"Living Masters of Kaua'i & Ni'ihau"
Director: Nancy Hollander / Producer: Marta Birchard
An engaging look at several master artisans of Hawaiian Arts and Crafts
"Kaluaiko'olau"
Produced by the Ke Kula Ni‘ihau O Kekaha Learning Center, the film recounts a native Hawaiian family’s experiences in defiance of provincial authorities, in the period following the American overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.
Hawaiian life is gripped by the panic surrounding Hansen’s disease—otherwise known as leprosy—the only contemporary comparison probably being the early days of the AIDS epidemic. Ko'olau comes to realize that he, as well as their son, has contracted the dread disease, in which case he will be deported to the leper colony on Molokai. Instead, he and his family chose to flee to the mountains of Kauai, elude and battle local militia and live in solitary isolation, on the run, for three and a half years.
Originally written in Hawaiian and published around 1906, the story contains its own convictions and political meanings from the turn of the century—and confusions not unlike our own.
"Na Kamalei: Men of Hula"
Producer/Director Lisette Marie Flanary explores the revival of men who dance the hula. It follows legendary master hula teacher, Robert Cazimero, and Hälau Nä Kamalei, the only all-male hula school in Hawai'i, as they journey to compete at the world’s largest hula competition. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of their school and competing with some of the oldest male dancers at the competition, Robert and his men are out to prove that the renaissance of male hula is not over. Na Kamalei tells a story of Hawaiian pride through the exploration of male roles in the hula tradition.
"Remember The Boys"
Poignantly captures the inspiring, true story of a chaplain to his war buddies.
Born in Hawaii and a former Hawaii school superintendent, Domingo Los
Banos was a U.S. WWII soldier who went to war in the Philippines as a teenager
with some 50 other teenagers of Filipino ancestry from Hawaii . A son of
a Filipino immigrant, he and his siblings grew up on the pineapple plantations
of Kauai . After the war, he became an educator. Now in his 80s, Domingo is
among the last remaining of the 50 ' Hawaii boys' from the U.S. Army's 1st
Filipino Infantry Regiment that went to war together
"Simple Courage"
Simple Courage documents the treatment of leprosy victims in Hawaii in the
19th and early 20th century. More than 8,000 sufferers, mostly native, were
banished to an isolated peninsula and practically abandoned.
One man, however, in a simple act of courage, took it upon himself to bring
comfort to these hopeless people. He was Father Damien, a Catholic missionary
from Belgium, who spent sixteen years caring for the "untouchables" until
he himself succumbed to the disease. He transformed their prison into a place
of decency and respect
"Strangeland: My Mother's War Bride Story"
Produced by Stephanie J Castillo
Norma Vega Castillo came to America from the Philippines at the end of World War II as the war bride of an American GI serving in Manila. She and nearly a million other war brides from more than 57 countries made that journey from across the sea to a new life in America.
The film explores her journey and adjustment, not only to a strange place, but to a man with whom she thought she had something in common.
"Then There Were None"
Produced by Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey
Through archival film footage, photographs, period and contemporary music, and Lindsey's own narrative, the Then There Were None traces how the native Hawaiian population and culture have been continually challenged by foreign influences.
More than half a million native Hawaiians were living in the Islands at the time of European contact in 1778. Within 50 years, that population was cut in half as Western diseases claimed thousands of lives. The socio-economic events of the following 100 years result in Hawaiians becoming a minority in their own land.
University of Hawai'i sociologists estimate that the extinction of full-blooded Hawaiians in the islands could come within the next 45 years.
"The Ride"
Produced by Nathan Kurosawa
A whimsical story of David Monroe, a California surfing champ who, between calls to his agent,
and picking up groupies in his limo, has forgotten the joy of the waves. After a serious knock
on the noggin during a particularly gnarly contest, a groggy David finds himself coming to on Waikiki Beach, circa 1911. He ends up seeking shelter with a native family in a nearby shack, the residence of Duke Kahanamoku
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