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International Jury Honors “Noho Hewa” for Being “Militant and Uncompromising”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, January 30, 2010
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ana Currie, Pasifika Foundation Hawai‘i
e-mail: acurrie@hawaii.rr.com
PAPEETE, TAHITI– Hawaiian filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly’s newly released documentary“Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai‘i” was awarded a specialjury prize at this week’s Festival International Du Film DocumentaireOceanien (FIFO) in Tahiti.
Thepacked Grand Theatre at Papeete’s Maison de la Culture exploded intoloud cheers, hoots and applause when the special jury prize for Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai‘i was announced last night at the closing event of the Festival International Du Film Documentaire Oceanien (FIFO) in Tahiti.
Jurors were moved by its raw and passionate portrayal of the struggles of today’s native Hawaiians.
Noho Hewa had attracted considerable attention among theprofessional and community viewers for its edgy and explicit expressionof the ongoing effects of colonialism in Hawai‘i. For many Tahitian andother visiting Pacific island viewers, Kelly’s film enabled them tounderstand, for the first time, the realities faced by the Hawaiianpeople in their own homeland, and the kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiian)resistance to the desecration and obliteration of their culture by theUS military, real estate development, and tourism pressures.
In the Hawaiian language, hewa means “wrong” and nohomeans “to occupy.” From the military exercises and bombings at Makuaand Pohakuloa and the desecration of burial sites at Hokulia andWal-mart, to Maoli homelessness – in stark contrast to the widespreadconstruction of upscale gated communities – and the resistance to theAkaka bill, Kelly’s film weaves a context of understanding of how theU.S. overthrow and continuing occupation of the sovereign Kingdom ofHawai‘i affect every aspect of native Hawaiian life. The film makes acase that through the force of U.S. laws, economy, militarism, and realestate speculation, the Hawaiian people are facing systematic,intentional obliteration.
The film features interviews with Hawaiian activists and academics,whose comments serve to further clarify the significance and direnessof the ongoing erosion of Hawaiian culture. That’s a message thatresonates deeply with the people of the islands of Pasifika, most ofwhom continue to struggle with many of the same issues.
Noho Hewa was more than six years in production, and in 2008 won the Hawaii International Film Festival’s Award For Best Documentary. Kellyis a Hawaiian journalist and filmmaker who has reported on politics,culture, the environment and indigenous peoples. Keala’s reports airregularly on the Pacifica Network’s Free Speech Radio News and herprint journalism has appeared in The Nation, Indian Country Today, Honolulu Weekly, Hawai‘i Island Journaland other publications. Her news footage has been featured on TheNewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Democracy Now! and in September 2008 Kealaco-produced “The Other Hawaii” for Al Jazeera. She has an MFA inDirecting from UCLA.
The Grand Prize winning film at FIFO was Te Henua E Noho, a moving film about the effects of climate change on a small island community. Te Henua E Noho was directed by New Zealander Briar March and produced by On The Level Productions.
The winner of the Prix Selection du Public – the popular choice of screening audiences – was Terre Natale: Retour a Rurutu,directed by Jean-Michele Corillon and produced by Kwanza & BleuLagon Production & Canal Overseas. A visually stunning andemotionally rich presentation, this documentary tells the story of twoyoung adults, a brother and sister, who were born on the island ofRurutu in the Austral archipelago of French Polynesia and adopted asvery small children by a French couple. After growing up in France,they return to Rurutu to re-connect with their culture and re-discovertheir roots.
Three special jury awards were given; along with Noho Hewa, the Austalian film Bastardy and the New Zealand documentary The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls were also given special tribute by the jury for their unique and compelling character.
FIFO is one of Pasifika’s major film events, a gathering of filmmakers,TV producers, and multimedia journalists from throughout the region tomeet, network, and develop projects together. The 2010 festivalscreenings attracted more than 20,000 viewers in four screening venuesat the cultural center.
Festival officials describe the event as a “meeting place for lovers ofthe Pacific, our vast region, which boasts such a varied and thrivingcultural heritage, synonymous with dreaming, mystery and exploration .. . an enriching, sometimes astonishing, often surprising experienceranging over characters, identities, history and current affairs.”
Hawai‘i was represented at the festival by Kelly’s film, as well as by Olohega, a documentary produced by a partnership of Pasifika Foundation Hawai‘i (PFH) and TV New Zealand/Tagata Pasifika. Olohegawas selected by the festival committee as one of the 25 films screenedfor general festival audiences in addition to the 17 films that wereentered in the juried competition. Both Noho Hewa and Olohegawere also among the seven films chosen for special question-and-answersessions, an indication of the intense interest generated by theseHawai‘i-based films. Pasifika Foundation Hawai‘i executive director AnaCurrie was on hand to answer questions about Olohega, whichchronicles the poignant and heartbreaking story of Tokelau’s fourthisland, Olohega, which was claimed by an American whaling captain, EliJennings, in 1856. In 1925, Jennings’ descendants utilized theirAmerican connections to successfully annex Olohega, known then as“Swains Island,” to the United States, and continue to maintain theirownership of the island today.
The film tells the stories of the Tokelauan people of Olohega who wereforcibly evicted from their island home in the 1950s. In their ownwords, the elders who now live in a tight-knit community on Oahu inHawai‘i, describe their shock, sadness and shame at their eviction, aswell as their longing to return to their beautiful and fertile island.Only a handful of people now live on Olohega, an island that once, ascommunal farming land, supported many Tokelauan communities with itsbounty of crops.
After announcing the special jury award for Noho Hewa,jury member Elise Huffer explained that every member of the jury hadbeen deeply affected by Kelly’s film. “This film is militant anduncompromising,” she stated, and said that the jury was unanimous inchoosing to award a special prize for this film that told such animportant story in such a powerful way.
“I’m shocked and deeply honored,” said Kelly in a post-award interview.“And for me the most important thing is that the message of the filmwas so strongly embraced by the jury, and by the audiences here. Thisis a story that needs to be told, and to be able to share it with otherpeople of the Pacific is very meaningful to me.”
IDs on “FIFO Award Winners” group shot:
From left:
Dong-Ho Kin (jury member from South Korea); Adolphe Colrat (French Polynesia High Commisioner); Jean-Michel Corillon (director, Terre Natale); George Andrews (accepting award for Leanne Pooley, The Topp Twins); Anne Keala Kelly (director, Noho Hewa); Amiel Courtin-Wilson (director, Bastardy); Viri Taimana (jury member from Tahiti); Briar March (director, Te Henua E Noho);Florence Aubenas (Jury President); Gaston Tong Sang (President ofFrench Polynesia); Olivier Poivre D’Arvor (jury member from France);Michael Kops (Regional Director, RFO Polynesie); Mita Teriipaia(Minister of Culture of French Polynesia).
Federal Recognition, the Akaka bill, is not the answer, so what is?
Can the US really help create a bright future for the Hawaiian Nation? What solutions will benefit all residents of Hawai`i?
Hawaiians want and deserve freedom just as much as US citizens do.
Some say, “the illegal act of war that overthrew your Queen can’t be erased . . . like it or not, you’re all Americans now.”
But, every day we see people around the world fighting for, and winning back their native and national rights. Their quest, and ours are totally legitimate and very real.
Like everyone else, Hawai`i Nationals want four basic things –
FREEDOM – The freedom to decide their own future for themselves. That “freedom” was taken away when the sovereign Nation of Hawai`i was overthrown in 1893. It was taken away again by illegal annexation to the United States in 1898. And, it was taken away a third time by the fake statehood vote in 1959.
According to international law, a new vote must to be taken that offers three options – 1) Independence, or 2) Free-Association or 3) Integration (nation within a nation.)
RIGHTS – The rights of the independent Nation of Hawai`i were never relinquished. The destruction and denial of these rights must cease. Everyone who descends from citizens of the Hawaiian Nation prior to 1893, regardless of race, are entitled to these rights.
IDENTITY – The political identity of Hawai`i Nationals must be acknowledged by the United States. They will decide their own future, without interference by the US. And, only those with any measure of indigenous blood may define who is native Hawaiian. A blood quantum imposed by the US is an unacceptable means to divide and conquer.
LAND BASE - Hawai`i Nationals love their country and lands just as much as US citizens love the US. Hawaiians want all their land back, not just some of it.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Uncle Eddie Ka`anana Tribute: Ku`i Kalo at Capitol on 1/25/10

http://kauluhoi.org/puke7/helu7/manu.html
'Anakala Eddie
Auē! Auē!
Ua hala aku nei
Ka iki hāwa'e o Miloli'i
Ke 'a'ali'i kū makani
Kani ka leo
Kanikau ē
Lu'ulu'u ko Ho'ōpūloa uka
I ka hā'ule 'ana o ka pua
Lu'ulu'u ko Ho'ōpūloa kai
Kai kinai ahi a ka wahine
Auē! Auē!
Ua hala aku nei
Ka loea lawai'a kaulana
Hānai i ke ko'a i ke kalo
Ho'i i ke kai lana mālie
Hele lanakila ka 'ōpelu
Lu'ulu'u ke kupunahine
'O Oemaliekeliikipipaialua
Lu'ulu'u ke kupuna kāne
'O Kaanana
Auē! Auē!
Ua hala aku nei
He makua ia no'u
He makua ia no ka lāhui
Kulu ka waimaka
Uē ka 'ōpua ē
Lu'ulu'u nā pilikana
'A'ole o kana mai
Lu'ulu'u ko Hawai'i a puni
He 'eha a lohe mai i ke a'o
Auē! Auē!
Ke hala aku nei
Nā hulu kupuna
Nā māpuna leo o ka 'ike
Pa'a mo'olelo
Nā 'ōlelo a'o ē
Lu'ulu'u nā kamali'i
'Ehia mea aloha i ka mamo
Lu'ulu'u nā haumāna
Nele i ka māna 'ai
Auē! Auē!
Ke hala aku nei
Ka mano o ka 'ikena
Ka lehu o ka 'ikena
I pa'a i nā kūpuna
Ka pūnāwai o ke ola
Lu'ulu'u ka houpo
Āhea kāua e hui hou ai
Lu'ulu'u ka manawa
Aloha 'oe e 'Anakala
UH vows to hold off genetic tests with Hawaiian taro
Researchers will consult with native Hawaiians on cultural concerns
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com
Hawaiian varieties of taro will not be used in any University of Hawaii genetic engineering research until native Hawaiians advise scientists about cultural concerns, a university dean said yesterday.
VOICE CONCERNS
Anyone with concerns about genetic engineering of Hawaiian taro varieties can contact William Souza, of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, at 282-6005, or Andrew Hashimoto, dean of the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, at 956-8234.
The promise is an attempt to stave off controversy and foster dialogue between the university and the native Hawaiian community, said Andrew Hashimoto, dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
The dialogue is expected to take place through a process being organized by the Royal Order of Kamehameha on all islands.
To solidify the promise, Hashimoto signed a one-page statement about the university's intentions with taro research yesterday at a taro patch at the UH Center for Hawaiian Studies. "We have encountered perceptions in the community that CTAHR's taro research focuses entirely on genetic engineering and that the college sells or gives away genetically engineered taro huli (shoots). These perceptions are incorrect," the statement said.
"The CTAHR scientists currently involved in genetic engineering research on taro have no plans to modify Hawaiian taro varieties." The only ongoing genetic engineering of taro at the UH is of a Chinese variety and is being done only in a lab setting, not in greenhouses or open fields, Hashimoto said.
Genetic engineering involves the placement of a gene from one species of plant or animal into a different species. For example a disease-resistant gene in rice could be added to taro. Genetic engineering is much faster than traditional cross-breeding, Hashimoto said.
Opponents of genetic engineering worry that open-field test crops could escape test plots and affect native plants or other nongenetically engineered crops nearby, said Kat Brady of the environmental group Life of the Land.
But for taro, the cultural factor is an additional concern.
The connection between Hawaiians and taro goes beyond its historical use as a staple food to a "mystical, mythological parable that all Hawaiians are attached," said kumu John Lake, who chanted in Hawaiian, then spoke in English at yesterday's event.
"Kalo (taro) is intrinsically part and parcel of Hawaiians and of ohana," he said.
In Hawaiian mythology, the gods Wakea and Ho'ohokukalani's first child, Haloanakalaukapalili, was stillborn. When he was buried in the ground, he became the first taro plant, said Nalei Kahakalau, a teacher at the Big Island public charter school Kanu O Ka Aina.
The couple's next child, Haloa, was the founder of the Hawaiian people, according to the legend.
Visiting students from the Big Island charter school chanted about the legend for those attending the event.
The prospect of genetically altering taro is "kind of scary," said Ernest Tottori, president of Honolulu Poi Co., one of the islands' largest taro growers and processors.
For example, taro is known to be tolerated by people with allergies to wheat and rice, but Tottori asked what if it lost that quality under genetic engineering?
"You want to be very cautious about anything like that," he said.
http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/25/news/index4.html

Securing Disaster in Haiti
by Peter Hallward
Peter Hallward is a Canadian political philosopher. He is currently aprofessor of Modern European Philosophy at Middlesex University. He isthe author of Damning the Flood. This article was firstpublished in Americas Program Report (under a Creative Commonslicense) and Haiti Analysis on 22 January 2010.