Making Media That Matters
2022 January 22 - March 5, 2022
Week by Week
Week 1 - January 22, 2022
Persistence
The phrase ‘time flies’ seems apt for this moment. It feels like only a few months ago we had our Reel Camps going at full speed ahead in Ka Waiwai, Church of the Crossroads, and La Pietra, one after the other. Writing, blocking, filming, editing, screening. Repeat. It was a whirlwind and then it all came to a halt as the season was over. Wrapped up our equipment and returned home to plan for the next series.
Then Omicron hit. While Delta was no joke, Omicron shocked the world, particularly the United States, back into the mindset it should have maintained this entire time: oh yeah, we’re in a pandemic. We were reminded once again of the brute strength of capitalism, greed, and western exceptionalism and how the powers that be and privilege will literally work people into a whole new virus variant. The most marginalized in our communities had to once again re-arrange and re-configure ways to be in community, co-create, and continue building a better world in the safest ways possible. It was already hard pre-pandemic and everyday since has continued on with the same energy, just with more restrictions and last minute changes.
Week 2 - January 29, 2022
Energy, Drive, and a Steady Pace
It’s refreshing to be back in person and around the excited, productive, and creative energy that HWF programs always bring. While it would be great to not have to do this with a pandemic in full swing, we are here with masks, sanitizer, and preparedness like no other. Once one enters the room, it really does feel like stepping into an engine, in a way. Taking the literal heat, water, steam, and fumes out of the equation, everything those elements produce to enable the engine to do its job are there: energy, drive, and a steady pace. Stepping into the second MMTM session at Ka Waiwai had me feeling like the whole building could take off at any moment and ride off into the sunset— I am also a Libra and prone to dramatic phrasing. The point being that’s just how much creative energy and bounce there is for these participants and their mentors. It’s palpable. [...]
Week 3 - February 5, 2022
Like Watching a Rube Goldberg Machine
You know when you’re watching a Rube Goldberg machine and there’s that feeling throughout the process that everything is following a neat sequence of events? Like when the bucket of water falls into the pail which then spills onto a pen which then pierces a balloon and the air from the balloon leads to something else and so on and so forth till we arrive at the desired result? It’s kind of a nice feeling, isn’t it? To see something that, after the initial prompt, followed this kind of natural order of events. [...]
Week 4 - February 12, 2022
Focus, drive, and commitment to a vision
I remember my first MMTM program. I was 21, pursuing my bachelors in English at UHM, and my whole life revolved around poetry. I had no idea what went into filmmaking nor the countless number of steps and instructions one has to memorize in order to utilize equipment properly, acquire a good shot, capture clear audio, as well as conduct oneself appropriately while on set. I hope this doesn’t come off as my thinking that filmmaking is difficult since seeing it up close, or something I’m not interested in. I also hope it doesn’t sound as if 21 year old Ngaio previously viewed filmmaking as some easy medium to take on. [...]
Week 5 - February 19, 2022
Creative placemaking
One of the most fascinating things to me about artists is that we all go to some place when we’re creating. I don’t mean a literal place although some folks might need to switch locations every time they make something, and some art forms require that, like pottery or glassblowing. I’m talking about that one place, or several places, that artists go to in their heads when engaging with their chosen medium. Like, where does the novelist go when hunching deeper and deeper into the keyboard? [...]
Week 6 - February 26, 2022
Te Pō
As the teams edit and wrap up their films, I am feeling into the world’s energy as of late.
I’ve been seeing a quote circulate throughout my socials the past two weeks or so. In almost every fellow creator’s IG story, Facebook post, or twitter, this quote inevitably appears: “[a]s you binge watch your thirteenth entire series or read a book or sleep to music, remember. Remember that in the darkest days when everything stopped, you turned to artists.” [...]
Week 7 - March 5, 2022
What people are capable of when given the tools to say whatever they want & in the way they need to.
The staff and the participants have been working hard over the past several weeks to ensure their messages, experiences, and voices are displayed on that drop down screen as true to their original vision as possible. I have kept to myself as I usually do: watching, listening, and not trying to pry too much into the projects. Much like the parents, caregivers, family members, and friends who come through to see the films, I too want to be surprised. I also want to see something with fresh eyes and no preparation. I want to be told a story and have to carry it with me for the next few days. I want to be reminded once again why art is the bastion. [...]
Film produced
The films produced during Making Media That Matters are available here and on our vimeo channel.
This program was made possible thanks to the generous support provided by the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the Advancing Girls Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation, and the City & County of Honolulu GIA.