Jeannette Paulson Hereniko has always known the power of storytelling. During a troubled childhood, stories functioned as a source of comfort. In adulthood, she founded the Hawai‘i International Film Festival. Throughout her multifaceted life, Jeannette has blazed her own trail, working with unwavering vision and passion.
Learn how one local girl’s love of storytelling and social justice inspired her to share her gift with the world. Documentary filmmaker Ciara Lacy speaks to her journey and how moving home inspired her documentary, Out of State, which premiered nationally on PBS stations, including PBS Hawaiʻi, on the film series Independent Lens.
Meet Heather Haunani Giugni, a longtime filmmaker whose passion for preserving Hawaiʻi’s stories culminated in the establishment of ʻUluʻulu, the Henry Kuʻualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive at the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oahu. The archive is named after her father, a longtime aide to the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye.
“The health of the land is the health of the people” is a core belief for Dr. N. Emmett Aluli. The Molokaʻi physician comes from a prominent Hawaiian family of medical doctors, academics, musicians and historical figures. He made his own mark in history as part of the Kahoʻolawe Nine, a group of activists who stood up against the federal government to defend the island. Learn more about his personal mission to restore the health of Kahoʻolawe and the health of Molokaʻi’s people.
Leslie Wilcox talks story with award-winning writer Stephanie Han of Kaimukī, Oʻahu. Hear how she draws from her life experiences to inform her poetry, fiction and non-fiction and how the content of her work speaks to grappling with identity in multicultural settings.
“Chicken-skin” storyteller Lopaka Kapanui grew up around old Hawaiian legends and ghost stories from his family, and says he’s always been sensitive to spirits. In the 1990s, he was introduced to Oʻahu’s original chicken-skin storyteller, Glen Grant, and his ghost tours. Since Dr. Grant’s passing, hear how Kapanui has taken up the mantle of local ghost storytelling as a way to communicate and educate.
Hear from Alice Inoue, the founder of Happiness U, as she reflects on how her curiosity and entrepreneurial nature led her on an untraditional path to her current position of helping others find their life’s purpose.
From early on, Kristi Yamaguchi possessed a drive that propelled her to gold medal honors in Olympic figure skating for the U.S.A. She went on to become a professional ice skater, author and philanthropist. Hear how her childhood lessons set the stage for who she is today.
For more than 30 years, Pam Chambers has built a reputation as “Hawaiʻi’s presentation coach.” Yet this former wallflower says nobody who knew her in her youth would have predicted it. She reveals how a turning point in her career helped her blossom as a public speaker.
Oceanit’s President and CEO Patrick Sullivan has been a problem solver from an early age. He created enterprising ways as a teen to support his pursuit of higher education. Learn how his hard work and resourceful nature helped pave the way for his successes in life, and how he has made a career out of problem solving with his Honolulu-based company.
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