Events - The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu

June 2022

04 June

10:45 am – 12:00 pm

Children’s Literature Hawai’i Conference Presentation – Kapaemahu: The Power of a Lost Story Found

Location

Virtual Zoom

Website

https://www.childrenslithawaii.org/2022-conference/2022-conference-schedule/

Using Literature: The Inspiring Past

Kapaemahu: The Power of a Lost Story Found

Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu

Kapaemahu is a bilingual children’s picture book for ages 3-8 about four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit, or mahu, who brought healing arts from Tahiti to Hawai`i. It is part of an educational project that includes an Oscar-contending animated short film, a documentary, and a Bishop Museum exhibition that explore how and why this story was altered as colonialism and globalization brought change to Hawai`i.

This session will engage participants with project creators, excerpts of the book read in `Olelo Ni`ihau, and introduction to an activity guide for the book developed by Kanaeokana “for teachers by teachers.” The book release, launch event, and exhibition all happen in June.

08 June

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Pacific Heartbeat / PBS Hawai’i Pride Month Conversation: The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu

Location

Virtual PIC PBS Hawaii

Celebrate Pride Month in conversation with special guests and filmmakers, joining us LIVE from Hawai’i!

Pacific Islanders in Communications in partnership with PBS Hawai’i, proudly present a special Pride Month event, highlighting THE HEALER STONES OF KAPAEMAHU, from Season 11 of the Pacific Heartbeat series.

You are cordially invited to a live conversation and Q&A, featuring THE HEALER STONES OF KAPAEMAHU filmmakers: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, in conversation with archivist and historian, Desoto Brown (Bishop Museum).

Moderated by Taylour Chang (Bishop Museum), this discussion promises to be an engaging exploration of a rich cultural history, the importance of representation and the lasting legacies that often hide in plain sight.

THE HEALER STONES OF KAPAEMAHU

Four boulders in Waikīkī pay tribute to healers that brought their arts from Tahiti to Hawai’i hundreds of years ago. A plaque commemorates the healers’ contributions, but fails to mention they were mahu- people of dual male and female spirit. THE HEALER STONES OF KAPAEMAHU tells the story of these heroes and explores what happened to mahu as colonialism swept across the Pacific.

PANELISTS

HINALEIMOANA WONG-KALU (Film Director and Hawaiian Culture Bearer)

Kumu Hina is a Native Hawaiian teacher, cultural practitioner and filmmaker who uses digital media to protect and perpetuate indigenous languages and traditions. She began her film work as a protagonist and educational advisor for the award winning films Kumu Hina and A Place in the Middle, and received a National Education Association Human Rights Award, Native Hawaiian Educator of the year and White House Champion of Change for the groundbreaking impact campaigns associated with those films. Continuing her journey to the other side of the lens, Kumu Hina produced the award-winning short Lady Eva and PBS feature documentary Leitis in Waiting about her transgender sisters in the Kingdom of Tonga. Kapaemahu is her first film in Ōlelo Niʻihau , in which she is fluent. Hina is also a transgender health advocate, burial council chair, candidate for the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and composer of “Ku Haaheo E Kuu Hawaii,” the internationally known anthem for the protection of Mauna Kea.

DEAN HAMER (Film Director and Researcher)

Dean Hamer is a New York Times Book of the Year author, National Institutes of Health scientist, and Emmy and GLAAD Media award-winning filmmaker whose work has played an important role in current understandings of human sexuality and gender. He formed Kanaka Pakipika with partner Joe Wilson and prior film subject Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu to produce an insightful series of films that have opened the eyes of the worlds to the lessons to be learned from Polynesia’s unique approach to diversity and inclusion. He is currently working on a book and museum exhibition based on Kapaemahu. Hamer is also the author of several best-selling nonfiction books including “The Science of Desire” and “The God Gene,” has been a consultant for the BBC and Discovery channels, and his research has been featured in Time, Newsweek, and Science magazines and on FRONTLINE PBS and Oprah.

JOE WILSON (Film Director and Engagement Strategist)

Joe Wilson is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker dedicated to telling stories that emanate from the voices of those on the outside. His feature and short films combine live action with animation to explore pressing social issues through innovative storytelling. Wilson’s work has screened and won awards at festivals around the world including Berlin, Toronto and Tribeca, been viewed by millions of viewers on PBS, Netflix, ARTE and other international broadcasts, and has been supported by Sundance, Ford and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Kapaemahu is his fifth film in collaboration with Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu. Previously, Wilson served as Director of the Human Rights at the Public Welfare Foundation and a Producer of Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now.

DESOTO BROWN (Archivist and Historian at Bishop Museum)

Curious, inquisitive, a seeker of information and a reader of anything and everything, DeSoto Brown might have become a professor or a detective. Lucky for the historical wealth of Hawai‘i, he became the archivist and collections manager for the Bishop Museum. His great-great grandfather, John Papa Ii, was a 19th-century writer and Hawaiian historian who served as adviser to Hawaii kings Kamehameha III, IV and V. Brown’s parents were also history buffs who sparked his curiosity in the past. He has a wide range of interests, and has co-curated numerous exhibitions including the recent “Kaula Piko: The Source of Strings” and “Mai Kinohi Mai: Surfing in Hawai’i.”

MODERATOR

TAYLOUR CHANG (Director of Public Programs, Bishop Museum)

11 June

10:00 am – 10:45 am

Kapaemahu Book Launch: Keiki Storytime Reading 1 w/ Kumu Hina

11 June

11:00 am – 11:40 am

Kapaemahu Book Launch: Keiki Storytime Reading 2 w/ Kumu Hina

11 June

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Kapaemahu Book Launch – Conversation with Authors

13 June

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

IDEAS Live: Kumu Hina – Hosted by Chad Blair of the Honolulu Civil Beat

16 June

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Media Preview Opportunity

17 June

5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Film Screening and Exhibition Preview

18 June

5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival: Rainbows Across the Pacific

July 2022

08 July

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Kapaemahu Speaker Series | Hidden in Plain Sight: The History of The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu in a Changing Waikīkī

Location

Bishop Museum

1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817

This program is part of a five-part speaker series that harnesses community discourse around The Healer of Stones of Kapaemahu exhibition on view in Bishop Museum’s Castle Memorial Building through Oct. 16, 2022. By bringing together cultural practitioners, scholars, artists, and community organizers, the program aims to cultivate deeper understanding of the exhibition’s central themes of gender diversity, Native Hawaiian health, and the power of monuments. These talks will take place in person at Bishop Museum’s Atherton Hālau and will be streamed live for virtual participation.

To kick off the series, join us for a Museum After Hours Pau Hana presentation with the exhibition curators to discuss the historical findings and artistic choices behind The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. The conversation will include new details about the first written version of the moʻolelo, its loss, its rediscovery deep in a library archive, and its restoration—all in the context of the rise of tourism, militarization, and the erosion of Hawaiian cultural identity throughout the 20th century. Speakers include:

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, co-curator, Kanaka Maoli teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader
Dean Hamer, co-curator and Emmy and GLAAD media award-winning filmmaker
Joe Wilson, co-curator, Emmy award-winning filmmaker, community advocate
DeSoto Brown, co-curator and Bishop Museum Historian and Curator of the Archives

Book Signing da Shop and Bess Press will be hosting an exclusive book signing for the newly released children’s book “Kapaemahu.” Based on the Academy Award contending-short film of the same name, “Kapaemahu,” by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, and illustrated by Daniel Sousa, tells the Native Hawaiian legend of four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit, or māhū, who brought healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii. On the night of the Museum After Hours event, attendees will be able to purchase and have books signed by author Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu and co-creators, Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer. *This kickoff panel is featured as a Museum After Hours Pau Hana presentation. Please note that Museum After Hours is a campus-wide event from 5:30 – 9 p.m. The Pau Hana presentation will take place in Bishop Museum’s Atherton Hālau from 6 – 7:30 p.m. In order to attend in person and enjoy the full offerings of Museum After Hours, guests will need to purchase admission using the Registration button. For those who wish to attend virtually via zoom, register using the Virtual Registration button.

Friday, July 8, 2022
6-7:30 p.m.
Atherton Hālau & Livestreamed via Zoom
*Included in Museum After Hours Admission

29 July

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Kapaemahu Speaker Series | Pacific Connections: Gender Diversity Across Moana Nui

Location

Bishop Museum

1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817

In Hawaiʻi, the creation chant, the Kumulipo, traces the origins of life to the combining of paired opposites: light and dark, earth and sky, wet and dry, male and female. In conversation with co-curator Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Professor Tēvita O. Kaʻili will share stories of gender duality from his native Tonga and other regions of Oceania, and Hawaiian historian Adam Keawe Manolo-Camp will discuss his research and storytelling initiatives to help revive Hawaiian understandings and histories of gender fluidity and same-sex relationships, including among revered rulers and nobles.

Speakers include:

Adam Keawe Manolo-Camp, Hawaiian cultural historian, President of Indigenous Pasifika
Tēvita O. Kaʻili, Anthropologist and Dean of Pacific Studies at Brigham Young University—Hawaii
Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, co-curator of The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu, Kanaka Maoli teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader

Friday, July 29, 2022
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Atherton Hālau & Livestreamed via Zoom
Free admission

August 2022

04 August

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Children’s Literature Hawai’i Conference Presentation – Kapaemahu: The Power of a Lost Story Found

Pacific Heartbeat / PBS Hawai’i Pride Month Conversation: The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu

Kapaemahu Book Launch: Keiki Storytime Reading 1 w/ Kumu Hina

Kapaemahu Book Launch: Keiki Storytime Reading 2 w/ Kumu Hina

Kapaemahu Book Launch – Conversation with Authors

IDEAS Live: Kumu Hina – Hosted by Chad Blair of the Honolulu Civil Beat

Media Preview Opportunity

Film Screening and Exhibition Preview

Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival: Rainbows Across the Pacific

Kapaemahu Speaker Series | Hidden in Plain Sight: The History of The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu in a Changing Waikīkī

Kapaemahu Speaker Series | Pacific Connections: Gender Diversity Across Moana Nui

Kapaemahu Speaker Series | Healing and Cultural Empowerment in Kapaemahu

Tribeca Film Festival – WORLD PREMIERE & SPECIAL JURY MENTION

Animayo International Film Festival – GRAND JURY PRIZE (Oscar qualifying)

Atlanta Film Festival – BEST ANIMATED SHORT (Oscar qualifying)

Foyle Film Festival – BEST ANIMATED SHORT (Oscar Qualifying)

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival – BEST MINI-DOC (Oscar Qualifying)

Hiroshima International Animation Festival – SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

New York International Children’s Film Festival – AUDIENCE AWARD 10+

Nashville Film Festival – AUDIENCE AWARD

Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival – AUDIENCE AWARD

Chicago International Children’s Film Festival – CHILDREN’S JURY AWARD

imagineNATIVE – OPENING NIGHT FILM & BEST NATIVE LANGUAGE PRODUCTION

Boston International Kids Film Festival – BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Bengaluru International Short Film Festival – BEST ANIMATED FILM

GAZE Film Festival – BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT

Hawai’i iNternational Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION

Rhode Island International Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION SHORT

Animation Chico – FIRST PLACE WINNER

Red Rock Film Festival – AUDIENCE AWARD

Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival – AUDIENCE AWARD

Black Maria Film Festival – DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARD

Nomade Land First Peoples Festival – BEST ANIMATION

Prague International Indie Film Festival – BEST SHORT FILM

Victoria Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION SHORT

Festival de Cine Independiente de San Antonio Ecuador – BEST ANIMATION SHORT

Magnolia Independent Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION

Micheaux Film Festival – OUTSTANDING ANIMATED SHORT

Belgium Short Film Festival – BEST CHILDRENʻS FILM

Humboldt International Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION

Humboldt International Film Festival – AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

Beverly Hills Film Festival – BEST ANIMATED FILM

Animation Dingle Festival Ireland – BEST INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL FILM

Animaze Montreal International Animation Festival – BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Animaze Montreal International Animation Festival – AUDIENCE WARD

British Animation Film Festival – BEST MUSIC AWARD

Palace Pride Shorts Showcase – AUDIENCE AWARD

Jharkhand International Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION

Richmond International Film Festival – BEST OF FESTIVAL ANIMATED SHORT

Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival – BEST ANIMATION

Rio Festival de Cinema LGBTQ – AUDIENCE AWARD

MIX Copenhagen Film Festival – BEST SHORT FILM

Thessaloniki Animation Festival – SILVER OCTOPUS

New Zealand International Film Festival – SPECIAL JURY MENTION

Ojai Film Festival – HONORABLE MENTION

Annecy International Animated Film Festival – NOMINATED CITY OF ANNECY AWARD

Ottawa International Animation Festival – NOMINATED BEST CHILDREN’S FILM

Indy Shorts International Film Festival

Huesca International Film Festival

Palm Springs International Short Fest

Edinburgh International Film Festival

Singapore International Children’s Film Festival

Wairoa Maori Film Festival

Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia

Houston Asian American and Pacific Film Festival

QFest St Louis

Frameline International LGBTQ Film Festival

Galway Film Fleadh

Woods Hole Film Festival

Show Me Shorts Film Festival

Animasyros

San Diego Kids Film Festival

San Diego Asian Film Festival

Naples International Film Festival

Shanghai Queer Film Festival

Animafilm

Melbourne International Film Festival

Zlin Film Festival for Children and Youth

Queer Screen Film Festival Sydney

Tirana International Film Festival

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival – **BEST MINI-DOC (Oscar Qualifying)**