
Q&A: Native Filmmaker Christopher Kahunahana on His Project ‘Karaoke King’
Last week, the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program kicked off its annual fellowship with a four-day workshop on the homelands of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico. On the heels of his rigorous week at the Native Lab, Native Hawaiian filmmaker Christopher Kahunahana opened up about his creative impulses and how he’s arrived at his current project, Karaoke Kings, a singular story oriented around the homeless community in Honolulu’s Chinatown. Can you offer a brief description of your project and your personal connection to—or why you’re compelled to tell—this story?During the past 10 years that I’ve worked in Chinatown I’ve seen the homeless population grow immensely.