Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 3, 1 March 2011 — 'Our stories are universal' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Our stories are universal'

Film by Ty Sanga earns screening at Sundance

By Melissa Moniz 5tones, a short film by Native Hawaiian writer and director Ty Sanga, has eamed the distinction of being the first Hawaiian-language narrative filmever featured at the Sundance Film Festival, a premier stage for independent film "It's an honor to even be considered to be a part of Sundance and to be selected is huge," says Sanga. "This was made possible in part to Sundance's Bird Runningwater (of the Native American and Indigenous Program). He's so great in helping give us native people an avenue to share with the world." Stones screened as part of the Utah festival's Indigenous Shorts Showcase in January. Adapted from Native Hawaiian legends and shot in the Hawaiian language, Stones is a love story about the last native Mū eouple on the island, Na'iwi (Moses Goods) and Nihipali (Rava Shastid). Set in ancient times on the islands of Hawai'i, the story follows Na'iwi and Nihipali in their struggle to accept newcomers to the island. "For the story, we took pieces from legends that I gathered from the archives at Bishop Museum," adds Sanga. He foundhe couldrelate to the stories they told. "When I moved to L.A. for graduate school

it was the longest I lived outside of Hawai'i and I really dived into the experience," says Sanga, a 1999 St. Louis School graduate. During that time, he says: "I hardly eame back home and by the third year I was missing home and everyone a lot. The legend deals with that and talks about two kids who long for something they don't have. The legend also talks about sacrifices, so it was just one of those things that stayed with me and that's when I knew I had to tell this story because it heeame my story as well." Sanga, a graduate of University of Hawai'i's Academy for Creative Media, attended the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University, where he made Stones for his graduate thesis. "The reason I got into movies was to tell Hawai'i stories," adds Sanga. "When I pitched Stones, I told them that if I do it I want to do it right and film it in Hawai'i. That was one of the biggest walls we hit was trying to convince the school to allow 10 students to fly to Hawai'i to make a movie. But I knew that there was no way I could make California look like Hawai'i." Onee approved, Sanga and his crew, whieh included Producer Jessie Creel, Cinematographer Richie Yau, Editor Dennis Alaniz and Hawaiian translator Keali'iwahine Hokoana, began rehearsals.

"I took Hawaiian language as an undergrad at UH, but Kea (Hokoana) helped me translate everything," says Sanga. "And she had others helping her because it was a whole process of correcting until it was pono." Speaking Hawaiian wasn't a foreign concept for the film's co-stars. Goods had studied Hawaiian, and Shastid, fluent in her native Tahitian, transitioned easily to Hawaiian. Onee the language and the kaona expressed through the actors were pono, the cast and crew llew to O'ahu to film. "The crew and the cast were amazing," says Sanga. "Moses is such a great actor. .... Years ago I saw him and he blew me away and when I thought about actors he was the first person on my list. And it helped compliment Rava because she doesn't have an acting background, but she's just so genuine. Having them both on set was a niee halanee." The film has received positive aeelaim, including recognition from Native Hawaiian actor Jason Scott Lee, who stated that the film is "a landmark achievement in preserving Hawai'i's magical history and culture. Ty Sanga's Stones is the fine work of a budding auteur who is able to capture a bygone era with depth, feeling and vision. His sensitivity and lasting images bring him to the forefront of a new wave of Hawaiian

filmmakers determined to bring their stories to the world." Reliving how audiences reacted to his film at Sundance, Sanga adds: "It was such an amazing experience to have people coming up to us telling us how our movie made them cry and touched them I just made this movie for Hawai'i. But having it at Sundance has given us the opportunity to show this to audiences who otherwise would never have a ehanee to see it. It resonates with them and makes us realize that our stories are universal." Sanga, who graduated from Chapman University in 2009 and now lives on O'ahu, plans to continue writing and directing more Hawaiian films. "It's so important to have ourpeople (Hawaiians) making movies, not just people coming here and changing our stories," he adds. "It's our opportunity to reclaim our culture to an extent. And at the same time to help spread it." To watch the film or for more information, visit www.stonesfilmcom. ■ Melissa Moniz is a Contributing Writer for Ka Wai Ola. Aformer Associate Editor at MidWeek she has chosen a ne w career path as afull-time mom to spendmore quality time with her husband and two young daughters.

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N A T I V E H A W A I I A N S AT KŪLIA I K A NU'U

THE T0P 0 F T H E I R GAME S T R I V E T 0 REACH THE SUMMIT

Producer Jessie Creel, Writer/Director Ty Sanga, Cinematographer Richie Yau and Art Director Alan Villanueva hoist the Hawaiian flag at the Sundance Film Festival. - Photo: Courtesy of Ty Sanga