“Presented as part of Hana Hou: HIFF43 Award Winning Shorts”
Throw-net fishing is a long practiced art in Hawaii that is passed down between generations. It is a style of fishing that is often done with a close family member or friend, allowing for the strengthening of important relationship bonds. In a remote part of Hawaii, a deathly ill father and net-maker longs for his two estranged sons to find forgiveness. At his request, the two brothers reluctantly set out with a throw-net to catch their father a kala fish. Along the way they are forced to revisit childhood memories and express long-held feelings which helps them heal the deep hurt that drug addiction has brought to their family. In the Hawaiian language, the word “kala” refers both to the unicorn fish as well as the act of forgiveness.