COURTESY PHOTO A group of city officials take a needed break.

Look at me!

Last month, a delegation from the Hawaii International Film Festival and the University of Hawaii's Academy for Creative Media visited Shanghai during that city's film festival.

The academy's student filmmakers took their fair share of photos, but considering their skilled and sophisticated visual perspectives, their images go far beyond the usual tourists' snapshots. Their engaging street portraits show a cross-section of the 17 million people who live and work in the largest and most sophisticated of all cities in China.

"I was impressed by how people there like to get their pictures taken," filmmaker Brian Makanoa said. "They would stop and pose for us. ... The first full day we were there, we went to Yu Garden, and there were tons of Chinese tourists there. ... The capacity of people and buildings in Shanghai amazed me."

Here are some photos taken by Jay Hubert and Henry Mochida.

COURTESY PHOTO Seniors on the streets of Shanghai are a rare if welcome sighting.

COURTESY PHOTO A scooterist's patience is tried at one of the congested intersections of Shanghai.

COURTESY PHOTO A restaurant worker makes her way through the streets.

COURTESY PHOTO Fashion-conscious teens are out and about everywhere.

COURTESY PHOTO You can't miss with cute kids, or cute pets.

COURTESY PHOTO Professor Tom Brislin, chairman of the University of Hawaii Academy for Creative Media, mimics a student art piece at Fudan University's Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts.