The Queen’s Flowers

imagineNATIVE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW!  Get ready for something fascinatingly pretty and pretty fascinating with the gorgeous animated short The Queen’s Flowers, written and directed by Ciara Leina’ala Lacy. Based on a true story, the film takes place in Honolulu in 1915, where Emma lives at the school for orphan girls at Saint Andrew’s Cathedral. She doesn’t fit in with the other orphaned girls, and the nuns get mad at her in class. She is fascinated with spying at the house next door, with its gardens full of lavender flowers and the stern old woman who tends them. The old woman is Queen Lili’uokalini, the former monarch of Hawaii, who gave up her throne in 1893 to avoid a war with the colonizers and mass deaths among her subjects. One day, the nuns announced that all the girls were expected to give the queen a present during her birthday ceremony. Emma has nothing to give. What will she do?

Animated depiction of Queen Liliʻuokalani from The Queen’s Flowers.

“She is fascinated with spying at the house next door, with its gardens full of lavender flowers…”

All the hypnotizing lavender throughout The Queen’s Flowers alone makes it worth seeking out. The sedating effect of the use of the color should have the film classified as a dietary supplement. The style of the 2D animation reminds me of the better children’s books back in my time, where the texture and color made you want to taste the pictures. So count me in as a hungry little caterpillar for The Queen’s Flowers.

Lots of great stuff for kids, as this will expand their perspective on the significance of elders. Yes, kids, this nana used to rule a nation, but gave it up in the face of her people being wiped out. Lacy has found the best way to highlight an important piece of human history in a way that young and old will not forget.

The Queen’s Flowers is one of the best animated shorts for children on the circuit right now. Start hunting for it.

The Queen’s Flowers screened at the 25 imagineNATIVE Film Festival.