Po’ele Wai

Pō'ele Wai EPK

A weaver, Kunawai, navigates between survival and her connection to the ‘āina (land) while a mysterious rash grows on her body. She has visions of a mysterious creature lurking in the waterways as she tries to go about her daily routine and her work as a cleaner. As Kunawai continues to have haunting visions that may be real or imagined, she goes through a metamorphosis after she finds out her drinking water is being poisoned by fuel leaking into the island’s watersheds. The transformation of Kunawai takes her through cemented waterways until she reaches the ocean to be cleansed or perhaps, reborn. Weaving practices, creation stories, a mysterious creature, and the mundane come together to reveal the horrors of that lie underneath our daily lives and bring them to the surface. In a poetic homage to our sacred waters, the linkage between our bodies, the water, and the land is woven together through visual metaphors.

Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 10.05.23 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 10.01.05 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 10.01.58 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 10.00.19 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 10.06.30 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 10.04.13 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-19 at 11.02.47 PM.png

Screen Shot 2022-09-19 at 11.14.18 PM.png

TONE AND ATMOSPHERE

Pō'ele Wai combines magical realism, dark fantasy and horror within a classical narrative to tell a visceral story of the effects of poisoning (of our bodies and our land) in a poetic homage to our sacred waters (and to bring awareness to the Kapūkakī / Red Hill crisis). There are lush backdrops of the rainforest, waterways, and reflections combined with the urban environment that offer a juxtaposition of the mundane with the landscape of dreams.

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

What we hold sacred bridges the past, the present and the future.

Ola i ka wai!

(Water is life!)

Taking a unique approach to telling a story, Pō’ele Wai aims to convey the pain, trauma, and cognitive dissonance as Kānaka as our water and our ‘āina are poisoned and harmed - as extensions of our bodies and our ancestral land. It speaks to a more universal story of occupation, land degradation, and subsequent poisoning of spiritual beliefs. At its core it really aims to be a reclamation of what we hold sacred, telling stories on our own terms, how we heal as a community, and a story of resilience.

Currently on Tour

Upcoming Screenings:

HANA HOU – HIFF42 AWARD WINNING SHORTS - April 3rd, 8:15pm Kahala Consolidated Theaters, Honolulu, HI

Imagining Indigenous Cinema: New Voices, New Visions - June 10th, Billy Wilder Theater, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA

MORE TBA

Previous Screenings:
World Premiere: Hawai‘i International Film Festival, November 4th 2022 - Kahala Consolidated Theaters - Honorable Mention for Best Short Film Made in Hawai‘i

Cinetelechy VI, December 20th, 2022, Jean Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe, NM

i nā kiʻi ma mua, nā kiʻi ma hope, Doc Fortnight, February 26, 2023, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Constellating Histories, Na Wāhine Kanaka Maoli in Hawaiʻi Cinema, Asian Film Archive, March 12, 2023, Singapore