The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced shortlists in nine categories for the 93rd Academy Awards®. Ten films will advance in the Animated Short Film category for the 93rd Academy Awards. Ninety-six films qualified in the category. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. Full lists here.

As unlikely as the story’s re-emergence may be, Wong-Kalu’s retelling of it would be captivating even without the backstory. Enlisting award-winning filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson to co-direct, and handing animation duties to award-winning director Daniel Sousa (whose 2012 short Feral was nominated for an Oscar), Wong-Kalu clearly put a great deal of thought into how best to tell this mo’olelo. Every detail of Kapaemahu feels well considered, from its glowing orange and brown hues to the narration in Olelo Niihau (“the only continuously spoken form of Hawaiian“) to a 2D art style that balances a contemporary aesthetic with visual cues from traditional Polynesian art. It’s a style that’s respectful of tradition while still feeling very much alive.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a Native Hawaiian educator, cultural leader and community advocate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, wrote, directed and produced Kapaemahu, an animated short that has won the top prize at three Oscar-qualifying festivals – Spain’s Animayo Festival, Northern Ireland’s Foyle Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Festival. Full story here.

This mythic, gorgeously conceived Oscar-longlisted animation -- written and directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, with director of animation Daniel Sousa -- may be short in format, but its sweep is epic in feel, bringing to life a powerful legend with a compelling authenticity and rich storytelling. Relayed in the language of Olelo Niihau, a rare dialect of Hawaiian spoken before Western contact, the story captures a vein of spiritual wisdom, bringing it back to light and consciousness as an act of love and honor. Watch here.

The filmmakers have been thrilled with the reception the short has received worldwide. Says Wilson, “One thing we didn’t expect is the way that the film has been embraced by youth. And maybe the greatest reaction was the message we recently received on Facebook from a local viewer: ‘I keep wondering who I’d have been if I’d seen it as a soft little boy at Kailua Elementary. I’m so excited for the kids who get to see it now.’” See the full article HERE.

Beautifully animated, award-winning 2D short Kapaemahu celebrates the long-suppressed, centuries-old story of Waikiki’s mysterious four-boulder monument to the gentle people, both male and female in mind and body, who brought science and healing to the islands. Full article here.

Kapaemahu has been making waves across the festival circuit, picking up several major honors. Now this animated short from Hawaii, about four extraordinary mahu and the stones that have honored them for hundreds of years, is vying for Annie and Oscar consideration. Directors Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer have poured themselves into the powerful story and beautiful visuals of Kapaemahu. See interview with Animation Scoop’s Jackson Murphy HERE.

Sometimes it's good to revisit your own history. Zippy Frames talks with the creative team behind the acclaimed animation short Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson.

It is one of those animation shorts which bring you back in time, and connect the past with the present. Kapaemahu is co-directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson - with Daniel Sousa (Oscar-nominated for Feral) as animation director.

In a year of global tragedy, stress and uncertainty, advanced technology and dedicated cinephiles around the world joined forces to help animation lovers enjoy 2020’s crop of artistic, thought-provoking (or just plain entertaining) films. While most festivals were held online, their Academy Award-qualifying prizewinners have an IRL chance at one of film’s most prestigious animated short honors. The list, which includes Kapaemahu, available HERE.

In November, before this year’s torrent of animated shorts had settled into a proper Oscar race, we surveyed some of the films that were likely to be competing for a golden statuette. With the qualifying period now over, we can reveal that 96 short films are on the longlist. Here is the list in alphabetical order.

Literary Joe chats with animation director Daniel Sousa, who helped bring to life Kapaemahu, a new short animation that focuses on inclusion and Hawaiian culture. Sousa is also known for having worked on the Oscar-nominated short Feral in the past, and he brings a great perspective when it comes to animating. Listen to the podcast HERE.

Literary Joe - the pen name of Joseph Gharagheer, a writer who publishes articles daily for Best Little Sites on ComicBookMovie, AnimeMojo, GameFragger, Toonado, and TheRingReport - said that this might be one of the most touching chats he’s ever had on this show to date. Hina is an amazing woman and her journey of discovering herself as mahu is something she has explored through documentary filmmaking.

Joe chats with her about her new film Kapaemahu , as well as what the meaning of Mahu is, and dives deep into how Hawaiian culture has been Americanized by the Western World. Listen to the podcast HERE.

A conversation with Kapaemahu producer Joe Wilson, a human rights activist and documentary maker credited with films like Kumu Hina and A Place in the Middle. It's a touching and informative conversation. Listen to the podcast HERE.

The winners of Best International Short, Best Animated Short and Best Irish Short were announced online on Sunday, 29 November as part of the 33rd Foyle Film Festival. The award for Best Animated Short Film went to Kapaemahu directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson. Press Release

Kapaemahu has been selected for the 2020 edition of The Animation Showcase, a curated film program whose annual "Best of the Year" selection highlights films that have the best chance at being shortlisted and/or nominated for the Academy Awards Best Animated Short Film category. It is the brainchild of Benoit Berthe Siward, a French animation enthusiast who created the initiative in summer 2016 as a joint collaboration with the Soho House London.

Among the festival’s “Made in Hawai’i” shorts, several stood out. Richly animated in golds and rusts by Daniel Sousa in a manner reminiscent of Michel Ocelot’s Kirikou and the Sorceress, Kapaemahu (Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson) retells the ancient origin story of four fabled stones in Waikiki, created to honor four “dual male and female spirit” healers from Tahiti who brought the healing arts to Hawai’i. Its post-film Zoom Q&A was particularly rewarding, with a welcoming hula performed by an Oakland-based collective and several insights from the creative team. “I am Kanaka — a native person in an island nation that was illegally overthrown and continues to be occupied by a foreign power,” notes Wong-Kalu in the film’s press kit. “Our survival as indigenous people depends on our ability to know and practice our cultural traditions, to speak and understand our language, and to feel an authentic connection to our own history. That is why I wanted to make a film about Kapaemahu, and to write and narrate it in Olelo Niihau – the only form of Hawaiian that has been continuously spoken since prior to the arrival of foreigners. We need to be active participants in telling our own stories in our own way.”

Full Awards List here.

“Kanaka Pakipika with Pacific Islanders in Communications, with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, present the powerful animated short Kapaemahu, available on The Criterion Channel on December 1. A winner at numerous international film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival, Animayo International Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Hiroshima International Animation Festival and Outfest Film Festival, Kapaemahu is a reminder of the rich cultures and diverse identities that deserve recognition and representation through storytelling.” - Mercedes Milligan, Animation Magazine

There are rich pickings among this year’s crop and the heavyweight animation festivals threw up some very interesting winners. Kapaemahu, an atmospheric retelling of a Hawaiian legend, picked up qualifying prizes at numerous festivals.