AS THE WATER DARKENS

A weaver, Kunawai, navigates between survival and her connection to the ‘āina (land) while a mysterious rash grows on her body. She has visions of a mysterious creature lurking in the waterways as she tries to go about her daily routine and her work as a cleaner. As Kunawai continues to have haunting visions that may be real or imagined, she goes through a metamorphosis after she finds out her drinking water is being poisoned by fuel leaking into the island’s watersheds. The transformation of Kunawai takes her through cemented waterways until she reaches the ocean to be cleansed or perhaps, reborn.

Weaving practices, creation stories, a mysterious creature, and the mundane come together to reveal the horrors that lie underneath our daily lives and bring them to the surface. In a poetic homage to our sacred waters, the linkage between our bodies, the water, and the land is woven together.

CREDITS
Writer: Tiare Ribeaux; co-writer: Sebastian Galasso
Producer: Lenape Creative Group, Jody Stillwater, Sebastian Galasso, Tiare Ribeaux
Executive Producer: Lenape Creative Group
Director of Photography: Jody Stillwater, Vincent Bercasio
Editor: Tiare Ribeaux
Production Designer: Nanea Lum
Composer: Ted de Oliveira, Jason Chu, Auli’i Mitchell
Sound Designer: Ted de Oliveira, Tiare Ribeaux
Music: Jason Chu, Ted de Oliveira, Auli’i Mitchell

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INDIGENOUS NOW!

There are 476 million Indigenous people around the world; a vast majority of their homelands are connected to the Asian American ans NHPI communities that we serve.