Bosko and the Rebirth of Tiki

Korla

September 2015 •English

Organist Korla Pandit was an alluring enigma, a television pioneer and the godfather of exotica music. He never spoke a word on 900 episodes of his groundbreaking 1950s TV program but captured the hearts of countless Los Angeles housewives with his soulful, hypnotic gaze and theatrical performance of popular tunes and East Indian compositions on the newly developed Hammond B3 organ. In the ’90s he resurfaced as a cult figure with the tiki/lounge music aficionados and ended up immortalized in the film Ed Wood. Often pegged as a “man of mystery,” Korla lived up to that billing when he took an amazing secret with him to his grave in 1998—one that is finally revealed in KORLA.

The Dvd of Tiki Vol. 1- Paradise Lost

July 2012 •English

Armchair traveling to the most exotic chapter of American pop culture! Come fly with us and relive the rise and fall of polynesian pop. Be there. See the places and the people. Hear the stories from eye witnesses and real tiki aficionados like Martin Denny, Leroy Schmaltz & Bob van Oosting, Eric Askew, the Bali Hai Boys, Sven Kirsten, Otto von Stroheim, Shag, Beachbum Berry and many more. The DVD OF TIKI, Vol. I “Paradise Lost” explores the origins of the myth of the Souths Seas paradise and follows a nation on their transition from the puritan 1950s to the sexual revolution of the 70s. The Sixties, the heyday of Tiki offered wild island lifestyle with exotic sounds and intoxicating concoctions without endangering the given moral and social rules at that time.

Tikimentary: In Search of the Lost Paradise

June 2010 •English

Tikimentary - In Search of The Lost Paradise is a road-movie in search of the ultimate Tiki experience. Take a trip through San Diego's Tiki Oasis, The Hukilau, in Fort Lauderdale and the Luau By The Lake, in fabulous Lake George. Visit some of the best Tiki home bars of the US, and meet their owners. Discover the secret connection between Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and burlesque queen Mimi Le Meaux. An intimate portrait of this new exotic urban tribe: the so-called "tikiphiles". They drink tropical drinks, dress in vintage clothes, listen to Exotica music, but most of all are a big and colorful family.

Blue Hawaii

November 1961 •English

Chad Gates has just been discharged from the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surf-board, his beach buddies and his girlfriend.

My Dream Is Yours

April 1949 •English

Conceited singer Garry Mitchell refuses to renew his radio contract, so agent Doug Blake decides to find a new personality to replace him. In New York, he finds Martha Gibson, a single mother with a great voice. He arranges for her to move to Hollywood, but then has a problem trying to sell her to the show's sponsor. Doug tries every trick he can think of to make Martha a star, and as the two work more closely, he falls in love with her. Complicating matters further, Martha meets and becomes attracted to Garry.

Don't Make Waves

June 1967 •English

Carlo Cofield vacations to Southern California, where he quickly becomes immersed in the easy-going local culture, getting entangled in two beachside romances.

Donovan's Reef

June 1963 •English

After her great aunt's death, a high-society woman arrives on a Hawaiian island in search of the heir - the father she has never met.

Murder, My Sweet

December 1944 •English

After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.

Dangerous Money

October 1946 •English

A treasury agent on the trail of counterfeit money confides to fellow ocean liner passenger, Charlie Chan, that there have been two attempts on his life.

Hell's Half Acre

June 1954 •English

A woman travels to Hawaii to find out if a man in prison there is actually her missing husband.

Witness for the Prosecution

December 1957 •English

An ailing famous barrister agrees to defend a man in a sensational murder trial where his self-possessed wife's unconvincing testimony confuses him.

Road to Bali

January 1953 •English

Having to leave Melbourne in a hurry to avoid various marriage proposals, two song-and-dance men sign on for work as divers. This takes them to an idyllic island on the way to Bali where they vie with each other for the favours of Princess Lala. The hazardous dive produces a chest of priceless jewels which arouses the less romantic interest of some shady locals.

Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N.

July 1966 •English

Lt. Robin Crusoe is a navy pilot who bails out of his plane after engine trouble. He reaches a deserted island paradise where he builds a house and begins to adjust to life. He is in for trouble however when a local girl is banished to the island by her father, who then comes after Crusoe.

Aloma of the South Seas

August 1941 •English

A young South Seas native boy is sent to the U.S. for his education and returns to his island after his father dies to try to stop a revolution.

Rainbow Island

October 1944 •English

Three merchant seamen fleeing the Japanese take refuge on a Pacific island, where they come across a doctor and his daughter who take care of the natives, a hostile tribe that wants to kill the sailors for trespassing on their sacred ground.

Pearl of Paradise

April 2024 •English

After unearthing a rare black pearl on a South Pacific island, two beachcombers unleash the wrath of a mysterious force.

Squeezed Up - Tales of Polynesian Pop and Kustom Kulture

February 2020 •English

Ten Days, Nineteen Cities, Twenty-Eight Locations, Two Hot Rods, Five Guys, and a Race. Squeezed Up is an unforgettable road trip across Southern California, combining Hot Rodding, Polynesian Pop, Tiki culture, Tattoos, and Kustom Kulture into a stunning and crazy master-piece. Experience every bump in the road with "The Wild Bunch," as they journey to preserve the past, while meeting with Painters, Surfers, Tattoo Artists, Bartenders, Tiki Makers, Hot Rod Builders, and more. Don't take yourself too seriously, conserve history, preserve and don't consume. Keep what makes you feel alive and live it. Come and join us on the road.

Tikimentary

June 2009 •English

Every year a group of people get together for a weekend where they listen to Exotica Music, dress in Hawaiian style clothes, appreciate Polynesian Art and consume mean Tropical drinks. They are the Tikiphiles and Tikimentary is their story.

Hold on Tight

July 2011 •English

A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.

Un volto tra la folla

January 2008 •Italian