Haunani Seward has seen the movie countless times but it still makes her cry.

The students in the little school where Seward is principal, Ke Kula Ni'ihau O Kekaha Learning Center, spent two years working on "The True Story of Kaluaikoolau." The result is a film entirely in the Hawaiian language — specifically in the Ni'ihau dialect — with English subtitles. It is the language in which the story was first told of the family that would not let anything or anyone tear them apart.

In 1892, after realizing that he had Hansen's disease, Koolau fled with his wife and young son into the wilderness of Kaua'i's Kalalau Valley rather than be arrested by soldiers and sent alone to Kalaupapa on Moloka'i. The child, Kaleimanu, succumbed first to the disease, and Piilani had to bury her boy and then her husband. Through it all, she held tight to her faith in God. After three years of living as an outlaw, Piilani returned to her family in Kekaha. She later told her story to a reporter, and it was first published in the Hawaiian language in 1906.

The story is beautiful and tear-jerking, and the high school students who portray Koolau and Piilani give an amazing emotional performance, but Seward says that's not what brings her to tears:

"I think I'm crying because it was so hard to do."

The two-year project provided the vehicle for many lessons for the students. They studied with botanists to learn about plants the family would have used for food and medicine during their exile. They went on hikes in Koke'e and studied old maps to try to track the family's travels. They discussed the historical context of the story, which happened in the era after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

The idea for a film started with a phone call out of the blue. Filmmaker Koohan "Camera" Paik called the school and offered her services as a teacher and mentor.

"I was just saying 10 minutes before she called that I needed a film teacher," Seward said.

Paik came with heavy credentials and a deep love for the story. She spent her childhood on Guam, went to USC Film School and then NYU graduate school, where she studied screenwriting and playwriting. She had a special interest in making films in indigenous languages. She fell in love with Piilani's story and thought it was a perfect learning tool for the students.

"Through the process, I kept deferring to Piilani," Paik said. The script is faithful to Piilani's account of what the family went through. "I would pray to her at night. I wanted to make it exactly the way she would have wanted it."

Ke Kula Ni'ihau O Kekaha is the smallest charter school in the state, with only 45 students in classes from preschool to grade 12. Students learn exclusively in the Hawaiian language, specifically the Ni'ihau dialect, until fourth grade, when English is introduced. Graduates are fluent in both languages.

The story of Koolau held deep meaning for the students. It happened right there in their community. It was first told in their native language. Some of the kids are relatives of the people named in the tale.

The film premiered two years ago in Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, the Hansen's disease settlement. Only the students older than 16 could attend, as children are not allowed to visit Kalaupapa.

"That's when it all came together," Seward said. "There wasn't a dry eye in the house."

Paik said the toughest, most skeptical girl in the school came up to her after the Kalaupapa premiere and said, "It came out good," which she took as effusive praise.

The principal actors in the production have since graduated. The narrator has gone off to college. But the film has taken on a life of its own.

Seward and Paik still travel to different islands to attend screenings and answer questions. The project was never intended to be a moneymaker or a star vehicle, though it is good enough to be both. Seward wanted her students to go through the long learning journey of finishing such a complicated project. She also wanted to create a DVD in the Ni'ihau dialect. Her school is not an immersion school. The students all speak Hawaiian at home as their first language. It is an indigenous language school, and part of the mission is to perpetuate the Ni'ihau Hawaiian dialect. The film project does just that.

Still, it is film-festival quality work. The care with which historical accuracy was attended to is amazing, and the leads, Oliwa Kanahele, Kaehu Kanahele and Keoki Strickland, are so sincere and raw in their portrayals. The "bonus features" on the DVD include a precious interview with the woman who did the original translation, Frances Frazier, who is now in her 90s.

"The True Story of Kaluaikoolau" presented by Ke Kula Ni'ihau O Kekaha Learning Center is available on DVD at the Koke'e Museum and at Native Books at Ward Warehouse and on its Web site, www.nativebookshawaii.com.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.