Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty Film Screening

Hawaii A Voice for Sovereignty documentary screens in Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Opera House Tuesday February 5, 2013 at 6:30pm. A new horizon has developed with the film in the educational arena as people are watching the documentary around the world to hear the voices of the Native Hawaiian people speak out on their culture and sovereign rights. The theatrical release in Pasadena, CA. March 2012 raised the international interest of the seven-time award winning film. There will be a question and answer discussion after the screening with filmmaker, Catherine Bauknight.

A rare hula performance by Patrick Makuakane, Kumu Hula, Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu, and Shawna Alapa'i, Kumu Hula of Na Pua O Ka La'akea will be held before the screening. Both are from the San Francisco Bay area. Tickets are available at the door, seven dollars.

As a method of learning about the Native Hawaiian culture, universities and libraries are using the film as a tool of education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library, Kamehameha High School Library in Maui, The Department of Interior National Library of New Zealand, Public Libraries of Washington State, New Jersey, Hawaii, and California.

As quoted in a review of The Video Librarian, The Video Review Magazine For Libraries, Nov.2012 - Feb. 2013, "Highly Recommended. What emerges is a sense of the growing desire of Polynesian Hawaiians to return to an embrace of spirituality and connection with the natural world, as well as a determination to right the land grabs as and disenfranchisement of the past."

In this one of the first documentaries in the voice of the Native Hawaiian people to reach beyond the borders of the islands, two thousand five hundred miles away from the U.S. mainland, Hawaiian's messages are traveling through the film raising awareness, also in Italy, Denmark, and Switzerland. This documentary film by photojournalist, Catherine Bauknight, in the voice of the kanaka maoli (people of the land) explores the culture of the Native Hawaiians and their connection to the land. At the forefront of the film are social, economic, and ecological issues that have developed in Hawaii since the takeover by the U.S. in 1893, revealed in interviews of grassroots indigenous people and scholars such as author, Haunani-Kay Trask. The documentary raises awareness of the issues faced by the Native Hawaiians, which threatens their ancient and environmentally sustainable culture. The film was voted "Best Hawai'i Film at the Maui Film Festival, premiered at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. and has had special screenings at the United Nations meetings in New York City and Geneva. "What Happens to the Land, Happens to the People", is a message to the world from the Native Hawaiian People.

Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty Trailer http://www.hawaiiavoiceforsovereignty.com