The PBS Hawaiʻi Livestream is now available!
PBS Hawaiʻi Live TV
Now in its eleventh season, the anthology series PACIFIC HEARTBEAT brings the authentic Pacific – people, cultures, languages, music and contemporary issues – to your screen. The nationally distributed series is a production of Pacific Islanders in Communications in partnership with PBS Hawai‘i, and is distributed nationally by American Public Television.
The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu
Saturday, May 7 at 8:00 pm
Four boulders in Waikīkī pay tribute to healers who brought their arts from Tahiti to Hawai‘i hundreds of years ago. A plaque commemorates the healers’ contributions, but fails to mention that they were mahu – people of dual male and female spirit. The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu tells the story of these healers and explores what happened to mahu as colonialism swept across the Pacific.
High Tide, Don’t Hide
Saturday, May 14 at 8:00 pm
Pacific Islands are among the first places to feel the impacts of rising seas, yet few Pacific voices are included in the global conversation about climate change. High Tide, Don’t Hide is about the generation that is changing that. The film follows New Zealand teenagers of diverse backgrounds who learn to work together as they organize a protest that demands action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
James & Isey
Saturday, May 21 at 8:00 pm
Isey, a cheeky Ngāti Manu woman living in a small New Zealand town, is about to turn 100, but still goes fishing and swills whiskey. James & Isey is an intimate portrait of the centenarian and her son, a deeply spiritual man who is devoted to his mother. The film explores how the bond between parent and child changes as we age, and bears witness to the power of unwavering love.
Loimata, The Sweetest Tears
Saturday, May 28 at 8:00 pm
Waka builder and captain Lilo Ema Siope is dying. Loimata, The Sweetest Tears follows her emotional last few months, as Ema taps into her Samoan culture and strives to help her family heal from past traumas. The film is an intimate portrait of a shattered family working courageously to liberate itself from the shackles of the past.