On Sunday, October 25, 2020 at imagineNATIVE‘s online Awards Presentation, the esteemed Sun Jury and Moon Jury considered film, video, audio, and digital media works from Canadian and international Indigenous artists to select winners in 16 categories with over $53,000 in cash prizes and in-kind services. Best Indigenous Language Production with support from Indigenous Media Initiatives for a $2,500 cash prize went to Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu and team for Kapaemahu

Atlanta Film Festival Jury Statement: “Above all, Kapaemahu is a beautifully crafted story. We love the themes of acceptance, selfless giving, and the importance of passing knowledge down to future generations. The concept of the film exemplifies the voice and message of humanity, creating a blend of male and female as one: human. The visual styling evokes feelings of ancient storytellers and weaves patterns, vibrant colors and legend into the imagery in a natural flowing way. The sound design and music composition underscores its powerful themes to transfix the viewer. Amazing cinematic choices all around make Kapaemahu our choice as Best in Show for animation.” All awards HERE.

The Kapaemahu film team is honored by the Nashville Film Festival audiences' love for this story from the Pacific and hopes that the healing spirits of Kapaemahu stay in their hearts in the days ahead. Full winners list HERE.

The animated short, Kapaemahu, is a contender for the Academy Awards and I can easily see why after seeing it as part of the 36th annual month-long Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. The art style is simply fantastic. The sepia tones evoke a dream-like quality to contrast the past to the present. As the tale shifts from a quiet watcher to that of a child being told of his heritage, I firmly believe what’s presented here is a far better tale than Disney’s Moana. Both are terrific in its regard of what Polynesian culture represents, but if I had to choose which is more respectful in its production, it’s with Won-Kalu’s work! 5 Stars out of 5

The 2020 competition lineup includes In Hollywoodland, starring Yetide Badaki and Karen David; the Francia Raisa-starring Second Act; Morad Mostafa’s drama Henet Ward; Eagle, featuring The Daily Show’s Roy Wood Jr.; the sci-fi short Proxy; Chloe Campion’s documentary The Race; the comedic miniseries Louey & Bri, starring Luis Guzman and Bri Smith; Ashley Williams’ directorial debut Meats; Sex Education director Alice Seabright’s comedy End-O; Furlough, from The Originals’ Phoebe Tonkin; and the animated short Kapaemahu.

The virtual HollyShorts Film Festival will take place Nov. 9 to 15, 2020.

Kapaemahu wins Audience Award for Best Narrative Short at Outfest Los Angeles and is included in an Encore Week of virtual screenings. Beginning Monday, August 31 and ending Monday, September 7, a selection of this year's films will be available once again, each for a 24-hour period. Story HERE.

Jury Statement: “This film is about a myth of four legendary Mahu who brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii few centuries ago. Among them, the leader's name is Kapaemahu. It is an amazing film that describes mysterious light and secret healing power.”

AnimationXpress: The Bengaluru International Short Film Festival winners have been announced! BISFF has the distinction of being one of the largest Film Festivals in India, showcasing shorts from across the world, creating a physical space for a great experience of cinema. The Oscar accredited film festival is a reputed one and has lately announced the winners for its animated short films category. Based on legend from Hawaii, animated short Kapaemahu about transgender spirits, is the winner in the category, followed by Avarya and Radha: The Eternal Melody as first and second runners up respectively.

This year, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, when American women won the right to vote, the USA TODAY Network is naming 10 women from every state, plus the District of Columbia, as “Women of the Century.” These women have made significant contributions to their communities, states and country with documented achievements in areas like arts and literature, business, civil rights, education, entertainment, law, media, nonprofits and philanthropy, politics, science and medicine, and sports

The New Zealand International Film Festival jury made special mention of Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson: “Kapaemahu is an animated film which tells of mahu - “four extraorindary individuals” who travelled from Tahiti to Hawaii in ancient times to share their healing and restorative powers. The observation of the dismissal of this rich legacy in modern times is poignant and the narration in Hawaiian and the powerful chants add potency to this beautiful indigenous story which holds so much weight here in Aotearoa.”

Kapaemahu takes one on a surreal journey, celebrating the power of the androgynous minds which are now being suppressed. The film looks like poetry in motion, and the chant transferring the powers of the four ‘mahu’ into the stones creates a meditative effect. The animation technique is unique and evokes a feeling of witnessing the legend and its history in person.

The word "beautiful" doesn't do justice in describing Kapaemahu, an eight-minute animated short film screening as a finalist during this week's Indy Shorts International Film Festival in Indianapolis. It's brought magnificently to life by the trio of directors, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson. Using the eyes of a curious child as their lens, the filmmakers have masterfully created a film with tremendous artistry and integrity and devotion to Indigenous people.

Kapaemahu, explained curator Leo Koziol, explores the relationship between the ancient mahu healers of Tahiti who brought their gifts to Hawai'i.

In pre-colonial times, mahu were notable priests and healers of the third gender, similar to Samoa's fa'afafine and fakaleiti of Tonga.

"If you walk down Waikiki Beach," there are some stones there that were dedicated to the Mahu that came in ancient times and brought these gifts and learnings of healing, and, you know, real traditions that were embraced by the Hawaiian people for centuries," said Mr Koziol.

Variations of different animation techniques, diverse themes and exotic countries will delight the eye not only of our youngest viewers, but also of those who are interested in contemporary worldwide animated production.

Festival films bring viewers audiovisual pleasure and education. This is no different in this year's competition. They will follow the original inhabitants of the distant Hawaiian Islands in the film Kapaemahu , which represents the recent Grand Prize winner of the Animayo festival. Directors Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, who comes from a local tribe, tells in her native language an engaging mythical story about magic stones on Waikiki beach.

Hawaiian short “Kapaemahu” took home the 15th Animayo Gran Canaria International Grand Jury Award and the chance to vie for the Academy Award’s short list of qualifying animated shorts. Written, directed and produced by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, “Kapaemahu” means stones of life in native Hawaiian and narrates the legend about four dual-spirit individuals who brought the healing arts of Tahiti to Hawaii, vesting their powers on four giant rocks, still revered to this day.

Among the more than 1,600 works submitted to Animayo, of which 67 were selected for the film competition, Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson under the animation direction of Daniel Sousa (U.S., 2020), came out on top with the Grand Jury Award for 2020. Kapaemahu thus obtains a direct pass for the Oscar Preselection in the Best Animation Short Film category, as Animayo is currently the only Academy Awards Qualifying Festival in Spain, designated now for three years.

"We present to you the Grand Jury Award of Animayo 2020 (that will go directly to the Preselection of the Oscar Awards®) - KAPAEMAHU - the work of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson, under the animation direction of Daniel Sousa. The Jury praised the enormous quality of the work, the originality of the script, the use of the color palette as well as a traditional animation that delighted the professionals in charge of granting such honor. In addition, it is an atypical work since it uses an old Hawaiian dialect, which increases the magic and the particularity of the work. Congratulations!! Kāleka!"

Animation proves the perfect medium for the telling of this captivating mo‘olelo, and in the hands of Oscar-nominated animation director Daniel Sousa there’s an uplifting warmth to nearly every sequence, with gorgeous orange tones which fit well with the theme of healing and beautiful renderings of beams of light, elemental flames, reflections on water and a lens flare effect. There’s a simple, but enchanting hand painted look to the design of the film, with so much emotion in the characters’ eyes, and an exquisitely detailed tactile texture to the boulders themselves. The film’s emotional impact is further enhanced by Dan Golden’s gently stirring score and by Kaumakaiwa Kanakaole rousing, impassioned chant. A stunning, empowering animation that deserves to be widely seen.

Receiving a Special Jury Mention at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Kapaemahu is the latest film to highlight the culture and history of the Pacific. Much like Moana before, Kapaemahu brings to light a lost and forgotten story of a people who were bestowed a true gift that has become mostly lost with time. With Kapaemahu, the history finds a new audience and a new light.