On his 16th birthday, Dr. Apples®’ mother was kidnapped by fairies and replaced with a doll. Each year, on his birthday, Dr. Apples® receives a doll which has his mother's essence.
Back in the 1990s I worked almost exclusively on Hawaiian language projects. The project was supposed to be a 45 minute movie and as we got deeper into it we decided to expand it to a feature. It won the 2000 Hawaii Filmmaker Award at HIFF and screened around the world.