Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 5, 1 May 2015 — Film festival to highlight land, stream and water [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Film festival to highlight land, stream and water

By Lurline Wailana McGregor Hālau Kū Māna's eighth-grade class picked the films that will be screened at its third annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival. This year the theme is "Kō Kula Uka," or belonging to the uplands. The films will focus on land, streams and water issues. "The films are tied into what the students have been studying," says Trevor Atkins, the students' teacher at Hālau Kū Māna, a puhlie charter school in Makiki. "In addition to picking the films, the students serve as master of ceremonies to introduce them, so they are tasked with

tying global films with what's happening at home. It's a way to hō'ike (exhibit) in front of audiences that have never heard about us." La'akea Caravahlo approached Hālau Kū Māna with the idea of hosting the festival. He started an

organization, Knowledge in Motion, as a grassroots effort to build awareness of environmental issues through video documentaries. "Most people eall it activism; I eall it patriotism for our environment," says Caravahlo about his desire to educate

through film. "Having the students at Hālau Kū Māna present short films to the eommunity is a way to get everyone involved and to compare Hawai'i environmental issues with environmental issues from other places. It's good to show films from other eommu-

nities with the same problems and it's especially important to have the next generation of leaders participating." The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is a nationally sponsored filmfestival started in 2003 by the South Yuba River Citizens League in California. The group first organized as concerned citizens opposing the construction of two dams on the South Yuba River. The damprojects were defeated, and since then, SYRCL's mission expanded into holding national film festivals as a eall to aehon. The festivals bring together audience members from different segments of the community to learn about environmental issues and get inspired to take aehon. The students at Hālau Kū Māna selected the films for

their festival from a catalogue of films that S YRLC accepted into its own Wild and Scenic festival in Nevada City, California. SEE FILM FESTIVAL "II PAGE 11

EDUCATION

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The OHA-produced film Ola I Ka Wai : EastMaui screen at The Wild and Scenic Film Festival on O'ahu in May. Its predecessor film, Ola I Ka Wai, has screened at the nahonal Wild and Scenic Film Festival in California. - lmage: Kamakakoi.com

FILM FESTIVAL Continued from page 6 The festival will run from 4 to 9 p.m. on May 23 at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art. The first hour will consist of music and free samples of dishes made from foods the students have grown. A food vendor will also provide food for purchase. The films will start screening at 5 p.m.,

with emcees introducing films and facilitating audience discussion after every few films, depending on their lengths. "There are 21 students in the class, and all of them participate," explains Atkins. "Some work on decorations, others work on the food, others work on welcoming protocol. The students work together to write the scripts, whieh the emcees then deliver." In addition to films about global environmental issues, the festival also includes a film covering a loeal issue, and this year will feature screening of OlalKa Wai: East Maui. This ll-minute film documents the struggle of kalo farmers in East Maui to re-establish their rights to healthy streams. It was produced by 4 Miles LLC for Kamakako'i, the community engagement tool of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Last year the festival featured Ola I Ka Wai, whieh is more broadly about water management in Hawai'i, also produced for Kamakako'i.

The national Wild and Scenic Lilm Lestival selected to screen that film at its annual showcase in January, along with another Kamakako'i production, Pōhakuloa: Now that you know, do you care? The primary sponsor of the loeal Wild and Scenic Lilm Lestival is Kupu Hawai'i, an organization that develops youth leadership and skills in natural resource management, renewable energy and other green sectors of the economy by connecting students with industry people. Other sponsors include the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Patagonia Hawai'i, the Conservation Council for Hawai'i and several national sponsors. ■ Luiiine Wailana McGregor is a writer, teīevision producer and author o/Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me.

Screenings Here are some of the films that will be shown. Brilliant Darkness: Hotaru in the Hight This filmexplores the importance of darkness through the study and preservation of firefly habitats in Japan and the United States. Dryden -The Small īown that Changed the Fracking Game The true story of people in Dryden, N.Y., who discovered their shared strength and turned the tables on the powerful oil and gas industry. Delta Dawn In the spring of 2014, an experimental pulse of water was released into the forgotten Colorado River delta. This is the story of western water, a challenged Colorado River and the potential for environmental restoration. Earthbook If Planet Earth was a social network, what would it post about humans on its profile? In this film, the Earth fastforwards through a virtual relationship with humans.

Some work on decorations, others work on the food, others work on welcoming protoeol. The students work together to write the scripts, whieh the emcees then deliver." — TrevorAtkins, teacher atHālau Kū Māna