Film on transgender ‘Kumu’ set for April world premiere

When films have focused on issues facing transgender individuals, they often told stories filled with discrimination, violence and disrespect. Filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson were familiar with that, having explored the LGBT community in rural America in their film "Out in the Silence."

But then they met Hina Wong-Kalu, a Hawaiian mahu, or transgender, who is known more for her role as a teacher, community leader and cultural practitioner than for a label attached to her name. In Wong-Kalu they saw a story of acceptance that could happen only in Hawaii.

The result is their new documentary "Kumu Hina."

For a year, Hamer and Wilson were given unlimited access to Wong-Kalu’s life, including her new marriage to a Tongan man. The filmmakers envisioned the trials and tribulations of an unusual Polynesian couple dealing with the most universal of human emotions.

"It’s a dramatic story of life and love in Hawaii that no one has ever seen on film before," Wilson said. "When we met Hina our view changed about what kind of world was possible. We thought Hina’s life and the way things played out here in Hawaii as a potential model to share with the rest of the world."

Hamer and Wilson were coming off two years on the road with "Out in the Silence" when they met Wong-Kalu.

"We were immediately captivated by her presence and also who she is and how she lived her life," Wilson said. "We were stunned by the difference between Hawaii and the continental U.S. in terms of acceptance and inclusion of an openly transgender woman. She is a community leader, an empowered person who is a prominent teacher."

Wong-Kalu, a 41-year-old Kame­ha­meha Schools graduate who lives in upper Nuu­anu, is cultural director at Halau Lokahi, a public charter school that incorporates Hawaiian culture and history into the curriculum. She’s also chairwoman of the Oahu Island Burial Council, which oversees Hawaiian burial sites and ancestral remains.

"Have you ever heard of an open transgender woman teaching?" Wilson said. "It’s almost unimaginable."

The film so impressed organizers of the Hawaii International Film Festival that they picked "Kumu Hina" as the closing-night selection of their 15th annual Spring Showcase. The April 10 screening at the Hawaii Theatre will be the film’s world premiere. Afterward the filmmakers want to screen it at festivals and then plan to air it on PBS in 2015.

Wong-Kalu, who is pleased with the film, said she doesn’t want to be viewed as different or special.

"I want to be someone who is acknowledged as Hina, as myself," she said. "I feel it is more important for people to be acknowledged by their name and the merits of their name rather than something like ‘transgender.’"

In agreeing to have the most personal moments of her life documented, Wong-Kalu sought to promote compassion as well as understanding.

"It was an opportunity to say to the world that people who are mahu have a great many of contributions to our community and our families and our circles," she said. "I am no different — no better, no worse. I am just a normal person."

If that is the heart of the story Hamer and Wilson told, then Wong-Kalu is undeniably the soul. The filmmakers viewed her philosophy as extremely important, especially against an overwhelming backdrop of negative media images.

"What we also need to see are the positive reflections of the lives of transgender people so we know them as full human beings who are members of our families and communities," Wilson said. "When we met Hina and saw she was a great symbol of this, we thought it was extremely important to share her story."

For ticket information on "Kumu Hina," as well as the full Spring Showcase schedule, go to www.hiff.org.

AND that’s a wrap …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.