Movies: Native hawaiian

Jonny Kealoha is the charismatic host of a struggling Waikiki Polynesian lū`au show. To everyone’s surprise, including his own, he is appointed as the successor to a high school boy’s hula class when his former Kumu Hula (master hula teacher) passes ...

American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai’i shows the survival of the hula as a renaissance continues to grow beyond the islands. With the cost of living in Hawai'i estimated at 27 percent higher than the continental United States, large numbers of Hawaiians...

What if you are made to feel ashamed when you speak your "mother tongue" or ridiculed because of your accent? "Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'i" addresses these questions through its lively examination of Pidgin - the language spoken by over half of Hawa...

A young Hawaiian ventures into a dark and mysterious forest that forces him to confront his deepest fears....

This short documentary chronicles a four-month period between 1979 and 1980 when residents of Hawaii's Sand Island "squatter" community attempted to resist eviction from the Honolulu shoreline - resulting in displacement, arrests, and the destruction...

Journey to the seemingly idyllic world of Native Hawaiians, whose communities are surrounded by experimental test sites for genetically engineered seed corn and pesticides sprayed upwind of their homes, schools, hospitals, and shorelines....

Nihi is a film biography of Titus Kinimaka, one of the last remaining professional big-wave riders of pure Hawaiian descent. As a boy, he won surf contests against those twice his age; by his teens, he was recognized as one of the best surfers to hav...

When cocky, young surfing champion David Monroe wipes out on a big wave, he slips back in time to 1911 Hawaii. Washing up on Waikiki beach, he discovers the true spirit of surfing when he is befriended by a young Hawaiian beachboy not yet known to th...

Out of State is the unlikely story of native Hawaiians men discovering their native culture as prisoners in the desert of Arizona, 3,000 miles, and across the ocean, from their island home....

A fictional story of ancient Hawai‘i anchored in Hawaiian values, Ho'omau is the story of Lehua, a young woman of mixed ancestry, who must persist against perilous odds to defend all she holds dear when war breaks out between tribes of different orig...

In order to save his own job, an employment agent has to find work for the most unemployable man on Maui....

This is the story of the Fire Goddess Pele and the dynamics of her relationship with her sister Hi’iaka. Six years ago, the renowned dance company Halau 'O Kekuhi began the ambitious undertaking of assembling and recreating the legend for modern audi...

An exploration into the creative process, following Native Hawaiian slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, as her art is reinvigorated by her calling to protect sacred sites atop Maunakea, Hawai`i....

6B is the anthology feature film of five Hawaii filmmakers. Each of the four stories revolve around rooms with the number 6B and the film examines the darker side of island life: a man struggling with drug addiction has a revelation about his identit...

"The Ninth Island" tells the story of Hawaii’s indigenous population and its struggles to stay connected to its ancestral home....

Pinky Thompson grew up in Hawaii during a time when one was punished for being Native Hawaiian. After almost losing his life in the battlefields of Normandy in World War II, Pinky brought his fierce energy to the arena of social service whre he champ...

Ka Hoʻina documents members of Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawaiʻi Nei's final repatriation of over 140 sets of iwi kupuna and provides an intimate look into the legacy forged by these committed and passionate few, ensuring that Hawaiians will mālama or...

Eleven year old Ho'onani dreams of leading the hula troupe at her inner-city Honolulu school. The only trouble is that the group is just for boys. She's fortunate that her teacher understands first-hand what it's like to be 'in the middle' - the anci...

Hawaiian comedy institution Rap Reiplinger brings to life his most beloved characters in this Emmy-winning special, which features extensive performance clips and a thoughtful biography of the comedian. The bits -- which still live on in everyday Haw...

Long ago, four extraordinary beings of dual male and female spirit, led by Kapaemahu, brought certain healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii and were loved by the people for their gentle ways and the miraculous cures they performed....