Screenings for Spring 2008
Papakolea - A Story of Hawaiian Land
1998 USA Color English TRT 56 Min.
Screening: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Halau 'Ike, 7-432
Directed and co-written by Edgy Lee, with Academy Award winning cinematographer, Haskell Wexler; and Emmy Award winning documentary writer and producer, Saul Landau. This film received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Award for Independent Programming, the National Education Silver Apple; the International CINE Golden Eagle; and other awards for writing and directing.
Under constant threat of losing their land to corporate agriculture and federal government ownership, Native Hawaiians in Papakolea petitioned Congress to protect their land under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (1920). Their appeal, initiated by the women of this settlement community who struggled against poverty and racism, won the support of FDR and the U.S. Congress. Their 1930s victory continues to affect the lives of Hawaiians to this day while their determination to keep their culture alive is told by the few surviving elders. We begin to see the crucial thread that connects events of the past with the political and social conflicts of today's Native Hawaiians, still struggling for rights to their homelands.).
Paniolo O Hawai'i - Cowboys of the Far West
2000, USA Color, English TRT 59 Min.
Screening: Thursday, January 31, 2008
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Halau 'Ike, 7-432
"Lee has illuminated a little known facet of the Old West, Pacific Rim style", - San Francisco Examiner.
This documentary film redefines our childhood notions of the Great American West. In this beautifully crafted picture, the Cowboys are the Indians. Hawaii's Paniolo are the forerunners of the American Cowboy, but their story remains virtually unheralded in frontier history. The film is a tribute to these men and women who learned much of their riding, roping, and saddle making from the great vaqueros. Rare footage includes clips of "shipping cattle" in the 1920s, Will Rogers with Big Island cowboys, Willie Nelson and cowboy songsters Kindy Sproat and Grammy winning composer, Michael Martin Murphey.
Waikiki - In the Wake of Dreams
2001 USA Color, English TRT 78 Min.
Screening: Monday, February 4, 2008
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Halau 'Ike, 7-432
" Waikiki's charming past is unfolded through re-enactments, film and TV clips..." - Variety
This documentary film chronicles the evolution of a small beachside community from ancient spiritual haven, to playground for Hawaii's royalty, to the world's most famous beach and visitor destination. The film is the first comprehensive chronicle of Waikiki's 500-year history brought to life with historical photographs and moving footage, Hollywood film clips, and rare oral histories told by the people who made Waikiki, Waikiki.
The film previewed in Washington D.C. at the National Geographic Society. Its premiere in Hawaii was held on Waikiki beach, under a full moon to an audience of 5,000 viewers, setting the precedent for what has become the City of Honoulu's "Sunset on the Beach" public movie screenings held monthly in Waikiki.
The Hawaiians - Reflecting Spirit
2006, USA Color, English w/ some subtitles for Hawaiian language TRT 58 Min.
Screening 1: Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Screening 2: Thursday, February 7, 2008, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Halau 'Ike, 7-432
A recent work by noted Hawaii filmmaker Edgy Lee, an early cut opened the 2005 Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian at a private screening in Washington D.C. The film offers important cultural insights into who the Hawaiians are as a people, their origins, historical challenges and current social conditions, and the revival of spirit of a native people whose identity is intrinsically tied to their Hawaiian homelands. Lee's film is covered in the new book "Progressive Hollywood, A People's Film History of the United States," by Ed Rampell, who places Edgy alongside leading documentary filmmakers such as Oscar winners Errol Morris ("Fog of War"), Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me"), Robert Greenwald ("Outfoxed") and Michael Moore ("Fahrenheit 9/11"). Rampell calls Edgy "Hawaii's greatest local filmmaker" and describes "The Hawaiians" as "a film of transcendent splendor" that defends Native rights and culture.
The Spring 2008 screenings of Edgy Lee's films are being conducted in conjunction with the Wo Learning Champion's presentation of Edgy Lee entitled "Preserving Aloha," the Spring 2008 "Wo Distinguished Lecturer Series."
