Climb up to the Republik — it’s on the upper floor at 1349 Kapiolani Blvd. — and take in the Reel Rock Film Tour, which features top climbing and adventure films.

 

Filmmakers Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer founded the festival 10 years ago, creating high-energy, community-oriented events that include prize giveaways, appearances by athletes and filmmakers, fundraising and a party atmosphere.

 

The films include “A Line Across the Sky,” about the award-winning journey by Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold across the Fitz Roy traverse in Patagonia, Argentina; “High and Mighty,” a film about boulder climbing, featuring a challenging boulder called the Process; “Showdown at Horseshoe Hell,” about “the wildest event in the climbing world”; “Dawn Wall: First Look,” a preview of a feature film about the scaling of the Dawn Wall of El Capitan at Yosemite, Calif.; and a tribute to Dean Potter, a climber and base BASE jumper who was killed trying to fly a wingsuit through a small gap in the peaks of Yosemite in May.

 

Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd.

 

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

 

Cost: $20

 

Info: flavorus.com or 855-235-2867

 

William Hillebrand, a German doctor and botanist, planted many of the magnificent trees at Foster Botanical Garden in the 19th century after leasing some land from Queen Kalama. 

 

The property later belonged to Mary Foster, who bequeathed it to the city as a public park when she died in 1930. Harold L. Lyon, the garden’s first director, started its famous orchid collection. 

 

The garden celebrates this history with “The Beginning of a Garden,” a series of one-act plays about the three founding figures in the garden’s past. 

 

“The garden has a unique and interesting history,” said Kathy Tosh, administrative coordinator of the Friends of Honolulu Botanical Gardens. 

 

Actors Craig Howes, Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl and Neal Milner will portray Hillebrand, Foster and Lyon. Audience members will be able to visit each character beneath the shade of the trees planted by Hillebrand. 

 

The performances, co-sponsored by the Friends of Honolulu Botanical Gardens and the city, are being held to commemorate Foster’s birthday on Sept. 20. 

 

Where: Foster Botanical Garden, 50 N. Vineyard Blvd. 

 

When: 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 

 

Cost: Free; reservations required. Call 522-7066. 

 

Info: Friendsofhonolulubotanicalgardens.com.

 

Chairs available, but some walking may be required between acts. 

 

 

Take a flight of fantasy with “The Butterfly,” a production of a popular Iranian children’s play presented by the University of Hawaii-Manoa Theatre and Dance Department. 

 

Director Manseej Ganjali, who was born in Iran and came to Hawaii as a teen, said he wanted to present the play as an aspect of Iranian culture rarely seen in the U.S. “If I don’t do this, no one else will,” said Ganjali, 32, who is directing the play to fulfill his master’s requirements at UH. 

 

The play involves a butterfly who gets trapped in a spider’s web and, in return for freedom, agrees to attract other insects to the web. The interactions between the various insects explore the universal themes of empathy and understanding, “of you and me and everyone else,” Ganjali said. “When the butterfly gets to know each character, she begins to understand them better.” 

 

The play, by Farideh Fardjam, was originally presented in Tehran in the 1970s, raising eyebrows during the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. “Some people said it could be interpreted as a criticism of the regime at the time,” Ganjali said. “It is a children’s play, and it is set in the insect world, so he could get away with it easier. But the play was performed in front of enthusiastic audiences and still continues to be performed today.” 

 

Ganjali has been to Iran three times to study theater, and this production will show the influences of that experience. 

 

“The costuming and the set are both inspired by traditional Persian art and architecture,” he said. “And I’m working with a fantastic costume designer (Stephanie Brown-Jones) who managed to blend the insect world into those designs.” 

 

Where: Earl Ernst Lab Theatre, Kennedy Theatre, UH 

 

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday 

 

Cost: $8-$18 

 

Info: ktbox@hawaii.edu or 956-2601 

 

 

Celebrate Korean culture with a movie, a meal, music and a mutt at the Seoul Film Festival, a series of 10 feature films from the South Korean capital’s dynamic film industry.

 

The festival, part of the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Splendid Korea Month, begins Saturday with an opening-night performance by KPop in Paradise and Korean food from Sorabol, with Hwayo soju, beer and wine available for purchase. Have a therapy session with one of the dogs from Tails of Aloha, which will have a petting corner on the grounds, before enjoying the film “How to Steal a Dog,” an amusing feature about a group of children who try to raise money for a home by kidnapping a wealthy woman’s dog. The film also screens at 1 p.m. Oct. 1.

 

Two films from the master filmmaker Im Kwon Taek, the first Korean to be named best director at the Cannes Film Festival, will be featured. His latest, “Revivre,” is a touching film about a middle-age man coping with a wife suffering from cancer and his forbidden desire for a young co-worker. Screens at 4 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29. His “Painted Fire,” the Cannes winner, is about the life and times of artist Jang Seung Up, an unschooled and unruly genius who is considered Korea’s greatest painter. Screens at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27.

 

Two other films are crime dramas with an unusual twist. “Man on High Heels,” pictured, is a chop-socky crime thriller about a tough cop who feels trapped in a man’s body. He’s about to pull a Caitlin Jenner and come out as a woman, but old enemies and a new romantic interest surface. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and 1 p.m. Oct. 2. “A Hard Day” is a dark comedy about a detective who accidentally runs over a man and winds up investigating the crime. A witness surfaces who not only happens to be another detective, but also wants the body. Screens 7:30 p.m Tuesday, 1 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Sept. 30.

 

Other films have that ripped-from-the-headlines feel. “Sea Fog,” South Korea’s entry in the 2015 Academy Awards and an award winner at the 2014 Hawaii International Film Festival, concerns human trafficking, while “Cart” addresses labor strife at a big-box department store. “Sea Fog” screens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Sept. 30. “Cart” screens at 4 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1.

 

Where: Honolulu Museum of Art

 

When: Opening night 6 p.m. Saturday

 

Cost: $30-$35 opening night; $8-$10 general admission for other films

 

Info: honolulumuseum.org or 532-6097