Documentaries

We will make these documentaries available to stream. Stay tuned for updates.

LIʻA LEGACY OF A

HAWAIIAN MAN

This award-winning documentary celebrates the music and spirit of revered Big Island performer and composer, Sam Liʻa Kalainaina (1881-1975). It is also about a place, Waipiʻo Valley, and a life shaped and nourished by that place.

LISTEN TO THE FOREST

This environmental documentary speaks of the widespread concern for rainforest preservation while reminding us of traditional Hawaiian values. Interviews, chants, and original songs and dances give voice to an older form of ecological wisdom summed up in the phrase mālama 'āina.

THE HAWAIIAN WAY

KĪ HŌʻALU SLACK KEY

Kī hōʻalu (slack key) is the Hawaiian way of making music. Performers and composers reveal how this unique style of playing conveys something essential about the Hawaiian spirit and the family tradition. This film premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

WORDS EARTH & ALOHA

SOURCE OF HAWAIIAN MUSIC

In Hawaiʻi, music has always been much more than entertainment. Through the centuries it has been a primary means of cultural continuity. This documentary pays tribute to a range of composers who flourished between the 1870s and the 1920s. The film explore the poetry and play of Hawaiian lyrics, as well as the places and features of the natural world that inspired songs stilled loved and listened to today.

LUTHER KAHEKILI MAKEKAU

A ONE KINE HAWAIIAN MAN

This award-winning documentary shares the untamed spirit of a colorful and controversial Hawaiian man. Known throughout the islands, Luther Makekau was part philosopher and part outlaw, a chanter and a singer, a fighter and a lover, a cattle rustler, a rebel, and a poet. Born on Maui in 1890, he lived nearly a hundred years, shaped by a century of turbulent cultural change.

HAWAIIAN VOICES

BRIDGING THE PAST TO PRESENT

This award-winning documentary honors the role of kūpuna (elders) in preserving Hawaiian culture. It focuses on the legacies of three respected elders whose lives bridged the transition from older times into the late 20th century. They are Ruth Makaila Kaholoaʻa; Lilia Wahinemaikaʻi Hale; & Reverend David "Kawika" Kaʻalakea. Each is a living archive whose memories and perspectives need to be shared.

THE HISTORY OF THE SONS OF HAWAIʻI

This award-winning documentry tells the story of the charismatic band that helped launch the Hawaiian cultural renaissance. Spanning forty years of Hawaiʻi's rich musical tradition, the film offers an intimate look at a unique group of performers and composers: their songs, their humor, and their devotion to a sound that continues to convey something essential about the Hawaiian spirit.

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME

THE CULTURAL LEGACY OF THREE HAWAIIAN WOMEN

This award-winning documentary shares the story of three remarkable Hawaiian women whose lives spanned the 19th and 20th centuries: Hawaiian historian and author Mary Kawena Pukui; dancer and chanter ʻIolani Luahine; and kumu hula and teacher Edith Kanakaʻole. This story reveals the power of their commitment to Hawaiian culture and values and how their influence is still felt today.

LAHAINA

WAVES OF CHANGE

Lāhainā, Maui is a place rich in historical and cultural tradition. Once the home of Hawaiian royalty, the first Capitol of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and a whaling port, Lāhainā's past century saw the growth of sugar and pineapple plantations and tourism. Now, the end of the plantation era and an increasing reliance on tourism brings new challenges. This documentary captures the spirit of Lāhainā's multi-ethnic community, seeking to build a future while honoring their colorful past.

THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE

THE MUSICAL JOURNEY OF EDDIE KAMAE

This documentary pays tribute to three remarkable teachers that have guided Eddie Kamae: the great author and translator Mary Kawena Pukui, the "Songwriter of Waipiʻo" Sam Liʻa, and "Aloha Chant" author Pilahi Paki. One by one, they entrusted Eddie with key pieces of Hawaiʻi's heritage - inspiring him to understand, perform, and pass that heritage on to the children of Hawaiʻi.