One of the first independent feature films produced in Hawai'i in contemporary times, PICTURE BRIDE offers a vital chapter of history never before explored in an American feature film.

PICTURE BRIDE is a 95-minute, 35mm dramatic feature film that tells the story of Riyo (Youki Kudoh), a young woman from Japan who ventures to Hawai'i as a picture bride in 1918. Riyo has always dreamed of a "love marriage," but by becoming a picture bride she can leave behind a difficult life in Japan. Through a matchmaker she exchanges photos and letters with Matsuji (Akira Takayama), a plantation laborer in Hawaii, and a match is made.

Upon her arrival in Hawaii, Riyo is shocked by her new reality: a husband 15 years older than his photograph and grueling labor in the canefields. The film follows Riyo's empowering friendship with Kana (Tamlyn Tomita), as well as her difficult coming-of-age in a volatile Hawaiian plantation community filled with hardship, struggle - and unexpected joy.

PICTURE BRIDE portrays the immigrant men and women of Hawai'i's early plantations who surmounted the initial stumbling blocks of racism and fear to lay the foundation for one of the world's most successful multi-ethnic societies. The oral history of these surviving plantation pioneers is both colorful and telling. In addition, their experience sheds light on some of the same challenges faced by immigrants today and by the communities they have come to call home. We dedicate PICTURE BRIDE to "all the women who made the journey" and hope that our efforts give inspiration and courage to others who dream of telling their own stories of heritage and history.