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Kea represents the results of that violence. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom led to the separation and indoctrination of Hawaiian children, criminalization of the Hawaiian language, and thus a rupturing of Hawaiian value systems, culture, and identity.

Hundreds of years after the genocide of Native Americans, Hawaiians were subjected to the same treatment. “I feel blessed with the opportunity and platform to say something.” Our families had to fight to stay alive,” Kahunahana says.

The fact that we’re still here we have a responsibility to speak on this. “We are the ones who are here of our kūpuna who survived genocide. It’s a sobering reminder of the effects of colonialism on an island that has been a state for less than a century. He describes the decimation of the Native Hawaiian population at the turn of the century, in which a people who numbered almost 1 million was reduced to less than 40,000. “The trauma that she experiences, Hawaii as our ʻāina has experienced,” Kahunahana explains. For those who aren’t getting it: Kea is Hawaii. Eventually, we see Kea reach her lowest point: houseless, broke, and in deep physical and emotional pain. Waikiki centers on Kea (Danielle Zalopany), a strong yet sympathetic native woman on the run from an abusive boyfriend and juggling multiple jobs when she accidentally rams her van into a man in Honolulu.

The film is influenced by the people and places in Kahunahana’s life in Hawaii-it’s the side that non-Hawaiians don’t often get to see. ‘The White Lotus’ and the Twisted Allure of ‘Quality White Mess’ He gave up a glamorous life curating art shows in San Francisco and New York, running underground, independent film festivals, and owning a nightclub in Honolulu, to chase his filmmaking dream. This is the norm for kānaka maoli filmmakers, as Native Hawaiians call themselves in their language.

Kahunahana says there’s a lot of talent within the “small but mighty” Hawaiian filmmaking community, but many are forced to work other jobs while balancing a film production just to stay afloat. Hawaii is one of the most expensive states to reside in, with a high cost of living coupled with a low median income.