A Faithful Voice

A Faithful Voice

Bruce Von Stiers

I just finished watching a short drama film titled A Different Voice. It is about someone dealing with inadequacy as the demands of her life keep piling up.

Kailani is a young Hawaiian woman whose life is moving in different directions all at once. She has an essay project that she must write part of. But other things, such as surfing, seem to be getting in the way.

Kailani is trying to balance her responsibilities with the various things in her life that keep popping up. And she is not being very successful at doing so. And that is causing her a lot of angst.

When she finds out her essay co-author is not happy with her part, that is almost more than Kailani can take. But she finds solstice in her faith.

The film was written, directed and produced by Amia Voluntad. She is a photographer based in Hawaii and does freelance media work along with filmmaking. Two of her films, Silence and The Reconnection, were nominated for Best Picture at the Christian Youth Film Festival.

Julia Kamalei Pahukula stars as Kailani. She is a recent graduate of the Kamehameha Schools Maui . As far as I can tell, this is her first onscreen role. Her high school activities showed that she has a great respect for both her Hawaiian heritage and her faith.

Voluntad has stated that she wrote the film from introspection. A while back she had far too many things going on at the same time. She had feelings of inadequacy and being overwhelmed. Those feelings found their way onto the page and then onto the screen in the form of Kailani.

In a very small way, I can relate to the film. I have a full-time day job and certain family responsibilities. But I also like to write reviews, which can be quite time consuming. Although I'm not usually feeling inadequate, I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed.

A Different Voice is a very good narrative drama. We see how overwhelmed Kailani becomes and how she relies on her faith to move through it all.

The acting is well done, although we only hear Kailani's voice as the narrator of the story. The cinematography is great, especially the outdoor scenes.

A Different Voice was recently an official selection at the Flint Youth Film Festival. It has also been submitted to the Santa Clarita International Film Festival for possible selection for this year's upcoming festival.

To learn more about the film, or Amia Vountad, visit the official website for her production company, Written Truth Productions. That website is https://www.writtentruthproductions.com/

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