Posted on: Thursday, September 23, 2004
New Edgy Lee film to join Smithsonian festivities
| • | Hawai'i treasures on display |
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer
Edgy Lee completed the final edit for her latest film, "The Hawaiians — Reflecting Spirit," at 2:30 Friday morning.
The making of the film was punctuated with drama and deadlines. Lee had four months to create the 55-minute documentary, a feat typically requiring at least a year. The deadline: A screening tomorrow, as part of the opening festivities for the Smithsonian Institution's new $200 million National Museum of the American Indian.
While it usually takes months to cultivate relationships with respected Hawaiian cultural leaders, Lee managed to engage Winona Rubin as narrator, Keali'i Reichel as kumu and chanter and Isabella Abbott and Puakea Nogelmeier as on-camera experts, to name only a few.
This film is the farthest thing from Hollywood images that have trivialized Hawai'i and turned the culture into a caricature.
Jeffrey Mueller photo courtesy of FilmWorks While it traces the history of the people, it avoids making political statements.
The film is among the first documentaries to be shot in the state-of-the-art high-definition digital format and manages to capture Island landscapes, flora and fauna in stunning detail.
Jeffrey Mueller's shots of Kilauea lava flows, pueo (an owl, considered a benevolent 'aumakua or personal deity and protector of the family) circling Kaua'i salt flats and healers picking medicinal plants in the rain forests are haunting and unforgettable.
Tearful audience members, including a man who identified himself as "a Hawaiian living in Utah, raising my kids there but trying to teach them traditional Hawaiian values," as well as a Hopi Indian who said he lives on a reservation and a man who called himself "Napoleon, a native aboriginal person from Canada," gave Lee a standing ovation.
Her hope is to have it picked up by National Geographic or public TV. She also plans to pitch the film to Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, Jay Leno and the national network morning shows.
While major funding was provided by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Kosasa Family Foundation, FilmWorks Pacific and Network Media, Lee said additional money is desperately needed. Contact the Pacific Arts foundation: 585-9005, ext. 1.
There will be no time for Lee to rest on her laurels. A soon as she returns from Washington, she will be working feverishly on the sequel to her widely acclaimed film "Ice: Hawai'i's Crystal Meth Epidemic."
The unprecedented total statewide media saturation Lee achieved with the first film will be duplicated with "Ice II: Life or Meth: Hawai'i's Youth," to be simulcast Dec. 7 during prime time on all major network affiliates.
In the film, Nainoa Thompson says, "We need to heal our souls and our lands and bring back a sense of self worth."
That, too, is the goal of "The Hawaiians — Reflecting Spirit."
Reach Paula Rath at 525-5464 or prath@honoluluadvertiser.com.
It was shown to an appreciative, engaged, even emotional audience at the Hawai'i Convention Center at 10:30 the same morning.
Edgy Lee
It presents the culture, tradition and spirituality of the Hawaiian people in a manner that is sensitive to the sacred beliefs and connectedness of the Hawaiian people to the ocean, sky and sea. It touches on language, art and science, as well as the unique learning methods that have evolved in this isolated archipelago.
Shots of Big Island lava flows and other spectacular features make the film "The Hawaiians — Reflecting Spirit" unforgettable.
When can local people see it? Lee said emphatically: "That will come. The idea is to let the film gather a buzz in Washington, D.C., and if it warrants, it should be released in theatres and then TV. I am anxious to have it play here at home, hopefully in early 2005 if not before. It was made to be seen by local audiences, not just on TV but in schools and colleges and communities across the state."
