Local Oscar-listed animated short “Kapaemahu” is just one of more than a dozen recent films to spring from our filmmaking community into the spotlight. “When we started making this film about a Hawaiian legend in a language only spoken by a hundred people in the world, we had no idea that out of 3,000 short films made and 100 that qualified for the Oscars, ours would be one of 10 on the short list,” says co-producer/director Dean Hamer.

He credits nonprofit organization Pacific Islanders in Communications in particular for backing the film and many before it, but also cites the continuum of filmmaking support provided by the Hawai‘i International Film Festival; ‘Ohina Short Film Showcase; PBS Hawai‘i; Creative Lab Hawai‘i; Ō‘iwi TV; and a new effort, Good Pitch Local Hawai‘i. See full article HERE.

The Kapaemahu short film director is one of the most visible māhū women today. Here, she explains why equating her Hawaiian third gender with Western terminology constitutes another kind of erasure.

Winner of the Bruce Corwin Award – Animated Short Film at the The 36th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival is Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson’s KAPAEMAHU

Statement from the Filmmakers of KAPAEMAHU: “Mahalo a nui loa to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for this tremendous honor. Our goal in making Kapaemahu was to help shine light on an aspect of Hawaiian culture that has been hidden from history for far too long and that, if better known, might help bring healing to a troubled world. Receiving the Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animated Short Film is an extraordinary boost to the journey yet ahead in this project. With gratitude and warmest aloha to all.” - Full list of winners here.

Maoriland attracts the most prominent native storytellers working today. This year the programme included “Monkey Beach”, a haunting feature from Loretta Todd, a celebrated Métis-Cree film-maker from Canada, and documentaries by both lauded and emerging directors such as Sterlin Harjo (“Love and Fury”) and Brooke Pepion Swaney (“Daughter of a Lost Bird”). Viewers also saw “Kapaemahu”, about the stones on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, which is nominated for next month’s Academy Awards, the first indigenous animated short to be so.

One of the best animated short films we saw in 2020 was Kapaemahu. If Moana made you curious about Pacific Island culture and history then Kapaemahu will give you a much more authentic window into this world.

Every year, ShortsTV brings the best in short film to the big screen, with a presentation of Oscar nominated and honorable mention shorts in the Animated, Live-Action and Documentary arenas. ShortsTV’s live-action and animated short film programs will be released theatrically and virtually on Friday, April 2.

The Animated Program presented by ShortsTV stands out, in that it features all five nominated films and select honorable mentions. Nominated shorts here include Pixar’s Burrow (directed by Madeline Sharafian), the French-language Genius Loci (Adrien Merigeau), Opera (Erick Oh), Iceland’s Yes-People (Gísli Darri Halldórsson) and Netflix phenomenon If Anything Happens I Love You, from directors Michael Govier and Will McCormack.

Animated shorts screening as Honorable Mentions include Kapaemahu (Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu), The Snail and the Whale, from Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon, and Taylor Meacham’s To Gerard.

Watch Disney’s legendary Oscar-nominated director as he and the Oscar-shortlisted film’s producers discuss bringing Pacific stories alive through animation.  Article and video link HERE.

“Kapaemahu” would make history as the first Native Hawaiian animated short to be nominated for the Oscar. But it’s an important transgender breakthrough as well. The eight-minute 2D short tells the long-forgotten story about the four stones on Waikiki Beach placed as tribute to four legendary mahu (third gender individuals), who brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii in the 15th century. Full article HERE.

The composing, animation, and powerful storyline of Kapaemahu has earned the film a spot in the race for an Academy Award. Kapaemahu is narrated by Kumu Hina, a Na Hoku Hanohano Award winning cultural leader.

“It was critical to me to ensure that the voice was going to reflect a voice, not the voice, but a voice of kanaka and who best to help narrate the story of four legendary mahu then someone who is also mahu?” Watch news video clip here.

Societies have been shaped through their legends and myths, which reflect worldviews, define human relations and teach life-long lessons. As a result of colonization, many Indigenous stories from all over the world were suppressed and consequently lost to history. But some traditional storytellers are utilizing contemporary techniques, such as filmmaking, to help secure these oral histories and ensure the survival of their messages.

For Native Hawaiian teacher and cultural practitioner, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, this is a task she does not take on lightly. Her recent animated short film, “Kapaemahu,” reveals the hidden history of four monumental stones on Waikiki Beach, and the legendary transgender healing spirits within them. Full article HERE.

Throughout history cultures have told tales of magnificent beings whose power and influence have become legend. These stories are able to move across generations long after they were first told and can create the fabric of societies and their history. After six long years of research and two years of concept and script development, co-directors/writers Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson have produced the visually arresting Kapaemahu, a film which reveals the healing powers of four mysterious stones on Waikiki beach. A story which has long lain hidden from outsiders, the trio’s portrayal of the legendary male and female spirits who imbued the giant boulders with their powers features vividly stunning animation from Directors Notes alum Daniel Sousa. DN jumped at the opportunity to speak to Wong-Kalu about her personal ties to the tale, honouring the legacy of the stones and why she feels it is of utmost importance to show this Oscar shortlisted story to the world. Full interview HERE.

Directors Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson have previously worked together on documentaries dealing with gender and sexuality. Now, they’re taking on animation with Oscar-nominated animator Daniel Sousa to tell a tale of Hawaiian culture and acceptance. Here in a conversation with Awards Daily, they talk about the experience with animation and their close collaboration. Plus, they expound on what the story means to them from Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu hearing about it since she was little to the rest of the team learning about it years ago. They also talk about how long it took the film to get to screen and how they are still promoting it. Finally, they reveal what went into creating the distinct style of animation and what they will say if they win the Oscar. See the interview HERE.

Native Hawaiian teacher, cultural practitioner, and filmmaker Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu has been gaining international acclaim for her latest short animated film “Kapaemahu.” The film has just garnered a coveted spot on the 93rd Academy Awards Oscars shortlist in the Animated Short Film category. Additionally, and after playing at more than 100 film festivals internationally, “Kapaemahu” received the top award at three Oscar-qualifying festivals. Article here.

The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is Hollywood’s most prestigious artistic award in the film industry. The Academy announced the shortlist for the animated short contenders, and they produced an interesting crop of selections. “Kapaemahu” has the visual razzle-dazzle to make the lineup, but as we can expect from AMPAS voters, surprises can always occur. Full article HERE.

The 10 shortlisted films in the Oscars Best Animated Short category include four from major U.S. studios (two Pixar, one DreamWorks Animation and one Netflix) and a number of international entries.

The category also contains a couple of straightforward commercial shorts designed to amuse and charm, and a few experimental ones that at times border on the surreal.

These 10 will be narrowed down to five with the nomination voting from March 5-10. This is the second in TheWrap’s guide to the shortlisted films in all three shorts categories. Read HERE.

After clearing the first round of nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards on 9 February, Hawaiian animated short, Kapaemahu is now gearing up for the bigger face off. Ahead of the next round of voting by the Academy’s animation branch on 15 March, the makers have released the ‘Making Of’ video of Kapaemahu to give a better insight and look into the history of making the film. The video gives an in-depth picture of how tireless research, fascinating cultural history and animated imagination blends into a whole – an animation masterpiece that the film is.  Full article HERE.

We're one step closer now though, as The Academy has revealed their shortlists for a number of categories. Including (relevant to our interests) that for Best Animated Short. The list has been whittled down from 96 films that qualified this year. It's from these 10 shorts that the nominees will be announced. Kapaemahu, rooted in Pacific Islander and Polynesian mythology, is a US production but a non English-language film. It will hope to add an Oscar nomination to its already impressive list of nominations and festival selections. Full article HERE.

The animated short film Kapaemahu has made Oscars history, as the first Hawaiian animated short film to clear the first round of voting and make the official Oscars Shortlist in the 'Animated Short Film' category. Listen to interview with Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu HERE.

This year’s shortlist of 10 animated shorts reflects the zeitgeist, the impact of the pandemic on festival exposure, and the ascendance of streaming. Yet they all reflect the turmoil, uncertainty, and need for unity that define the moment. Frontrunners: “If Anything Happens I Love You” - “Kapaemahu” - “Opera” - “Out” - “The Snail and the Whale” Full article here.

A week ago we anticipated that animated short film, Kapaemahu, could be the first ever Native Hawaiian film to have ever been nominated for the Academy Awards Shortlist. And yesterday, 9 February 2021, history has been made as Kapaemahu has made it through the first round of voting and is now on the official Oscars Shortlist of ten films for the 93rd Oscars Shortlist in the ‘Animated Short Film’ category!! Full story here.