He Hawai`i Mau Short Film

(Director Lurline Wailana McGregor)

To see the entire two-minute short film visit: http://www.piccom.org/programs/he-hawaii-mau

This video is a brief journey through Lurline's life, growing up in Honolulu in the 1950's and 60's, later moving to Washington, D.C. and coming home again in the 1990's. I tell this story through old family movies, photos, contemporary video and Hawaiian music consistent with the time period being covered. It is about her growing awareness of her Hawaiian identity and what defines her today as a Hawaiian.


(still from the film He Hawai`i Mau)

Haku Inoa: To Weave A Name Funded by ITVS

(A recent stop by the ITVS office in San Francisco)


The third time was the charm for Haku Inoa to finally receive funding from the Independent Television Service's (ITVS) www.itvs.org LINCS initiative. I have been very fortunate to have had the ongoing support of both PBS Hawai`i www.pbshawaii.org as a partner and the support of Pacific Islanders in Communications www.piccom.org for all three times that I have applied to the initiative.

As I have been slowly letting the news out about the new funder people naturally ask me what the next steps are. So, here is a little outline of what my plans are in the upcoming months.

1. Early to Mid February - Finish a full length 3-column script outlining all sequences in order with narration, interviews, visuals, effects, music, ect...
2. March - pre-production
3. April to May - production and shooting for
4. May to September - editing.
5. September to January - grant writing and other paperwork type things to raise the last $50,000 needed for completion funds.

So that's the plan. It's very exciting news to release at the beginning of the new year, and there will be a lot of happening to update updates about the project, so stay in touch! You can join the Haku Inoa mailing list on Mail Chimp by clicking here



(Mom, Auntie Linda, me, and all of the Haku Inoa team at PBS Hawai`i)

Washington DC - Haku Inoa Screening

I know the Smithsonian screening at the National Museum of the Native American was a while ago now, but truthfully I moved and I misplaced the disk with the pictures from the Q&A. I was being stubborn and I did not want to put up this post without the picture. So now that I have found it, here we go! The screening was really great. I thought that the programming was intelligently crafted by Melissa Bisagni she paired Haku Inoa with Heart of the Sea which is the documentary bio-pic about surf legend Rell Sunn. My film lead really wonderfully into Heart of the Sea because that film begins with the explanation of Rell's Hawaiian name which is Kapolikaehukai which essentially translates to Heart of the Sea. The beginning of the film shows very briefly shows how important a name is to Hawaiians. In some sense the rest of the film is really an illustration of all the different ways that Rell fulfills the meaning of her name.

As a part of screening at the Smithsonian I was able to have a personal tour with a cultural interpreter, she was basically a guide to the museum. My guide was named Zandra it was really fun to get to know her and check out the museum. She knew so much about all aspects of the museum. Including the architecture, which was really interesting to me because my father is an architect

Overall I really enjoyed DC and the museum. I can't wait to go back again.

New York Smithsonian Screening - Haku Inoa

Sorry for the late update here on the East Coast Smithsonian Screenings. Both of the screenings were really fantastic for two main reasons. Number one to have my first museum screenings at two different Smithsonian museums is an amazing privilege. Secondly, it is inspiring to see the work of other Pacific Islander Filmmakers and learn about other indigenous cultures from all around the world.

First a short update on New York. Shortly I will get up an entry about DC, because the DC screening and trip was really amazing and deserves its own post!!!



The team from the Film and Video Center in New York were lovely. I was happy to be able to attend the artist reception on Wednesday before the Pasifika Showcase began. I had a chance to speak with Nancy Brunning who is in a wonderful Maori film called The Strength of Water. You can see the trailer here. Unfortunately, to be honest, the trailer doesn't do the film justice.

The Strength of Water is paced like a comforting drift of a lazy river. However, this underlying ease is upset by the trauma of the sudden accidental death of a young Maori girl named Melody. The entire village mourns her loss bitterly, but none more so than her twin brother Kimi. The film explores grief through magical realism brought to life through the love and loss of a young child.

Haku Inoa screened on a Saturday afternoon with a collection of other short films. A few hula sisters from New York and film school friends came by, and the Q&A after the films was fairly lively. There were maybe 50 or so folks at the screening, but that is not too surprising since it was a sunny Saturday afternoon in New York.

Seattle Screening Success!

Thank you so much to everyone who came to last weeks' fundraising screening of Haku Inoa at Central Cinema. As you can see the house was really packed!



The event raised about $2000 toward the completion of the project. I plan on using this money toward making a rough cut of the film.

I also want to congratulate Karen Winston who was the winner of the gift certificates to The Hotel Max and ‘Ohana in Belltown.

Also thank you so much to Malory and all the lovely ladies of Reel Grrls, Louie and Amanda of the Mavin Foundation, Vivian and Josh at The Wing Luke Asian Museum, and Pi‘ilani of AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthrophy) Without all of you this event would not have been so wonderful.

Here are a few fun pics from the event:

Haku Inoa sharing the marquee with Less Than Zero



Me dancing hula. Which by the way was very nerve wracking for me!



Me, my brother, and Auntie Linda (Mom's twin sister, who came up from Oregon for the screening).

Seattle Media Blitz

I have been pretty busy trying to get the word out about the July 15th screening. It has been a good little test run of getting press and doing promotion. At this point pretty much everything is in place. I just have to keep practicing the hulas that I am going to dance so I don't embarrass myself. This post is a one stop shop for all of the TV, radio, and print stories that I have done while here in Seattle.

Lori Matsukawa of King 5 News interviewed me on the overall process of film film at the Wing Luke Asian Art Museum.



This interview by Jeremy Richards focuses more on the NW Native connection and what I learned about my mother through working with the people of the Puyallup Tribe:



Joaquin Uy of KBCS and I talk more about the universal conflict between younger and older generations.



Here is the link to the Seattle Post Globe Interview with me by Himanee Gupta. Hawaiian Filmmaker Explores Past

Himanee touches on historical context of Hawaii that I hope people will be able to learn through Haku Inoa.

Seattle Fundraising Screening Tickets

A name is a name... unless its 63 letters long.

Central Cinema
1411 21st Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
July 15th, 2009
6pm - 8:30pm
www.central-cinema.com

Haku Inoa: To Weave a Name is the deeply personal story of filmmaker Christen Marquez’s journey to heal her family relationships, which have been devastated by her Mother’s mental illness. Driven by the desire to to learn the meaning of her enigmatic Hawaiian name. Christen attempts to unite her scattered family and come to terms with her estranged mother, because her mother is the only one who knows the true meaning. However, learning her name proves to be more difficult then Christen first realizes. The film brings up deeper questions about surviving in a family with mental illness, and the modern cultural identities of “on-island” and “off-island” Native Hawaiians also called Kanaka Maoli.

I will be screening some very old work of mine, and the very newest. I will also be dancing hula there too, so that should be cool.

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/69035

If you cannot make it to the screening you can still donate to the project here by clicking on the yellow donate button: http://www.paradocsproductions.com/haku_inoa_donate.html

Aloha Expo

Next weekend is the 2009 Aloha Expo, and I will be out there taking pictures and fund-raising for Haku Inoa.

I am going to be setting up a booth, playing clips, and hopefully some of the animation that Ashley is working on.

I am also going to be working on a mini photo project. I will take pictures of people and ask them the story that is behind their name. Last time I met people to talk about my film I learned so many interesting names and stories. Hawaiian and not Hawaiian.

So if you are in Southern California come by and say hello at the Aloha Expo