TRAILERS

'I Was A Simple Man' Trailer - A Ghost Story Set on O'ahu, Hawai'i

by Alex Billington
October 14, 2021
Source: YouTube

"Dying isn't simple, is it?" Strand Releasing has unveiled an official trailer for an acclaimed indie film titled I Was A Simple Man, which originally premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film is made by a Hawaiian filmmaker named Christopher Makoto Yogi, his second feature, and it earned some rave reviews from critics. It's a gorgeous slow burn work of art. A family in Hawai'i faces the imminent death of their eldest as the ghosts of the past haunt the countryside. The director explains: "It was always the goal to make it feel honest to my experience growing up in Hawaii. When I think back to my childhood, I was always surrounded by ghost stories… it's very much a vibrant part of the culture. They are told in the same ways that one would trade memories." I Was A Simple Man stars Steve Iwamoto and Constance Wu, with Tim Chiou, Kanoa Goo, Chanel Akiko Hirai, Hau'oli Carr, and Nelson Lee. This looks stunning! I missed it at Sundance, and have been looking forward to catching it ever since then.

Here's the official US trailer (+ poster) for Christopher Makoto Yogi's I Was A Simple Man, on YouTube:

I Was A Simple Man is a ghost story set in the pastoral countryside of the north shore of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Revealed in four chapters, it tells the story of an elderly man facing the end of his life, visited by the ghosts of his past. Incorporating familial history and mythology, dream logic and surrealism, I Was a Simple Man is a time-shifting, kaleidoscopic story of a fractured family facing the death of their patriarch that will take us from the high-rises of contemporary Honolulu to pre-WWII pastorals of O‘ahu and, finally, into the beyond. I Was A Simple Man is written and directed by Hawaiian native filmmaker Christopher Makoto Yogi, his second feature film after August at Akiko's, and numerous other short films as well. Produced by Yamato Cibulka, Sarah S. Kim, Matthew Petock, and Christopher Makoto Yogi. This initially premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Strand Releasing will debut I Was A Simple Man in select US theaters (NY + Hawaii) on November 19th, 2021 this fall. For more info, visit their site.

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