At dawn, Kelsey Akioka hikes out onto the Kalapana lava fields with a camera in hand and 80 lbs of gear on his back. We observe his methodical photography process amid one of nature’s most beautiful and chaotic events. Under the shade of a pop-up tent, he sells these photos at a small makeshift marketplace to apathetic tourists. By the end of the day, Kelsey returns home, exhausted and worn, to his son and elderly father. When he learns his friend is sacrificing his passion and moving away from home to pursue a better life for his family, Kelsey begins to question his own choices. As his frustrations spill into his home life, Kelsey must confront the turmoil stirring within him.
Cinematography
Lava fields shot like they're swallowing a man's soul.
Acting
Aoi Takeya's restrained breakdown says everything unsaid.
Direction
Erin Lau makes 19 minutes feel like a lifetime of regret.
Director
Erin Lau
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kalapana was destroyed by lava flows in 1990; Lau films on sacred Native Hawaiian land commodified for tourist consumption, mirroring Kelsey's own exploitation of his home.
The 80-pound gear becomes literal weight of inheritance—what fathers pass down, what sons must carry. Seki (Albert) was cast after Lau saw him in local Honolulu theater; his real generational distance from Murakami (Scottie) grounded the family tension.
US
