Hawaii International Film Festival 2009

If you enjoyed RENT or LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR, you will love FRUIT FLY! H.P. Mendoza created this funny and engrossing musical full of catchy tunes and interesting visual effects. The story follows Bethesda, a young Filipina American, trying to find a venue for her performance art piece in San Francisco. She lives in a house for struggling artists along with Windy, the fun loving gay guy, Sharon and Karen, the lesbians in love and Jacob, a troubled runaway. Through the lighthearted humor and hilarious songs (with titles like 'My Makeup,' 'Fag-Hag' and 'Public Transit'), deeper stories emerge and the five housemates must make choices and come face to face with their problems. Sure to be a crowd favorite at this year's HIFF, FRUIT FLY is fresh, fun and full of life lessons. The soundtrack and video game effects round out the experience! FRUIT FLY won the Audience Award at this year's San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. -- Barbara Bumatay