The latest Hollywood flap over a controversial motion picture casting decision hits close to home for Hawaii State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson.

That’s because Dawson is a Kanahele, a member of the same family to which the lead character belongs in the historical drama “Ni‘ihau,” the movie drawing fire from Native Hawaiians and others concerned by the “whitewashing” of Hollywood movies.

Like the growing outrage on social media this week, Dawson is troubled by the fact that a non-Hawaiian, actor Zach McGowan of “The 100,” “Shameless” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” has been cast in the role as Benehakaka “Ben” Kanahele.

She’s also bothered by the fact the movie is scheduled to begin production later in the month in Malaysia.

“I don’t understand how that works,” Dawson said Wednesday.

The movie aims to tell the true story of Kanahele, who received a Medal of Merit and a Purple Heart for his role in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, when a Japanese pilot crash-landed his Zero on Niihau while returning from the surprise attack on Oahu.

Kanahele helps save the pilot but then learns about the attack. The pilot is taken into custody before escaping with the help of some local men of Japanese descent. Before it was all over, Kanahele killed the pilot and was decorated for his part in blocking the island’s takeover.

Hawaii is no stranger to movies criticized for whitewashing. The movie “Aloha” was attacked for casting Emma Stone to play a part-Hawaiian, part-Chinese character. George Clooney was cast in “The Descendants” as the heir of Native Hawaiian royalty.

Even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who is part Samoan, was criticized for wanting to be cast in the role of King Kamehameha in a movie that never was produced. More recently, Disney’s “Moana” was condemned by some Native Hawaiians who said it exploited the culture.

An attempt to contact writer-director Gabriel Robertson was unsuccessful Wednesday. But producer Ken Petrie told Deadline.com that in telling a true story, “there is a weight to be shouldered, and the material requires the utmost care and authenticity.”

But news of the casting of the lead role left some perplexed and angry.

“I’m sick and tired of it. I mean a lot of people are. We work so hard as Native Hawaiians to save what’s left our culture,” said Dayna Kalakau, a Makiki event planner and publicist. “Something seems wrong here.”

Healani Sonoda-Pale, founder of Protest Na‘i Aupuni, said depicting a Hawaiian hero and replacing him with a Caucasian is called “erasure.”

“They have a responsibility to look for a Hawaiian actor,” she said. “There’s a lot of them out there.”

One of them is Hale Mawae, actor, writer and filmmaker, who described the casting of “Ni‘ihau” as “a little appalling.”

Mawae said he wished the director had done his homework and asked the community for help in telling the story.

Mawae, originally from Kauai, is also a descendent of the Kanahele family of Niihau through his grandmother.

“This is personal,” he said. “Growing up on Kauai, we heard the stories of Niihau. This is a great story.”

But he said he’s skeptical it will be done right. There are plenty of Native Hawaiian actors, he said. It just takes some work to find them.

“It’s very hard to see this is a Hawaiian actor and writer. It’s taking a very Hawaiian story and washing over it with something very foreign,” he said.

Filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly went even further, describing the production as a reflection of privilege, colonialism and exploitation. Casting a white man as a full-blooded Native Hawaiian is cultural and identity theft, she said.

“Would they do it to a black character? They wouldn’t. Not now, not anymore,” she said. “They can do it to us because we’re completely marginalized in the industry.”

Dawson, the veteran film office chief, said the support group Pacific Islanders in Communications is developing a Native Hawaiian cultural handbook for movie producers.

“It’s designed to help producers understand our unique culture,” she said. “It’s being developed with the further idea that in this day and age people are striving for more authenticity.”

As for “Ni‘ihau” the movie, Dawson said authenticity is going to be extremely difficult to pull off, especially if a non-native is going to play the role of Ben Kanahele. She said the people of Niihau are native speakers who have their own dialect. Full authenticity would require subtitles, she said.

“We’re living in a time where indigenous cultures are important. We’ve come a long way from when movies were first made in Hawaii in the early 1900s,” she said.

“The world knows our islands, our culture and what they know of our history from what they see in the media. It’s critically important to strive for authentic stories.”

Dawson said that while she’s concerned about what “Ni‘ihau” will become, she still holds out hope that folks from Hawaii will reach out to the production company and the filmmaker to counsel them and offer “tools” in support of the filming process.

“Of course, it would be easier if they were filming here,” she said.

“To hear that this historic story is being shot in Malaysia is heartbreaking,” added Georja Skinner, chief officer of the Creative Industries Division of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Skinner said the Hawaii Film Office would communicate with the production company to see whether there was any attempt to contact the office.