Filmmakers of Hawai‘i, those living and working across the archipelago and participating from abroad, often express frustration with mainstream commercial cinema’s treatment of the islands… How many more Hollywood features and American subscription streaming services can our home endure?
i nā ki‘i ma mua, nā ki‘i ma hope, is an open-ended screening series featuring moving image works that are of, about, and/or related to the Hawaiian archipelago and Moananui, the greater Pacific. In acknowledgement of the ways in which filmmakers and artists of Oceania, as elsewhere, are guided simultaneously by their pasts and futures, the title of the series expands on the oft quoted ‘ōlelo no‘eau (Hawaiian proverb and poetical saying), “I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope.” Shifting the focus from ka wā (epoch, era, time, space) to nā ki‘i (images, likenesses, idols, petroglyphs) encourages unexpected connections to be made across media formats, practices, movements, and generations. i nā ki‘i ma mua, nā ki‘i ma hope is curated by kekahi wahi.
p1: transformations and p2: holoholo span nearly 50 years of production and bring together an eclectic mix of films by Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina, Christopher Makoto Yogi, kekahi wahi, Videololo, The Howard Hughes Corporation, Sean Connelly, Rap Reiplinger, Sung Hwan Kim, Nicole Naone. Amid environmental and political change on local and global levels, these filmmakers continue to ha‘i mo‘olelo—let the stories be told.
presented at Aupuni Space
Much like a lei or garland, p3: arrivals and p4: lipo string together vibrant moving image works from an intergenerational group of artists and filmmakers who offer glimpses into ongoing archipelagic realities. p3: arrivals flickers and flashes between touristic fantasies, militaristic specters, and ongoing Native rights movements for self-determination. p4: lipo takes refuge in songs of sovereignty and freedom from the 1980s alongside more recent desires for environmental remediation and queer tropical futures.
Collaborators include Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina (Joan Lander and Puhipau), Ha‘aheo Auwae-Dekker, Vincent Bercasio with Madelyn Biven & Bradley Capello, Sean Connelly, Léuli Eshrāghi, KEANAHALA, Tiare Ribeaux, Dan Taulapapa McMullin, e-nico, Jakob Soto, Noah Keone Viernes, kekahi wahi, and Christopher Makoto Yogi.
presented at MoMA DocFortnight
Joining together varied moving-image works from an intergenerational group of filmmakers and artists connected to Hawaiʻi and its stories, p5: departures & p6: huli embrace the regenerative potential of poetry and place. p5: departures dives into deep teachings—vocalized, visualized, and embodied—of beloved community leaders and cherished life sources. p6: huli turns freely from rural valleys to urban sidewalks to coastal ocean, passing through kahawai, digital vignettes, loʻi kalo, pen and ink drawings, a tourist industry, and coral reefs along the way. Collaborators include Justyn Ah Chong, Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina (Joan Lander and Puhipau), DB Amorin, Haʻaheo Auwae-Dekker, Angelique Kalani Axelrode, Richard Hamasaki, Victoria Keith, Sancia Miala Shiba Nash, Alec Yasunori Singer, and kekahi wahi. A conversation between participating filmmakers in attendance will follow the programs.
presented at HoMA Doris Duke Theater