Pōʻele Wai - SHORT FILM FUNDRAISER

We’re excited to share Pōʻele Wai - a new short film we have been developing and shooting for the past few months! We need your help to continue filming the project!  

Pōʻele Wai is a new short film that takes place on O’ahu, Hawai’i about a local weaver navigating survival, their connection to the 'āina and the poisoning of our drinking water/watersheds by the recent Red Hill Fuel Tank Leaks at Kapūkakī. The film is presented as a mix of classical narrative, magical realism and dark fantasy/horror, and aims to be a universal story about the effects of extraction, poisoning and pollution on native land. It also brings awareness to the very real horrors that we face in Hawai'i such as the Kapūkakī crisis - as our water and our bodies are poisoned by the very systems that claim to protect us. The film also aims to shed light on other systemic issues kānaka ʻōiwi continue to face: rampant development, military occupation, and tourism, which have led to displacement and ecosystem degradation throughout Hawai'i and which have disempowered and alienated kānaka from our land, culture and spirituality both today and for the past 200 years. This film aims to shed light on these issues, to reclaim our power and our stories, and imagine restoration of our 'āina. 

This film is directed by Tiare Ribeaux and stars lauhala artist/actor Lise Michelle, kapa artist/painter Nanea Lum, dancer Kalikopuanoheaokalani Aiu, and others. It is written by Tiare Ribeaux with Sebastian Galasso, Nanea Lum, Jody Stillwater and Lise Michelle. Other kanaka and local artists are helping to bring the film to life.

We felt the urgency to tell this story and share this mo'olelo with the world to bring focus to the Kapūkakī crisis. The fuel tanks at Kapūkakī are 100 feet above the Moanalua-Waimalu aquifer that supplies more than 40% of Oʻahu residents with drinking water which is still under threat by the continued leakage of fuel. Even as there are commitments to defuel the tanks, action still needs to be taken and we don't want this issue to be dismissed or forgotten. 

We have filmed half of our prinicpal photography, but are at a standstill and need to raise more funds to continue filming.

We appreciate any amount you can donate to the continued production of the film! Please share it even if you can’t contribute funds! 

#olaikawai (water is life)

Stay up to date and take additional action related to the Kapūkakī crisis by following the Sierra Club's updates.

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