Kapaemahu is a 2020 animated short film produced and directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson with director of the animation Daniel Sousa. It is based on the long-hidden history of four healing stones on Waikiki Beach placed there as a tribute to four legendary mahu who first brought the healing arts to Hawaii. The film is narrated in Olelo Niihau, the only unbroken form of the Hawaiian language. Kapaemahu premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, was screened in over 160 film festivals and 200 theaters worldwide, won multiple Oscar-qualifying jury awards, and was shortlisted for Best Animated Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards®.
Production
The film was conceived in 2010 when Wong-Kalu introduced Hamer and Wilson to the stones of Kapaemahu, which she had known since childhood, while they were filming her in Waikīkī for the documentary Kumu Hina. Recognizing the potential of the site to act as a monument to Hawaiian concepts of healing and gender diversity, the team began researching the history of the stones, which had long been hidden from the public. This led to Hamer's discovery of the first recorded version of the oral tradition, a handwritten manuscript in the archives of the University of Hawai'i that became the basis for the film script. It was decided to narrate the film in Olelo Niihau, which is the only form of Hawaiian spoken continuously since prior to Western contact and closest to the language that would have been spoken by the healers. Sousa developed a hand-painted art style and palette for the project that is rooted in the Polynesian art forms of tapa making and lauhala weaving.
Release and Reception The film world premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, where it was awarded the Special Jury Mention. It received favorable reviews from several critics. Sharmindrila Paul of AnimationXpress wrote “ The film looks like poetry in motion. The animation technique is unique and evokes a feeling of witnessing the legend and its history in person”. It was characterized by Animation Magazine as “a vivid animation seen through the eyes of a child," by Filmmaker Magazine as a "rich standout," by Zippy Frames as a "thoughtful film about connecting the past to the future, inviting understanding, and executed in a uniquely empathetic way," and by IndieWire as "a transgender, Hawaiian breakthrough."
Book, Documentary, Exhibition, Hula, and Monument
The animated film was used as the basis for a children's picture book called Kapaemahu published by Penguin Random House. It was also used as the primary storytelling device for the moolelo in a PBS documentary film and an immersive multimedia exhibition at the Bishop Museum, both titled The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. In 2023, the animated film was incorporated into the commemorative landscape of Hawaii through a permanent display about the stones at the Hawaii Convention Center and new interpretive signage at the Kapaemahu monument in Waikiki, both of which use the animated film as the storytelling device for the moolelo. In 2025 a hula show based on the story, The Return of Kapaemahu, was written and directed by Kumu Patrick Makuakāne and performed on the Kūhiō Beach hula mound, close to the current location of the stones.
Selections and awards Year Festival Location Award/Category 2020 Tribeca Film Festival New York City, NY Special Jury Mention 2020 Animayo International Film Festival Canary Islands, Spain Grand Jury Prize 2020 Atlanta Film Festival Atlanta, GA Best Animated Short2020Foyle Film FestivalDerry, Northern IrelandBest Animated Short 2020 Hiroshima International Animation Festival Hiroshima, Japan Special Jury Prize2020Nashville Film FestivalNashville, TNAudience Award 2020 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival Los Angeles, CA Audience Award 2020 Rhode Island International Film Festival Providence, Rhode Island Best Animation Short 2020 Chicago International Children's Film Festival Chicago, Illinois Children's Jury Best Animated Short2020imagineNATIVEToronto, CanadaBest Native Language Production 2020 Bengalaru International Short Film Festival Bangalore, India Best Animated Film2020Boston International Kids Film FestivalBoston, MABest Foreign Language Film 2020 New Zealand International Film Festival Auckland, New Zealand Special Jury Mention 2020 Annecy International Animated Film Festival Annecy, France Nominated City of Annecy Award 2020 Ottawa International Animation Film Festival Ottawa, Canada Nominated Best Children's Film 2020 Palm Springs International Short Fest Palm Springs, California Nominated Best LGBT Short 2020 Indy Shorts International Film Festival Indianapolis, IN Nominated Grand Prize 2020 Zlin International Film Festival for Children and Youth Zlin, Czech Republic Nominated Golden Slipper 2020 Melbourne International Film Festival Melbourne, Australia Nominated City of Melbourne Award 2021 93rd Academy Awards® Los Angeles, CA Shortlisted Best Animated Short Film
References
External links
Kapaemahu Channel on Vimeo