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In 1998, a locally-made film exposed what Native Hawaiians had written, talked and sung about for a century: the true story of how and why Hawai‘i became part of the United States.
The locally produced film series Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi 2 showcases women filmmakers who are preserving and perpetuating our Island culture and history. The series profiles women who helped build the local independent film industry, as well as current filmmakers who are at the top of their field.
Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi 1 is an hour-long compilation of six locally produced short films that tells the stories of Hawaiʻi-based women filmmakers, taking them from behind the camera to out in front.
This film tells the story of music teacher Harry Urata, and his efforts to record, preserve and perpetuate the musical oral histories of Japanese immigrants who worked in Hawai‘i’s sugarcane fields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through their canefield songs, or holehole bushi, these women sang about their joys and sorrows of trying to start life in a new world.
Kai Piha: Kaʻahele Ma Waikīkī takes viewers on a historical tour of Waikīkī's surfing history, the history of our kūpuna and aliʻi who lived there and who loved Waikīkī. Navigating this journey is waterman, historian and author John Clark.
Under a Jarvis Moon tells the story of 130 young men from Hawaiʻi who were part of a clandestine mission by the U.S. federal government to occupy desert islands in the middle of the Pacific.
What happens when you are three years old and homeless in Hawaiʻi? Find out in this documentary that follows Thalia and her parents who live in a homeless encampment in the Kakaʻako neighborhood in Honolulu.
The Hawaiian Room, located in the famed Lexington Hotel, was an oasis of Hawaiian culture and entertainment in the heart of New York City. Between 1937 and 1966, hundreds of dancers, singers and musicians from Hawai‘i were recruited to bring this pioneering entertainment venue to life. In the documentary, filmmaker Ann Marie Kirk weaves together interviews conducted through Hula Preservation Society with over 20 former performers as they speak candidly and fondly of their experiences at the historic supper club, and the culture shock of going from Hawai‘i to New York City.
Keepers of the Flame: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women is a tribute to three Hawaiian women whose lives spanned the 19th and 20th centuries: Hawaiian historian and author, Mary Kawena Pukui; dancer and chanter, ‘Iolani Luahine; and kumu hula and teacher, Edith Kanakaʻole. This story reveals the power of their commitment to Hawaiian culture and values and the ways their influence is still felt today.
ʻUkulele legend Herb Ohta, better known as Ohta-San, performs songs including “Rhapsody in Blue,” “The Girl from Ipanema” and his chart-topping ballad, “Song for Anna.” Ohta-San also teams up with his son, Herb Ohta Jr., for the Hawaiʻi classics “Hiʻilawe” and “Sanoe.”