MANIFESTO [for Concrete Poetry]

Poet and independent filmmaker & producer Richard Hamasaki has been active in Hawai‘i’s literary and arts community for 50 years, collaborating with poets, musicians, visual artists, photographers, filmmakers, teachers and scholars locally, regionally, and internationally. In 2024, Auckland Museum in Aotearoa (New Zealand) acquired his archive of 800+ titles of books from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands, printed matter, art, photographs, recordings, videos, and silkscreens from his and Mark Hamasaki's ʻElepaio Press and art collective. In 2019, Richard executive produced a 20-minute award-winning narrative film "Down on the Sidewalk in Waikīkī" directed by filmmaker Justyn Ah Chong. Richard’s poetry-based films "I AM A PLASTIC" and "For He Who Wears the Sea Like a Malo" were screened during the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In 2024, he co-produced a short narrative HULI directed by Daniel Croix screened in February during the Honolulu African American Film Festival. In March and April 2024, HULI was screened at Make Believe Seattle and at Dreamspeakers Film Festival in Alberta, Canada and several other film festivals including a 3-day festival in Toyama, Japan. In this same year, Richard co-directed an innovative video poem MANIFESTO [for Concrete Poetry] featuring the late Wayne Kaumualii Westlake’s 3-page poem first published in 1979 in Seaweeds and Constructions issue No. 6 (Honolulu: ʻElepaio Press). MANIFESTO was exhibited as a vinyl wall display at the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum (now CAPITOL MODERN) during the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2022 co-curated by Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick. Our film MANIFESTO [for Concrete Poetry] honors poet Westlake who died 40 years ago on February 16, 1984. In October 2024, our film screened at two festivals, the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival and the Micheaux Film Festival. In June of 2025, Gray Area in San Francisco and the Crocker Museum in Sacramento screened "MANIFESTO" along with live performance featuring its three co-directors along with dancer Pei-Ling Kao. In July 18-19-20, 2025 MANIFESTO screened at film festival in Toyama, Japan. Richard continues to write and publish poetry, direct and produce independent films, mentor as well as work collaboratively with others, and will continue to help perpetuate his friend Westlake’s enduring legacy. Richard identifies as a Sansei, grandchild of immigrants from Japan who migrated to San Francisco, California, and to the Hawaiian Islands in the early 1900s and late 1800s, respectively.

Jody Stillwater, an influential filmmaker and artist in the San Francisco Bay Area, is renowned for his expertise in dynamic movement, semiotic language, time cycles, rhythm, and archetype synthesis. With over 30 films directed, his work often intricately explores the diverse Bay Area ecology and the theme of growth following disruption. An Emmy-nominated filmmaker and co-founder of Yanasa Creative Group, Jody has showcased his work at prestigious venues including the MoMA in NYC, Hammer Museum, de Young Museum, YBCA, Mutek, Gray Area, Honolulu Museum of Art, Transfer Gallery, and ISEA. He has been commissioned by notable companies such as Google, Meta/Facebook, Knotel, and Bentley Mills. Additionally, Jody has been a featured guest on NBC’s Asian Pacific America with Robert Handa, and been on the jury for the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the Creative Youth Awards. With a cultural background that is Chinese/Norwegian/Cherokee-American, he identifies as mixed.

Sebastian Galasso is an actor, film producer, & creative director born in Detroit and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work ranges from feature film, music video, installation film, and recorded music. He has contributed to the visual layout of galleries, retail establishments, as well as book and album releases. His cultural background is of mixed race, Black-American, Italian, and Indigenous American. He is interested in crafting a cinematic world that makes use of his own poetic and sometimes visceral experiences in environments such as Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and the Bay Area.