“CRAFT OF SPEED” AT THE MOONEYES HAWAII 2025 OHANA WEEKEND

Mahalo to Ryota Katayama, a car enthusiast and photographer, who covered our cinema event as part of the exciting MOONEYES Hawaii 2025 Ohana Weekend! Cars and photography go hand-in-hand—a great way to document the beautiful cars, the vibrant scene, and its rich culture. We’re always inspired by the photographers and filmmakers whom we meet in this inviting space.

Check out Ryota’s great work:
@ikinuku.hawaii

Buy tickets to our screening with Namsayin in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.eventive.org

MAHALO FROM “CRAFT OF SPEED”!

Mahalo to everyone who attended our MOONEYES Hawaii 2025 Ohana Weekend / “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary screening at the Bob Bosley Museum, presented by NAPA Hawaii!

We enjoyed meeting all of the MOONEYES fans and automotive enthusiasts. We loved finding out how we’re all interconnected through cars, bikes, and community.

Our heartfelt thanks to Tad & Janice Matsuno and their family for partnering with us to bring our film to Hawaii. We deeply appreciate your warm hospitality.

Our deepest gratitude to Kirk Hubbard for all his vision and hard work in organizing this cinema event. This screening wouldn’t have been possible without his assistance.

Thank you to Bob & Teri Bosley and the Bob Bosley Museum for hosting our special event and allowing us to turn your beautiful museum into an inviting MOONEYES Hawaii clubhouse.

Thank you to Darryl Turner and NAPA Hawaii for their generous support of our special event. We’re very proud to work with Napa Hawaii, an institution on the islands who helps people to take care of their cars and life’s journeys.

Many thanks to all of our hardworking volunteers, who converted an eclectic museum into a unique theater, turned the art-filled streets of Kaka’ako into a curated hot rod showcase, and welcomed the guests with aloha.

A family gathering is not complete without good food. Thank you for the ono grindz from our vendors: Eva Brand Hot Dogs @ewa_brand_hotdogs_, Ono Viet @onoviethi, and Ramen Spot Beach @ramenspotbeach.

Special thanks to SPOCOM Hawaii for hosting its hip automotive rave.

As always, thank you to MOONEYES owner Shige Suganuma, Emi Suganuma, Chico Kodama, Sandy Kodama, and Wildman for traveling all the way to Hawaii from Santa Fe Springs, California and Yokohama, Japan to support our screening.

MOONEYES Hawaii Ohana Weekend is a fitting name for this special event because it’s filled with love and aloha. Mahalo!

To buy tickets to our next screening with Namsayin in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.eventive.org

To pre-order our “Craft of Speed” Photography Book:
https://www.craftofspeed.com/store/photographybook

“CRAFT OF SPEED” IS NOMINATED FOR “BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY” AT THE 2025 INTERNATIONAL MOTOR FILM AWARDS

We’re excited to announce that our “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary is nominated for “Best Feature Documentary” at the 2025 International Motor Film Awards. The black-tie awards gala will take place on Thursday, 10/2/2025 at the majestic Alexandra Palace’s Victorian Theatre and East Court in London.

The prestigious International Motor Film Awards, which has been running for 13 years, is a relatively young awards competition. In this short time, they have become the premiere automotive film awards—“the Oscars of the motoring world.”

We’re deeply honored by this nomination. There are so many great automotive films being produced each year, including feature dramas and documentaries, short dramas and documentaries, commercial and promotional films, journalism and event films, and more. To be nominated along with the other talented nominees, who are all passionate about cars and motorcycles, is humbling.

To be seen by the public and even selected by a respected film festival or awards competition, whether it’s an automotive one or not, is a difficult feat. Every year, there are more than 11,000 submissions to the venerable Sundance Film Festival, which is a good indication of the amount of films being produced annually. This doesn’t include commercial or promotional films or journalism and event films. It also doesn’t include what is known as “content” on social media. In many ways, they are all competing for not just industry awards but more so public attention.

We’re deeply grateful to MOONEYES Owner Shige Suganuma, MOONEYES President USA Chico Kodama, Dean Moon Jr., and the entire MOONEYES family; our talented crew, including Producer/Co-Director of Photography Tuan Tran, Composer Sven Faulconer, Co-Composer Anthony Loomis, Sound Supervisor/Sound Designer & Editor/Foley Artist Jeff Hutchins, Dialogue Editor/Re-Recording Mixer Bruce Greenspan, and Design Director/Graphic Designer Sven Igawa; our Fiscal Sponsor, the respected International Documentary Association; all our generous grantors, donors, and supporters; and MOONEYES fans worldwide.

To learn more about our 2025 International Motor Film Awards “Best Feature Documentary” Nomination:
https://www.motorfilmawards.com/2025

To buy tickets to our screening with MOONEYES Hawaii at the Bob Bosley Museum as part of MOONEYES Hawaii Ohana Weekend, presented by NAPA Hawaii, on Sunday, 8/24/2025:
craftofspeed.eventive.org

To buy tickets to our screening with Namsayin at Griot’s Garage in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.eventive.org

FINDING GOLD IN HAWAII: THE HOT WHEELS MOONEYES / JIM DUNN RACING FUNNY CAR

In Oahu, Hawaii for a screening of our “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary with MOONEYES Hawaii, I finally struck gold and discovered a Hot Wheels MOONEYES/Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car as part of a HW Drag Strip Collection at Don Don Donki, a mammoth store from Japan. It was there in plain sight like a gold nugget in the dirt. I even found multiple ones. MOONEYES has been collaborating with Hot Wheels for a long time, creating many collectible die cast cars. I especially love the ones that are based on real MOONEYES cars. This one is modeled after the MOONEYES/Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car with the iconic MOONEYES yellow and black livery. MOONEYES has been sponsoring Jim Dunn Racing for more than 30 years. This long friendship started when talented driver Kenji Okazaki needed to bring in a sponsor to join the team and partnered with Shige Suganuma, the owner of MOONEYES. As a result, Okazaki would become the first non-North American driver to win a NHRA Pro title.

In making our “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary, we had the incredible honor of filming legendary Jim Dunn and his racing team. “Big” Jim Dunn, as he’s known, and his gracious family are esteemed ambassadors of the sport. In fact, he was inducted into the Lions Hall of Fame in 2023 and recognized with a NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. He stars in his own documentary, “Funny Car Summer” (1974), which follows him during the heyday of drag racing. What is most inspiring is that he’s now 90 years old and still doing what he loves—a recurrent theme in our film. Needless to say, this Hot Wheels MOONEYES/Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car is special, but you need to know how to recognize gold when you see it.

To buy tickets to our screening with MOONEYES Hawaii at the Bob Bosley Museum as part of MOONEYES Hawaii Ohana Weekend, presented by NAPA Hawaii, on Sunday, 8/24/2025:
craftofspeed.eventive.org

To buy tickets to our screening with Namsayin at Griot’s Garage in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.eventive.org

COMMUNITY MADE AND DISTRIBUTED: THE “CRAFT OF SPEED” MOONEYES DOCUMENTARY

We’ve had the honor of working with Tad Matsuno of MOONEYES Hawaii and Kirk Hubbard on a “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary screening in Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday, 8/24/2025 as well as brothers Al-Michael Franco and Walter Franco of Namsayin on a screening in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025.

In planning these special cinema events, we’re very grateful that our independent film has been community funded, made, and distributed. It’s the complete opposite of a studio film. The big studios and streaming companies, which are essentially giant tech companies, wouldn’t necessarily make a film about a legendary speed equipment company and two Japanese/Japanese American hot rodders who made a huge impact on international car & motorcycle culture. Our goal was to make the film for MOONEYES fans and automotive enthusiasts.

We’re deeply honored to be able to share our film with the Hawaiian and Pacific Northwest communities. We’ve trusted in the process of engaging with the interconnected community. And now we get to celebrate with them. Mahalo!

To learn more about our screening with MOONEYES Hawaii at the Bob Bosley Museum as part of MOONEYES Hawaii Ohana Weekend, presented by NAPA Hawaii, on Sunday, 8/24/2025:
https://craftofspeed.eventive.org/schedule/mooneyes-hawaii-2025-ohana-weekend-featuring-mooneyes-pinstriper-wildman-humanist-films-craft-of-speed-mooneyes-documentary-screening-at-the-bob-bosley-museum-presented-by-napa-hawaii-683f2099febf42215f804596

To learn more about our screening with Namsayin at Griot’s Garage in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
https://craftofspeed.eventive.org/schedule/namsayin-presents-crafted-through-culture-mooneyes-documentary-craft-of-speed-by-humanist-films-68795786df25b51d245d6c22

MOONEYES CRUISED J-TOWN IN THE NISEI WEEK GRAND PARADE

Recently, we had the honor of documenting MOONEYES participating in the long-running Nisei Week Grand Parade in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles with MOONEYES President USA Chico Kodama’s record-setting land speed race car. Geared for high speed, his rear engine modified roadster was hauled on a trailer by the MOONEYES dually truck. Its blue, light blue, red, and orange livery is in honor of Chico’s mentor, Fred Larsen, a MOONEYES machinist and multiple land speed record holder. His record-setting streamliner, which is in the NHRA Museum in Pomona, California, is in the same colors.

It was an incredible sight to see the MOONEYES land speed race car, which just returned from racing at the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, cruise J-Town (also known as Little Tokyo) along with 25+ more classic vehicles. It paraded by many of Little Tokyo’s landmarks, from historic temples to legacy businesses to beautiful murals to important museums. Best of all, it passed by the enthusiastic Los Angeles community who came out to celebrate Japanese American history and culture.

This grand procession honored many of the people who were involved in the Japanese American National Museum’s “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” exhibit at the ArtCenter College of Design / Peter & Merle Mullin Gallery (running through 11/12/2025). With its own rich history, MOONEYES is part of this groundbreaking exhibit—the first of its kind.

A heartfelt thank you to Oliver Wang, the curator of “Cruising J-Town,” the Japanese American National Museum, and the Nisei Week Grand Parade for allowing MOONEYES and “Craft of Speed” to be a part of this special event. Many thanks to all the MOONEYES fans and people who attended the parade.   

To learn more about the “Cruising J-Town” exhibit and book:
https://www.janm.org/exhibits/cruising-j-town

To learn more about the “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary and our upcoming screenings in Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday, 8/24/2025 and Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.com

To pre-order the “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Photography Book:
https://www.craftofspeed.com/store/photographybook

TO SOME, IT’S JUST A PARADE. TO OTHERS, IT’S AN INCREDIBLE CELEBRATION OF HISTORY, CULTURE, AND COMMUNITY.

This weekend, as part of the long-running Nisei Week Japanese Festival, the Nisei Week Grand Parade will take place in historic Little Tokyo, Los Angeles on Sunday, 8/10/2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. According to the Rafu Shimpo newspaper, it’s “one of the longest running ethnic festivals in the U.S.” The first Nisei Week was held in 1934.

The Nisei Week Grand Parade will be special this year. As part the Japanese American National Museum’s “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” Exhibit at the ArtCenter College of Design / Peter & Merle Mullin Gallery (running through 11/12/2025), MOONEYES’ record-setting land speed race car and 25+ vehicles will be cruising J-Town (also known as Little Tokyo), bringing back this rich tradition.

The festival and parade are a grand celebration of Japanese American history and culture, bringing the diverse Los Angeles community together. Best of all, they merge with car culture this year on the bustling streets of Little Tokyo.

To learn more about Nisei Week:
https://niseiweek.org/

To see the Nisei Week Grand Parade route:
https://niseiweek.org/festival/#map

To learn more about the Japanese American National Museum’s “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” Exhibit & Book:
https://www.janm.org/exhibits/cruising-j-town

To learn more about the “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary and Photography Book as well as our upcoming screenings in Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday, 8/24/2025 and Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.com

MOONEYES: FROM RACING AT BONNEVILLE TO CRUISING J-TOWN

MOONEYES President USA Chico Kodama’s land speed race car at CineMakina

This Sunday, 8/10/2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., MOONEYES will participate in the Nisei Week Grand Parade in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. As part of the Japanese American National Museum’s “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” Exhibit at the ArtCenter College of Design / Peter & Merle Mullin Gallery (on view until 11/12/2025), MOONEYES will be cruising J-Town (as Little Tokyo is affectionately known) with 25+ other vehicles. Just back from racing at Speed Week at the epic Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, MOONEYES will be bringing MOONEYES President USA Chico Kodama’s record-setting land speed race car, a rear engine modified roadster. It will be an incredible sight seeing this history-making race car on the streets of historic Little Tokyo. For MOONEYES fans and automotive photographers, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

To learn more about the Nisei Week Grand Parade:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMVyZQiyg1S/?img_index=1

To see the Nisei Week Grand Parade route:
https://niseiweek.org/festival/#map

To learn more about the Japanese American National Museum’s “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” Exhibit & Book:
https://www.janm.org/exhibits/cruising-j-town

To learn more about the “Craft of Speed” MOONEYES Documentary and Photography Book as well as our upcoming screenings in Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday, 8/24/2025 and Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, 8/30/2025:
craftofspeed.com