Bishop Museum Hula Film Festival
February – November 2008
This year, the Bishop Museum Association Council’s popular Traditions of the Pacific series will supplement its lecture and workshop offerings with an evening Hula Film Festival. Once a month, a hula film will be shown in Atherton Hālau on the grounds of Bishop Museum. Films will include a special introduction by a Bishop Museum cultural expert or special guest affiliated with the film.
Quick links to monthly events:
According to project coordinator Nanette Napoleon, “Each of the films selected for the festival represent hula’s diversity and continuing impact on individuals and society in general, not only in Hawai’i, but throughout the world.”
Bishop Museum’s vast collection of traditional hula implements, oli, mele, mo‘olelo, illustrations and other resources has influenced generations of dancers, chanters and hula teachers, and will continue to do so for generations to come. Join us for one or all of these remarkable film showings, and experience hula from a physical, spiritual and creative perspective.
Films will be shown in Atherton Hālau, Bishop Museum
All films will begin at 7:00 p.m.
General admission to the film screenings is $5;
Free admission for Bishop Museum members. Light refreshments will be provided.
Because of limited seating, reservations are recommended and may be made by email courtney.chow@bishopmuseum.org or by phone (808) 848-4187. Free parking is available.
Mahalo to our sponsors
Film Festival Schedule
FEBRUARY 12
1. Ka Po‘e Hula Hawai‘i Kahiko (The Hula People of Old)
[20 minutes, BW, VHS, 1974]
Producer: Vivienne Mader
Director & Narrator: Elizabeth Tatar, Bishop Museum
Production Coordinator: Cine-Pic Hawaii Corp
Many of the most well-known hula dancers and chanters of the early 20th century are featured in this outstanding compilation of original film footage shot in the 1930s. Among those featured are Nona Beamer, Joseph Ilala‘ole, Roe Kaimi La‘anui, Akoni Mika, Mary Kawena Pukui, and her mother Pa‘ahana, and Katherine Kanahele.
2. The Hula of Old Hawai‘i
[28 minutes, BW, 1943]
Producer/Director: George Bacon
Bishop Museum Archives
This rare film footage features Bishop Museum hula authority Mary Kawena Pukui and her daughters Pat (Bacon) and Pele (Suganuma) demonstrating traditional hula dance movements and chants. This footage was filmed by noted photographer George Bacon and is often studied by contemporary hula teachers and students.
Guest Speaker: DeSoto Brown, Archives Collections Manager, Bishop Museum
MARCH 11
Through Nāmaka’s Eyes: The Life of Patience Bacon
[70 minutes, Color, DVD, 2007]
Produced by Kamehameha Schools, Ka‘iwakïloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center
Executive Producers: Jamie Mililani Fong and Randie Kamuela Fong
Director: Jeff DePonte, j Design
This documentary focuses on the amazing life experience of one of Hawai‘i’s Living Treasures, Pat Bacon, daughter of preeminent Hawaiian scholar and hula master Mary Kawena Puku‘i. Bacon followed her mother as a researcher and hula authority at Bishop Museum. Rare archival footage, still photos and provocative interviews make this a historically significant, must-see film.
APRIL 15
KUMU HULA: Keepers of a Culture
[85 mintues, Color, DVD, 1989]
Producers: Robert Mugge and Vicky Holt Takamine
Director: Robert Mugge, Mug-Shot Productions
In this film numerous kumu hula talk about hula from an historical perspective as well as from a personal perspective. Featured are Kalena Silva, John Dalire, Aloha Dalire, Hu‘i Park, John Kaimikaua, Chinky Mahoe, O’Brian Eselu, George Naope, Nina Maxwell, Kaha‘i Topolinski, Louise Beamer, Tita Beamer Solomon, Malama Solomon, Hulali Solomon Covington, Elaine Kaopuiki, Pua Kanahele, Nalani Kanaka‘ole, Etua Lopes, Roselle Bailey, Alicia Smith, Coline Aiu, Naleialoha Napaepae-Kunewa and Kawaikapu Hewitt. This film was part of the 2007 Annual Indigenous Film & Arts Festival in Denver, Colorado.
MAY 13
Biography Hawai‘i: Maiki Aiu Lake
[60 minutes, Color, DVD, 2004]
Executive Producers: Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl, Joy Chong Stannard,
Craig Howes
Director: Joy Chong-Stannard
Produced by Hawai‘i Public Television and the Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa for their “Biography Hawai‘i” series, this film tells the life story of one of Hawai‘i’s most important kumu hula from the 1940s to the 1980s. Her lifelong mission was to perpetuate the study of ancient hula, which she learned from master teachers ‘Iolani Luahine, Pua Ha‘aheo, Alice Namakelua, Vickie I‘i Rodrigues and Lokalia Montgomery. Mary Kawena Pukui was her mentor. Many graduates of Hālau Hula o Maiki, including Robert Cazimero, Mapuana de Silva, John Lake, Leina‘ala Heine and Kaha‘i Topolinski, have gone on to become well-known kumu hula in their own right.
This film showing will be FREE to the public.
Guest Speakers: Craig Howes, Coline Aiu, Victoria Kneubuhl
JUNE 10
American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai‘i
[56 minutes, Color, DVD, 2003]
Producer: Lehua Films
Directors: Lisette Kaualena Flanary and Evann Siebens
This film profiles three kumu hula living, working and perpetuating the hula in northern California. Sissy Kaio of Carson, Mark Ho‘omalu of Oakland and Patrick Makuakane of San Francisco talk about the challenges and rewards of teaching hula on the mainland and maintaining cultural pride and integrity. Although they come from different backgrounds and have moved to California for different reasons, they all share a deep and abiding love for the hula and the Hawaiian culture. This film was shown nationally on PBS, locally on Hawai‘i Public Television, and has won awards at numerous film festivals.
JULY 8
Nā Kamalei: The Men of Hula
[60 minutes, Color, DVD, 2006]
A co-presentation of Lehua Films, Independent Television Services and Pacific Islanders in Communications.
Producer: Lehua Films
Directors: Lisette Kaualena Flanary
This award winning film gives viewers a candid behind-the-scene look at
Halau Na Kamalei, under the direction of noted kumu hula Robert Cazimero as they prepare to compete in the 2005 Merrie Monarch Festival. Cazimero talks about his evolution as a hula dancer and as a teacher, and his students share their experiences within the halau and their feelings about being male hula dancers.
AUGUST 12
Holo Mai Pele
[57 minutes, Color, DVD, 2004]
A co-production of International Cultural Programming, Thirteen/WNET New York and Pacific Islanders in Communications
Producer: Dominique Lasseur and Catherine Tatge
Director: Catherine Tatge
This is film version of the 1995 stage production of Holo Mai Pele, performed by members of Hālau O Kekuhi, under the direction of kumu hula Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele and Nalani Kanaka‘ole The plot tells the tragic saga of the rivalry between Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of the volcano, her sister Hi‘iakaikapoliopele and their common affections for the handsome and brave Lohiau. Blending both traditional and contemporary dramatic forms, this play takes viewers on an emotional journey into mystical world of goddesses, demons and lovers. This film was shown nationally on PBS Great Performances “Dance in America.” A companion book was published in conjunction with the film.
SEPTEMBER 16
KEEPERS OF THE FLAME: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women
[60 minutes, Color, DVD, 2005]
Director: Eddie Kamae
Producer: Myrna Kamae and Dennis Mahaffay
This film honors three monumental and inspiring Hawaiian women of the 19th and 20th centuries who kept the Hawaiian hula alive despite Western prohibitions and persecution. Mary Kawena Pukui, linguist and author; ‘Iolani Luahine, kumu hula and spiritualist; and Edith Kanaka‘ole, songwriter, kumu hula and educator, are each responsible, through their individual pursuits, for reviving the flame of traditional Hawaiian culture. This touching film explores, using rare archival and personal family footage, the roots of these women from rural Big Island childhoods to their larger than life impact on contemporary Hawaiian society. This film was the winner of the Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2005 Louis Vuitton Hawai‘i International Film Festival, and was featured at the Pacifika New York Hawaiian Film Festival. It was also broadcast nationally on PBS.
Guest Speakers: Eddie and Myrna Kamae
OCTOBER 14
Hula Girls
[120 minutes, Color, Feature, DVD, 2006, Japanese with English sub-titles]
Viz Pictures
Producer: Hitomi Ishihara
Director/Writer: Sang-il Lee
Production Company: Cine Qua Non
Based on a true story, this feature film’s heart-warming story is about a rural town in Japan that faces closure of its main economic source, a coal mine, which employs most of the town’s wage earners. Faced with this, the town’s leaders decide to build a “Hawaiian Paradise” theme park to attract tourist dollars. An aging hula star from Tokyo is hired to put together a troupe of female hula dancers that will perform at the park. A number of young girls are enthusiastic about learning hula and being a part of the center, but community pressure is strong and the girls and their teacher must face many challenges to reach their goal. This film earned several Japanese Academy Awards, including Most Popular Film, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The film’s music was written and played by Hawai‘i ‘ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.
NOVEMBER 18
1. Kumu Hula: A Tradition of Teachers
[ 30 minutes, Color, DVD, 1998]
Producers: Michael Cowell and Hawai‘i Public Television
Director:
Michael Cowell
Through interviews with prominent hula teachers such as Robert Cazimero, this film shows how a student of traditional hula dance becomes a kumu, or master teacher. The program chronicles the journeys a student of the art of hula must make before being accepted as a keeper of traditional hula culture. What emerges are stories of devotion between students and teacher, as many kumu double as spiritual parents. The film reveals the inherent conflicts and profound aloha spirit found in hula families and apprenticeships, which have produced generations of respected kumu hula.
2. Aloha From Paris
[ 63 minutes, Color, DVD, 2005, French and English]
Producers: Arnaud Dufour, Sandra Kilohana Silve and Mercea Wolf
Director: Arnaud Dufour
Arnaud Dufour’s documentary film was made during the visit of Paris-based Hālau Hula O Mānoa to Hawai‘i in 2005 for the opening of the exhibition “Hawai‘i In Paris: The Art of Hula” at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Most of the diverse works in the exhibit were done by artists over a four year period with dancers from the French hālau. During this period, hula became a source of inspiration and influence within the contemporary art world of Paris. Kilohana Silve, the kumu of the hālau, who is Hawai‘i born, spent 25 years teaching hula in Paris This film was shown on French television.
Guest Speaker: Sandra Kilohana Silve
For more information about the 2008 Bishop Museum Hula Film Festival contact the festival coordinator Nanette Napoleon at 261-0705 or nanetten@hawaii.rr.com.
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