Lahaina family’s land struggle featured in new documentary

A new feature-length documentary following a Lahaina family’s 20-year legal battle to protect ancestral kuleana lands in Kauaʻula Valley premieres this week at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival.

The film, “EA (SOVEREIGN),” focuses on Kanaka ʻŌiwi community leader Keʻeaumoku Kapu and his family’s efforts to reclaim and steward valley lands. Directors Noah Keone Viernes and Sancia Miala Shiba Nash documented the historic quiet title jury trial that brought disputes over land ownership and Indigenous rights before a jury.

The documentary also highlights the legacy of the Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural Center. While the Lahaina wildfires destroyed the center’s physical structure in August 2023, the film shows how the cultural practices and community purpose it fostered remain intact.

Interviews with Keʻeaumoku Kapu, Uʻilani Kapu and others frame sovereignty as a daily lived responsibility rather than an abstract concept. The production uses digital mapping and animation to illustrate the history and terrain of Kauaʻula Valley.

Following its current festival run, the film is scheduled to screen at the Archaeology Channel International Film Festival in May. The official trailer is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKIyFkci7t8.