Synopsis
Hula Girls (フラガール, 2006) is a Japanese drama you can watch online on iFILM. It is 1965, and Japan is moving off coal. Mines are shutting down across the country; entire communities lose their income overnight. In a small northern town, someone floats a desperate idea: use the local hot springs to build a Hawaiian resort and turn miners' daughters into professional hula dancers — in a matter of months, starting from nothing.
Tokyo dance instructor Mayu Nishikawa arrives skeptical and doesn't pretend otherwise. The girls have never seen a hula performance outside a magazine. Yu Aoi and Yasuko Matsuyuki anchor the film as a pair who begin as adversaries. Director Sang-il Lee based it on real events — the Joban Hawaiian Center opened in Iwaki in 1966 and still draws visitors today as Spa Resort Hawaiians.
The film claimed the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture. It is warm without being sentimental: the dancing matters because jobs and dignity and a whole town's future depend on it. Stream Hula Girls online on iFILM.
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