Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi

Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi is a documentary series dedicated to highlighting the stories and achievements of Hawaiʻi women filmmakers who preserve Hawai‘i history and culture through film and inspire future generations to explore the art of filmmaking. The series is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and produced by Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking. https://www.reelwahineofhawaii.org/ Each episode delves into the personal journeys, challenges, and achievements of these extraordinary women, offering viewers a profound understanding of their artistic visions and the impact they have on the film industry. Featured Filmmakers: Alison Week is a filmmaker based in Waimea, Hawaiʻi. She produces narrative and non-fiction films. Her personal film work aims to uplift stories of women and represent her island home. Recently, she co-directed the documentary feature Island Cowgirls, now airing as part of the Pacific Heartbeat series on PBS/World Channel. Directed by Shirley Thompson. Chaunnel "Pākē" Salmon is an award-winning filmmaker and entrepreneur from Hawaiʻi. She draws inspiration from Hawaiian surf legends and nature to showcase the beauty of Hawaiʻi's stories and culture to a global audience. Through her works, she transforms the legacy of abandonment into one of abundance, driven by Aloha ʻĀina. Directed by Vera Zambonelli Lola Quan Bautista, born and raised on the island of Guam, has been doing research on Micronesian migration, settlement in urban spaces, and ongoing connections between diasporic communities and their home island nations. Lola has directed and produced films that promote understanding and social justice. Directed by Shaneika Aguilar. Robin Lung is a fourth-generation Chinese American filmmaker from Hawaiʻi. She specializes in bringing untold stories of minorities and women to the big screen. Her documentary, Finding KUKAN, won the American Library Association's Notable Film Award in 2019, and her first stop-motion animated film, Anna Unbound, premiered in 2023. Directed by Donna Choo. Shirley Thompson is a renowned documentary producer, editor and writer. She is best known for editing award-winning documentaries such as Baseball Behind Barbed Wire, The 'Ilima Lady, Island Cowgirls, Finding Kukan, and Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'i. These films have received major funding from the NEA and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and her work has received significant recognition, including an Emmy and a Peabody award. Directed by Lisette Marie Flanary. Tiare Ribeaux is a Kānaka Maoli filmmaker based in Honolulu. Her films use magical realism to critique social and ecological imbalances. Ribeaux's work explores the connection between our bodies and land and water systems, focusing on transformation. She has won numerous grants and awards for her artistic leadership, including the Sundance Native Lab Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts. Directed by Erin Lau.

Chaunnel "Pākē" Salmon is an award-winning filmmaker and entrepreneur from Hawaiʻi. She draws inspiration from Hawaiian surf legends and nature to showcase the beauty of Hawaiʻi's stories and culture to a global audience. Pākē her works, she transforms the legacy of abandonment into one of abundance, driven by Aloha ʻĀina. Directed by Vera Zambonelli

Tiare Ribeaux is a Kānaka Maoli filmmaker based in Honolulu. Her films use magical realism to critique social and ecological imbalances. Ribeaux's work explores the connection between our bodies and land and water systems, focusing on transformation. She has won numerous grants and awards for her artistic leadership, including the Sundance Native Lab Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lola Quan Bautista, born and raised on the island of Guam, has been doing research on Micronesian migration, settlement in urban spaces, and ongoing connections between diasporic communities and their home island nations. Lola has directed and produced films that promote understanding and social justice. Directed by Shaneika Aguilar

Robin Lung is a fourth-generation Chinese American filmmaker from Hawaiʻi. She specializes in bringing untold stories of minorities and women to the big screen. Her documentary, Finding KUKAN, won the American Library Association's Notable Film Award in 2019, and her first stop-motion animated film, Anna Unbound, premiered in 2023. Directed by Donna Choo

Alison Week is a filmmaker based in Waimea, Hawaiʻi. She produces narrative and non-fiction films. Her personal film work aims to uplift stories of women and represent her island home. Recently, she co-directed the documentary feature Island Cowgirls, now airing on PBS/World Channel as part of the series Pacific Heartbeat.

Shirley Thompson is a renowned documentary producer, editor, and director. She is best known for editing award-winning documentaries such as Baseball Behind Barbed Wire, The 'Ilima Lady, Island Cowgirls, Finding Kukan, and Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'i. She has received major funding from the NEA and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and her work has received significant recognition, including an Emmy and a Peabody award.

Leanne was an exceptional leader, storyteller, mother, friend, advocate, and visionary highly regarded in the independent film community. She joined PIC in 2008 as a program manager and became the Executive Director in 2013. Throughout her 13 years of service, Leanne was an ardent supporter of public media, recognizing its crucial role in building a democratic society and its potential to educate, inform, and engage communities nationwide. With her unwavering dedication, Leanne steered PIC towards new frontiers. She co-created Pacific Heartbeat, a public television series that featured stories and experiences of Pacific Islander people and culture.

Anne Marie Kirk is a native Hawaiian activist and filmmaker, whose documentaries inquire into Hawai'i's past and history's impact on how we live today. Directed by Amber McClure

Shaneika Aguilar is an award winning Filipino American cinematographer, editor and independent filmmaker from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. She has dedicated her life to creating empathetic and story-driven films with a newfound focus on social advocacy.

Stephanie Castillo was a Kaua‘i-based Emmy award-winning writer and director whose documentaries explored the lives of people driven by devotion to others.

Born on Oʻahu and raised on Molokaʻi, Jana has been acting, writing, producing and directing since she was a young child. She's written and produced multiple plays, over a dozen award-winning short films, and served in various Producer roles on several feature films, including Google/Array-grant winner Moloka’i Bound.

Sancia Miala Shiba Nash is a filmmaker from Kīhei, Maui. Through time-based media, she works collaboratively to amplify intersectional stories of place. Her practice is guided by oral histories, archives, and acts of translation. Currently she is helping to catalog Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina’s moving image collection, as a project of Puʻuhonua Society. In 2020, Sancia cofounded kekahi wahi, a grassroots film initiative dedicated to documenting transformations across Hawaiʻi.

Documentarian Joan Lander (Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation), along with her longtime partner Puhipau Ahmad, was on the ground, camera in hand, documenting Hawai‘i history as it happened in the 1970s, '80s, and on to the present. They produced seminal films documenting important political and cultural happenings of the Hawaiian Renaissance as well as a wealth of vital indigenous knowledge. Directed by Vera Zambonelli. A Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking production.

Visual artist and filmmaker Meleanna Aluli Meyer makes documentaries about building pride, understanding, and support of Hawaiian families and culture from an insider’s perspective, including Puamana, about her beloved Aunty Irmgard Farden Aluli, a well-known musician and composer; and Hoʻokuʻikahi - To Unify as One. Kuʻu ʻĀina Aloha - My Beloved Country is currently in production. Directed by Erin Lau. A Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking Production.

If you have watched television in Hawai‘i, chances are you have seen the work of Joy Chong-Stannard (Betrayal, Ka Hana Kapa, Biography Hawai'i, Bread & Roses). Her career as a director of live television and documentaries for public television spans forty years. Her documentary work explores local culture, the dynamic social and economic upheavals of Hawaiʻi’s history, and its impact on everyday working people in our Islands. Directed by Anne Misawa. A Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking production.

HINALEIMOANA WONG-KALU wrote and co-directed the Oscar-qualified animated short film KAPAEMAHU, which recounts an ancient story of four extraordinary beings of dual male and female spirit who brought the healing arts to Hawai‘i. A Native Hawaiian teacher, cultural practitioner and filmmaker, Wong-Kalu was both a protagonist and educational advisor for the award winning documentaries KUMU HINA and A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE. She co-directed and co-produced the award-winning PBS/ARTE documentary LEITIS IN WAITING about her transgender sisters in the Kingdom of Tonga. Directed by Heather H. Giugni. A Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking production.

Director/producer/writer Zoë Eisenberg (Cashback, Stoke, Aloha from LavaLand) is one of only three women to direct a narrative feature film in Hawai‘i. Strong women protagonists are central to her work, as are the lava, landscapes, and people of the lush rural Puna District where she lives on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. Eisenberg is also the co-founder of the Made in Hawai‘i Film Festival. Directed by Shirley Thompson. A Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking production.

Director/producer Kimberlee Bassford juggles filmmaking with teaching and raising a young son and daughter. Her films feature powerful female protagonists, including Cheerleader (Student Academy Award), WINNING GIRL (PBS broadcast), and Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority about the first U.S. congresswoman of color who co-authored Title IX, which mandated equal treatment for women and men in education. Directed by Vera Zambonelli. A Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking Production.

Director and producer Marlene Booth had a thirty year filmmaking career in Cambridge, MA before relocating to Honolulu in 2000 and turning her eye toward Hawai‘i stories. Her films Kū Kanaka: Stand Tall and Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai‘i recount Hawai‘i history and culture through powerful character driven narratives. PIDGIN won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2009 Hawai‘i International Film Festival. She teaches film at the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Directed by Kimberlee Keʻala Bassford

For half a century Myrna Kamae & Eddie Kamae were partners in life, music and film. Myrna produced and Eddie directed ten films about Hawaiian music, language and culture, beginning with Li‘a Legacy of a Hawaiian Man in 1988. They documented renowned Hawaiian kumus (teachers) and kupuna (elders) to preserve their knowledge for future generations. Their music driven films include songs and performances of celebrated Hawaiian musicians and composers, including Eddie’s band, the Sons of Hawai‘i. Filmmaker: Shirley Thompson

Animator Laura Margulies creates by hand using oil paints, watercolors and gouache to create lush moving paintings in motion. From her commissioned works for Sundance and PBS to her personal films like Rolling Down Like Pele, many of her animations are inspired by her work as a dancer and choreographer and her love of dance and music. Filmmaker: Vera Zambonelli

Writer and director Erin Lau creates emotional narrative films about families and relationships featuring strong women protagonists, including The Moon and the Night and Empty Spaces. In her 20’s, she is already a working director in Los Angeles with a clear sense of her own voice, her creative process and a deep understanding of why she wants to tell stories based on her own Hawaiian culture and community. Filmmaker: Renea Veneri Stewart

Editor and producer Lisa Kealohilani Altieri is best known for the documentary features she has edited about Pacific Islander culture and history including Skin Stories, Papa Mau and Under a Jarvis Moon. Undaunted by the hundreds of hours of raw footage and thousands of images she must consider and shape into a compelling hour-long film, she connects deeply to the Hawaiian stories she edits through the stories of her own family. Filmmaker: Robin Lung

Independent filmmaker and hula dancer Lisette Marie Kaualena Flanary creates documentary films that celebrate a modern renaissance of hula and Hawaiian culture. Her film American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai’i aired on the critically acclaimed POV series. Nā Kamalei: The Men of Hula, features legendary Hawaiian master hula teacher and entertainer, Robert Cazimero. She is also passionate about mentoring the next generation of filmmakers through her work as a professor of film at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Filmmaker: Taylour Chang

Director CIARA LAINA‘ALA LACY (Out of State) is an emerging Native Hawaiian film director and experienced producer whose films reflect her ethos: community-oriented and place-based. Directed by Heather Giugni

Cinematographer and Director ANNE MISAWA’s work as cinematographer includes the stunning Margarita with a Straw and Treeless Mountain, nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.

Film producer JEANNETTE PAULSON HERENIKO (The Land Has Eyes) transformed the landscape for Hawai‘i-based filmmakers when she founded the Hawai‘i International Film Festival in 1981. Directed by Vera Zambonelli

Producer, line producer and location manager CONNIE M. FLOREZ (Kumu Hina) was an early advocate for queer film in the Islands as the organizer and curator of the Honolulu LGBT Film Festival. Directed by Lisa Kihara

Documentarian and camerawoman VICTORIA KEITH (Sand Island Story) produced and directed dozens of films highlighting Hawaiian culture, and the environmental and sustainability challenges of living on islands. Directed by Shirley Thompson

Prolific Native Hawaiian producer HEATHER HAUNANI GIUGNI (Family Ingredients) left the male-dominated world of television news to start the first woman-owned production company in Hawai‘i. Directed by Shirley Thompson