Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1992 — Indigenous message voiced on films [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Indigenous message voiced on films

bv Christina Zarobe

Meleanna Meyer actually began working on "Puamana," a documentary about her beloved aunt Irmgard Farden Aluli, years ago as an attentive child. "For my whole life I watched quietly in the background. I watched this woman bring us together," she said during a panel discussion at the first annual Indigenous Voices in Film program last month. The process of bringing her aunt, a prolific songwriter, to the screen began in 1984 when Meyer took some 40 hours of oral history from her aunt. Yet, she remembered, "This person is larger than this. How ean I share her?" "She's got so mueh to give and so many of the elders do."

Already a painter and photographer, Meyer said she has always found film to be an intriguing art form. "Film had always been a fascination for me but it was off limits." Yet the driving force behind the Stanford University graduate's documentary was a powerful motivator, one mentioned repeatedly by oth-

er panelists at the program. "It's this whole notion of 'persistence of 1 vision.' I had a dream, a vision to do this pieee," I she explained. "This whole notion of vision is i very important to me, and how to share it." Directed by Les Blank and edited by Chris I Simon, "Puamana" is a portrait of Auntie Irmgard, one of 13 children in the Farden fami- | ly. During the past 55 years, Auntie Irmgard has 1 written over 300 songs. She performs in the 1 film along with the musical group Puamana.

Meyer has embraced filmmaking with an infecI tious enthusiasm, describing people in the indusI try as "compelling." She admitted, however, that filmmaking is a "shared process," a method that | is not readily taught in schools or the work envi1 ronment where succeeding is emphasized. Meyer acknowledged her limited experience in I filmmaking, calling herself "a newcomer but a 1 committed soul to art. I'm delighted to have gotI ten the buq."

Sponsored by the Hawai'i International Film Festival, the first annual Indigenous Voices in continued page 11

lrmgard Farden Aluli

Film program featured panelists Martha Carrell, a Hawaiian/Chamorro chair of Pacific Islanders in Communications, Frank Blythe, executive director of the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortia, Barry Barclay, Maori director of "Te Rua," George Burdeau, a director and a member of the Blackfeet Indian Nation, and Heather Giugni, an independent Hawaiian video producer.

Voices from page 1

Native American filmmaker George Burdeau directed the Emmy award-winning film, "Surviving Columbus," whieh explores the Pueblo Indians' 450 years of contact with Europeans. He also was the first Native American director in the Director's Guild of Ameiiea. Soft-spoken and expressive, Burdeau told the gathering about recent trips he had taken to film festivals worldwide, particularly one in France for indigenous filmmakers. "There was an incredible power in this indigenous experience that was being expressed and when I arrived here it continued," said the filmmaker who has worked in television and film for the past 22 years. Through his travels and studies of the native people, Burdeau said he has found that they are enduring "tremendous hardships all over the world." Their condition and story should be told to a wider audience. he said.

"I feel that it is extremely important that we

start to find ways to get this indigenous voice out to the world," he said. While the specific needs of indigenous people vary according to the group, there is one eommon message Burdeau has found among native people. He described it as an "incredible, universal, consistent feeling from the indigenous view that we have to take care of Mother Earth." For Burdeau, his dream is for the voice of the indigenous people to be heard again. Martha Carrell was born and raised in Honolulu, an alumnus of Roosevelt High School and the University of Hawai'i. She now makes her home on the Mainland. Pacific Islanders in Communications, the organization she chairs, is a programming entity funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Carrell said sne realizes there are many indigenous voices who have a story to tell." Yet she encouraged budding filmmakers in the group to pursue their vision. Energetic in her talk to the gathering, Carrell spoke about the obstacle all filmmakers face — funding. One avenue she recommends is public broadcasting, an organization that has demonstrated its openness to ethnic diversity. "There is money available but you have to research it, know where the money is. You have to look at how to put together financing that is not necessarily straightforward. You'd be sur-

prised at the alternative funding sources you may not have thought of," she explained. Another method of strengthening the voice of the indigenous people is to work with the media. But according to Frank Blythe, executive director of the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortia, getting the attention of mainstream media ean be difficult. By example, he told the group about how the media at last month's National Congress of American Indians in California covered the remarks of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye but not high level Native Americans who spoke.

"I think the whole area of what native eommunications is about on the Mainland is empowerment," he said. "Getting the word across to mainstream media ... is one of the main problems we face on a daily basis." While eaeh panelist talked about their filmmaking experiences and how to better convey the indigenous message, Tyrone Reinhardt, administrator of Alu Like, ine., spoke about the benefits to people of all races. "In an island community, or in any tribal or elan organization, everyone is important. Eaeh person interrelates with another," he said quietly. "The native and indigenous peoples of the world have that gift and talent to share with the filmmakers. As their gifts are shared the harmony of the world will be increased 10-fold."