My documentary “SHAKA a Story of Aloha” is now streaming on all VOD platforms!! (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Youtube, etc.)
More info @projectshaka
Mahalo to my friends who helped get this massive film over the finish line, I can’t say thank you enough 🤙🤙
Sneakiest of sneak peak images for my film, THE ROOF, that screens at @aspenfilm this weekend before it premieres on Disney+ later this year. I can’t wait for everyone to see this amazing story by @wawparker starring the incomparable @phoeniixbaapaase and legendary Wes Studi.
I will be forever grateful to @launchpadshorts@philipp_yaw@lissakhosh for giving me this opportunity and to the entire crew for braving the desert heat to bring this film to life 🏰🪄📺
Ola Ka Huakaʻihele o Hiʻiaka - Spent four months documenting the journey of leaders from across the healthcare continuum as they built a program to drive systems change through Native Hawaiian lifeways. I was invited into the cohort as a filmmaker, but was welcomed as a participant, and together we were all transformed. Mahalo mahalo mahalo to Papa Ola Lōkahi for funding the project, and to Aunty Kekuhi of Hālau ʻŌhiʻa for showing us that the story of Hiʻiaka is still alive and breathing today.
I’ll share more when the videos are released later this year.
My films ALETHA and SHAKA both feature mana wahine who share incredible stories from their life, stories about truth, and about the origins of who we are as Hawaiians. Aunty Aletha Kaohi and Aunty Kekela Miller are the last of the generation of children who sat at the feet of our ancestors and learned directly from those who would write our history. They grew up with no separation between life and culture, and they see the world in a way that is incompressible to us today. No words can describe how honored I feel to have been gifted their precious time and how intensely painful it was to edit their words down to a fraction of what was shared with me to create these documentaries.
I am so grateful that both of these films were able to screen at @hiffhawaii this week! And now that the credits have rolled and all my lei are hung out to dry, I am feeling the incomparable joy of fulfilling my kuleana by bringing their stories to Hawai’i and I can’t wait to share them with the rest of the world very soon. Going forward, I am thinking of my own grandmother and how blessed I am that she helped raise me, and how we can’t take any time with our kūpuna for granted. I will never forget what Aunty Aletha told me before she left us, she said - whatever questions you have for your kūpuna, ask them now, don’t wait. Too much knowledge has been lost because the younger generation was too afraid to ask.
I don’t remember the first time I saw someone throw a Shaka 🤙 and most people I’ve asked say the same thing - it feels like it was always there. But after three years of directing a surprisingly expansive documentary on the origin and meaning of the Shaka sign, I can confidently tell you that it had a true beginning, and I cannot wait to share what I learned with everyone when the film premieres @vcmediaorg next month!
If you’re in LA, I’ll be there with writer/producer @histevesue and a bunch of the team from Hawai‘i, so please come through and show us your best shaka on the red carpet 🥲🤙
Thursday 5/2 7:00pm at the Japanese American National Museum
THE ROOF 🏚️
“A leaky roof. And the truth. After being sent to stay with their grandfather, a Northern Cheyenne teen discovers a connection to their family and community in a way they never thought possible.”
Available to stream on @disneyplus September 29th
I’m unbelievably proud of this film, and so honored to have been able to direct a brilliant and powerful script written by @wawparker Thank you for giving us this life changing experience @launchpadshorts
If you are on Oahu, you can watch the film with me @hiffhawaii on October 14 as part of the “Indigenous Lens” Program. Tickets available now!
✅ Prep.
Never felt more prepared to make a film, thank you @launchpadshorts for helping to assemble this amazing crew! A lot more coming soon from THE ROOF
Shoutout @blakepickens for the candid pics.
#35mm #portra800
Watch the “AAPI Heritage Heroes” special on @hulu today! I directed one of six short documentaries as part of the program, which celebrates 6 incredible heroes from our diverse communities across the US. @taaforg@hulu #AAPIHeritageHeroes #APIAF
Major Mike Lambert @only_mike_can is doing amazing work to transform the Honoluou Police Department from the ground up. His immense empathy and love for the people of Hawai‘i is truly inspiring, I am honored to help tell his story.
And I am so grateful to @taaforg and @futurefriends.la for giving @johnathanwalk and I this special opportunity to represent Hawai‘i with this film!
Mahalo to everyone who helped me get this far, I’m beyond excited to go on this ride with Disney 🚀
It’s an amazing cohort of talented filmmakers, I can’t wait to learn from them, especially from my main collaborator and Native rockstar @wawparker
Headshot 📷: @kristlekayelois
Mālama, to care for, to cherish and protect - I had the great honor to direct commercials for a new campaign that invites visitors to mālama Hawai'i while they are here, to give back. I am so exited to share that it is now live on gohawaii.com/malama
We had the opportunity to tell 4 stories from some of the most inspiring people I’ve met in my life. They have a deep, spiritual, personal connection to the land, and it was one of the highlights of my career to experience that energy for a brief time. By capturing their stories and sharing this message, it gave me an opportunity to mālama Hawai'i with my work, and for that I am forever grateful - I will share my experience with each of them over the next posts.
Mahalo @mvnphawaii and @gohawaii for trusting me with your vision, @dkk808 and Shooters for always having my back, and to @johnathanwalk for elevating everything we filmed into a work of art. You deserve all the praise.
#gohawaii #hawaii #malama
