SEPT. 2-23

>> Films highlight Korean culture

Korean and Korean-American culture take to the screen at Korean Cinema 2017, a three-week festival at the Honolulu Museum of Art. The 11 featured films include political and historical stories, romances and thrillers.

Saturday’s opening night event includes a Korean buffet, a dance performance and “Warriors of the Dawn,” a period drama about a young Korean prince who is forced to lead the resistance during the 1592 war against Japan. The movie also screens at 4 p.m. Sunday, 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and 1 p.m. Sept. 21.

Other highlights:

>> Political corruption, a subject once again making headlines in Korea, is the theme of “The Mayor,” in which the mayor of Seoul uses dirty tricks to launch his presidential campaign. Screens at 7 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8, 4 p.m. Sept. 9 and 1 p.m. Sept. 13.

>> “Right Now, Wrong Then” is a fantasy-romantic comedy in which a couple’s relationship is played out twice, once in a lighthearted vein and then in a darker mood. The New York Times praised the movie, saying it induces “a feeling of standing at the edge of an abyss of wide-open philosophical questions and deep psychological mysteries.” Screens at 4 p.m. Sept. 10.

>> Justin Chon, who’s been involved in two movies shot in Hawaii, has received wide praise for “Gook,” his film set in Los Angeles’ Korean community during the Rodney King riots. Screens at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22.

SEPT. 3

>> Compete in Tahitian sports at Bishop Museum

Celebrate Tahitian culture — and flex your muscles — at Heiva i Vaihi, a sports and entertainment showcase at Bishop Museum.

Competitions will be held in three traditional Tahitian sports, known collectively as tuaro maohi, said Manarii Gauthier, director of Tahiti Mana, a performance group promoting Tahitian culture that is sponsoring the event. Contests include coconut tree climbing, a race in which contestants have to carry 66 pounds of fruit tied to a log, and a rock-lifting event.

Gauthier described the rock-lifting contest, known as amoraa ofai, as “brutal” on competitors, who can compete in two weight categories.

“Whoever is under 200 pounds, their rock is about 225 pounds. People over 200 pounds, their rock is 275 pounds,” he said. “The goal is to get that rock on your shoulder with just one hand holding it. Once they take the one hand off, and it’s steady, they stop the clock.”

Gauthier recently brought some Hawaii rock-lifting competitors to a contest in Tahiti, and they finished third and fourth behind local competitors, lifting the rock in 3 seconds. “There’s a technique to it,” he said with a laugh.

The event includes dance performances by Tahita Mana and crafts from Tahiti and other parts of French Polynesia.

SEPT. 6-SEPT. 9

>> Guitar virtuoso Di Meola heads to Blue Note Hawaii

Guitarist Al Di Meola brings his fleet fingers and diverse musical passions to Blue Note Hawaii next week, with eight shows scheduled over four evenings.

Di Meola was a child prodigy, practicing eight to 10 hours a day by the time he was a teenager. The New Jersey native was a 19-year-old student at Berklee College of Music when a tape of a performance was heard by the progressive jazz pianist Chick Corea. Corea invited him to join his band, Return to Forever, with bassist Stanley Clarke and percussionist Lenny White. Together they turned out three seminal recordings in the jazz fusion movement: 1974’s “Where Have I Known You Before,” 1975 Grammy winner “No Mystery” and 1976’s “Romantic Warrior.”

Di Meola would later go on to form two virtuoso jazz groups: a trio with English guitarist John McLaughlin and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, and the Rite of Strings trio with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and Clarke.

Accomplished on both acoustic and electric guitar, Di Meola is coming here as part of his 40th anniversary celebration of his second album, “Elegant Gypsy,” which sets Latin rhythms against Di Meola’s virtuosic rock-fusion stylings. The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard jazz charts; the website allmusic.com pegs it as “a near classic in the fusion vein.”

SEPT. 7

>> Murphy’s block party aids Hawaii literacy programs

Support literacy in Hawaii at the 9th annual Hawaii Literacy Block Party at Murphy’s.

Merchant Street between Nuuanu Avenue and Bethel Street will be closed for the event, which this year features entertainment by blues-rock band Maneki Nekos, food from Murphy’s and drawings for several prize packages, including airplane tickets for Island Air and Alaska Airlines, and two tickets in the owner’s box at a San Francisco Giants game.

Bring along a long-armed friend for your best chance to win. Tickets for the drawing are $10 for a single ticket and $20 for four, but pay $100 and you’ll get an armspan’s worth. The armspan of last year’s top ticket buyer measured 37 tickets, said Suzanne Skjold, executive director of Hawaii Literacy. “It’s just something we added to make it fun,” she said.

Hawaii Literacy provides one-on-one tutoring for adults, a bookmobile program that serves West Oahu, a family literacy program at Kuhio Park and Mayor Wright Homes, and general English language skills.