Lahaina Voices
Rooted in ‘Ōlelo No‘eau #2488: Ola na iwi (The bones live. Said of a respected oldster who is well cared for by his family.)
Click the image above to view the 14-min animated film
Following the August 2023 wildfires, several groups and individuals reached out to request our Hui Mo‘olelo workshop and story recording approach as a way to help process the experience. Through a collaborative effort with the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Hui Mo‘olelo cohort members interviewed highly revered elders of Lahaina. Professional artists then submitted proposals to bring these stories to life as short, animated films. Upon selection by a community panel, artist Richard O'Connor entered a period of project development to infuse his proposal in Lahaina history, culture and sense of place -- ultimately resulting in a freely accessible work created through community engagement. The final animated short will be unveiled during the free 2025 Hui Mo‘olelo Film Festival at ProArts Playhouse in Kihei, HI, Feb 22 & 23, 2025 and at Honolulu's Waiwai Collective on Mar 27.
Enjoy the stories that provide the animation's audio track below:
Following the August 2023 wildfires, several groups and individuals reached out to request our Hui Mo‘olelo workshop and story recording approach as a way to help process the experience. Through a collaborative effort with the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Hui Mo‘olelo cohort members interviewed highly revered elders of Lahaina. Professional artists then submitted proposals to bring these stories to life as short, animated films. Upon selection by a community panel, artist Richard O'Connor entered a period of project development to infuse his proposal in Lahaina history, culture and sense of place -- ultimately resulting in a freely accessible work created through community engagement. The final animated short will be unveiled during the free 2025 Hui Mo‘olelo Film Festival at ProArts Playhouse in Kihei, HI, Feb 22 & 23, 2025 and at Honolulu's Waiwai Collective on Mar 27.
Enjoy the stories that provide the animation's audio track below:
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About the Artist
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Richard O'Connor has been involved in creating animation for nearly 30 years. In that time he has produced around 250 short films -both independent and on contract - dozens of commercials, a feature film, and sequences for at least 25 documentaries. These have included theatrical features (Frank Oz' "The Stepford Wives", Merchant/Ivory's "White Countess", Rebecca Miller's "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee"), documentaries ("Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns", "Chicago Ten", "Nursery University"), television (Nickelodeon's "Kablam!", Cartoon Network's "Big Bag", PBS' "Between the Lions") and commercials. Richard writes about things -usually animated things, but not always. He has taught at Parsons School of Design, NYU, University of the Arts, and Rhode Island School Design.
His small crew at Ace & Son Moving Picture Company has been creating animation together for a decade. The studio focuses on independent, educational and documentary animation. Headquartered in a 19th Century stable a stone's throw from the Gowanus Canal, the studio prioritizes traditional drawing and material-based animation processes mixed with contemporary graphics and cinematic sensibility. MORE: https://www.aceandson.com/ |
Project team artists: Taisiya Zaretskaya, Natalie Greene, Ana Sofía Navia López, Aabha Sewak, Wanda Noonan | Music: JZ Barrell, Harold Griffin
Past Work
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See all of Richard's past work with our team on our Film Festivals project page HERE
Community Consultations
Jennifer Freeland, Hawaiʻi State Department of Education & her father, Haines Burt Freeland
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Coach Earle Kukahiko, Louis Garcia III and Kaliko Storer
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Medeiros 'Ohana
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Hara 'Ohana
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Project launch & ‘Ōlelo No‘eau meeting
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Mahalo
- Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā facilitators Anuhea Yagi and Kalapana Kollars
- Storytellers: Jennifer Freeland & her father Haines Burt Freeland, Louis Garcia III & Kaliko Storer, Teva Medeiros & his grandfather Timothy Medeiros Sr., Coach Earle Kukahiko & Kaliko Storer, Abraham "Snake" Ah Hee & Myrna Ah Hee, and Reverend Gensho Hara, Lāhainā Jodo Mission & his daughter, Yayoi Hara.
- Partners County of Maui, Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society and Lahaina Restoration Foundation
- Sponsors National Endowment for the Arts, HCF Maui Strong, Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and private donors of Maui Public Art Corps
- Community Consultants & panelists
- ProArts Playhouse
Community Submissions
Project Timeline
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