Kapaemahu is a newly released animated film that utilizes 2D animation to explore Hawaiian culture and how it has been watered down over the years. The animation focuses on the concept of "mahu," which represents people who fit in between genders and how it dates back to Deities who were viewed in the same way, but respected and looked up to.
The filmmakers worked with Hinaleimoana Kong-Walu, who is an educator hailed as a cultural icon in Hawaii. She helped work with the directors in addition to the animator, Daniel Sousa (Feral), to correctly tell the tale of her own journey as a mahu and the history of Hawaiian culture.
Hina and the team were looking to explore the concept through the eyes of a child, so they turned to animation and directed Sousa to take a 2D approach and utilize an aesthetic that evokes a motion comic's feeling.
When speaking with filmmaker Joe Wilson (Kumu Hina, A Place in the Middle), we learned about the collaborative process that resulted in the finished project.
"Filmmaking is nothing if not collaborative. So, all of the people you're able to bring into a project usually take a village to accomplish any project. A lot of different things helped us understand how this story had to be told. We did a lot of research on where the story had come from. In our search and the archives, we found the only written documented version, a handwritten manuscript from the early 1900s that really kind of laid out the story. But Hina's view of the story really had to be told as it might've been heard. So that's why as you're watching, you hear what's referred to as the Ni'ihau dialect of Hawaiian. So with Hina guiding the storytelling approach and the narrative voice and the narrative approach, we conveyed to Daniel what the aesthetic might be like. So that's the color scape, based on kind of Hawaiian tapa color.
So it's that Hawaiian kind of aesthetic, that artistic aesthetic from the islands' natural elements. But we really asked Daniel to help imagine the characters with us. So he provided a lot of style frames for us to look at, some based on Hina's actual own modeling of what the Mahu makeup look like, what their emotions were like. And one of the most amazing things that Daniel brought to us was at the beginning of the film when the four visitors arrived in Waikiki. They're greeted by a small child who puts a lei on one of the lead characters.
And that was important to Hina to have that Hawaiian contingent, welcoming those folks. But it was really Daniel who helped us realize from a storytelling perspective that looking at the rest of the story through that young child's eyes would be a great way to guide the viewer through the story. And sure enough, when people reflect on having the video, that's really one thing that they touch on the most, seeing the story through a young person's eyes. In a way, Hina felt it was most important that young people, in particular, know this history because she herself, having been denied, understanding the history of the stones and how mahu once in her own culture were respected and included. If she had known that her life might have been so much different, and that's really the gift she wanted to bring forward in the story."
Hear our entire chat with filmmaker and director Joe Wilson (Kumu Hina) below. We have also included the film trailer and synopsis, along with a link to where you can view it. Happy Holidays!
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Long ago, four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii. The name of their leader was Kapaemahu. Beloved by the people for their gentle ways and miraculous cures, they imbued four giant boulders with their powers. The stones still stand on what is now Waikiki Beach, but the true story behind them has been hidden – until now. Kapaemahu reveals the healing power of four mysterious stones on Waikiki Beach – and the legendary transgender spirits within them.
Kapaemahu is currently available to stream on the Criterion Channel here.