the Indigenous and working-class residents who have always been hired to serve as mere “extras” while their own stories go untold. Anthony Banua-Simon’s documentary Cane Fire brings together archival footage and conversations with family members and activists to provide a closer look at the island’s histories of conflict and its people’s continued struggles for sovereignty. Co-presented with the support of UW Madison’s Asian American Media Showcase.
Screenings mostly take place at 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue. Once-a-month Sunday afternoon screenings take place at the Chazen Museum of Art, 750 University Avenue. In accord with current UW Madison policies, masks are required for entry to our venues. All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public. Please visit our website for a complete listing of programs and descriptions from September 3 through December 18.
Crafted with the same curatorial acuity we bring to our repertory series, the Premiere Showcase presents exciting new documentaries and feature films by contemporary directors that would otherwise have no theatrical venue in the area. Fall 2021 selections include Swedish satirist Roy Andersson’s final film, About Endlessness; A new work of claustrophobic horror, acclaimed at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, We Need to Do Something; Michel Franco’s prize-winning and shattering depiction of a Mexican military coup, New Order; Cane Fire, a look at how indigenous Hawaiians struggle to find themselves represented in movies filmed on location in the islands, presented through the Asian American Media Showcase; and the dark fantasy-comedy A Dim Valley, from UW Madison PhD Brandon Colvin.