Heritage Film Festival: Moving Home and Paʻa Ke Aupuni

Halla Huhm in shaman 1970s dance costume. Courtesy photo.

By Maui Now Staff

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center will present two documentary films in the McCoy Studio Theater in conjunction with the Heritage Film Festival.

“Moving Home” will be shown on Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m. in the McCoy Studio Theater. “Pa‘a Ke Aupuni” will be presented on Sunday, May 31, at 3 p.m. in the McCoy Studio Theater.

“Moving Home: The Legacy of Halla Pai Huhm” is a visually poignant documentary about Korean dancer and teacher Halla Pai Huhm (1922-1994).

The film captures the tenacious spirit of a dancer whose life was shaped by the turbulence between Korea, Japan, and Hawaiʻi during the first half of the 20th century. Huhm was a pioneer in staging dances that made Korean identity visible against the backdrop of colonialism, war and immigration, leaving behind a significant legacy in Hawaiʻi.

A talk by producer and director Billie Lee and a Korean dance performance by the Halla Huhm Korean Dance Studio, under the direction of Mary Jo Freshley, will take place following the film.

Admission is free.

“Paʻa Ke Aupuni” is a one-hour animated video history of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Narration provides an overview of important facts and events centered on Hawaiʻi’s complex political history.

One of the main goals of this film is to give viewers a shared, common understanding of the state’s history in order to make more informed decisions about the future.

A question-and-answer session will follow the film screening.

Tickets for Pa‘a Ke Aupuni on May 31 are $10, and can be purchased at The MACC Box Office in person from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, by calling (808) 242-SHOW (7469) or online.