Anthony Banua-Simon started devouring Hollywood movies set in Kauai, Hawaii, as a child in the 1990s, in part to stay connected to the island where his mothers family lives. According to family lore, his great-grandfather Albert, a Filipino immigrant and labor organizer who worked in Kauais sugarcane fields before going back to the Philippines, appeared as an extra in the lost film Cane Fire, also known as White Heat , which was shot on a Kauai plantation in the early 1930s.

Banua-Simon tried to find that 1934 film and couldnt. Instead, he recovered the stories of family members and other local people, who often exist in the background of Hollywood productions. His 90-minute documentary, also titled Cane Fire , takes on more than a century of exploitation and displacement of the working class and Native Hawaiians and examines the sensational, sentimental, sometimes cringe-inducing Hollywood portrayals of the island as Kauai transitioned to a tourism-based economy catering to wealthy mainlanders.

In the process, Banua-Simons film highlights the experiences of local people trying to survive on an increasingly unaffordable island, including his former activist aunt, who now works at an upscale hotel; his cousins, who are struggling to stay afloat in low-paying service jobs; and a group of Native Hawaiian advocates working to reclaim their history, culture and land.

The Queens, New York-based filmmaker spoke to HuffPost to tell us more about Cane Fire, which will premiere online at the Hot Docs 2020 Festival on Thursday. Watch a trailer here .

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.