OREM — The culture shock is evident on the faces and in the eyes of the freshmen from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and other remote places when they arrive on the campus of BYU-Hawaii.
As they struggle with whether they will fit in — and knowing they likely will be unable to return home until graduation due to the high travel costs — the trepidation is amplified for many who audition for jobs at Hawaii’s most-popular tourist attraction, the Polynesian Cultural Center.
A new documentary by the director of “Meet the Mormons” colorfully and emotionally captures the literal, educational and emotional development journeys of the students who join the cast at the PCC and perform 19 hours a week to support their schooling.
The world premiere of “Sharing Aloha: A Backstage Look at the People Behind Hawaii’s Most Popular Attraction” drew local celebrities and plenty of laughter and tears Wednesday at Zions Indie Film Fest 2025 on the giant screen at the Scera Center for the Arts.
The Polynesian Cultural Center, a BYU-Hawaii work-study program, has made higher education virtually free for 60 years for thousands of students from the Asian Rim and Oceania who otherwise would never step foot in a college classroom.
Blair Treu, who wrote, directed and produced “Sharing Aloha” hopes it soon will find a place on a major streaming platform like Netflix, Hulu, Roku or Prime Video, but first it will tour the film festival circuit and hope to build momentum by word of mouth.
That already appears to be happening. An upcoming special screening in San Francisco swiftly sold out, Treu said.
The show introduces a couple of dozen students, including:
- Jimmy Keen, a dancer from Fiji who puts his mattress on the floor of his dorm room because he refuses to sleep in a bed until he can afford one for his mother back home.
- Jeri Galea’i and her twin cousins, Aaliyah and Chandae Ava, the first women to perform the fire knife dance at the center.
- Atea Lee Chip Sao, a Chinese/Tahitian-Filipino who is self-conscious about his smaller Asian body type compared to the larger Polynesian men in the show.
The story of one of the main female characters is too poignant and surprising to spoil, but she notes that most people see her big smile — and it truly is a radian smile — and don’t see the struggle it is for her to be away from her home on a small island a four-hour ferry boat ride from the main island of Tonga.
Another major character attended Wednesday’s world premiere. Malcolm Timoteo praised Treu for portraying his story, which includes a broad range of emotion from death and a birth and to a unique journey to the PCC stage and the role of the male lead in the nightly hit musical dance drama, “Hā: Breath of Life.”
Timoteo noted on screen that for many Polynesians, “You come out of the womb dancing.”
“The beauty of the film,” Timoteo said, “is that this magic that you feel watching just a couple of our stories is the same magic you hear from most of the students who work at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Those kids are real students. Those kids leave their families to find a better education ... It’s a wonderful thing that sometimes we take for granted, but it happens every single day. I’m grateful for this film because these stories are real.”
Timoteo was inspired to pursue the center’s lead role by a predecessor, Tane Falevai, who also attended the film’s premiere.
“I got a little emotional,” said a tearful Falevai, who now lives in Provo, “because I came through the PCC with students in those situations in the movie. I came from the same situation, and my wife had tears the whole time because it shows her what I’ve shared with her about my life up on the screen where it’s there for her to watch.”
The world premiere was attended by executive producers Randy and Sandra Rigby, who were major financial backers; former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and his wife, Jeanette; BYU kicker and Big 12 co-special teams player of the year Will Ferrin; and former BYU quarterback and current BYUtv Sports broadcaster Blaine Fowler and his wife, Brenda.
To join a list to learn when “Sharing Aloha” will hit theaters or a streaming service, visit www.sharingalohathemovie.com and enter an email address.
All proceeds earned by “Sharing Aloha” will go to the scholarship funds that support Polynesian Cultural Center student-performers, Treu said.
