FARALLON FILMS
Award-winning films by Steven Okazaki
Photography by Zand Gee
“Stunning... An engaging documentary that celebrates traditional Hawai’ian culture and documents the efforts of Native Hawai’ians to hold on to what is left.”
Hawai’ian culture is imbued with aloha spirit - promoting kindness, patience, and the sharing of one's home, food, and friendship. That aloha spirit is continually threatened.
TROUBLED PARADISE explores Hawai'i's Big Island and uncovers a rich cultural heritage confronted by the pressing social, environmental and political problems facing the native population. The film captures performances by the island’s best dancers and musicians, featuring slack key ballads and a hula to the goddess Pele.
Native Hawai’ians have the lowest median family income of all the state's ethnic groups, with more than 2,000 living in cardboard boxes, rusted cars or tents on the beach. They have the highest percentage of unemployed and incarcerated; their life expectancy is the lowest in the state; their infant mortality rate is the highest in the nation. In the midst of extraordinary natural beauty, native Hawai’Ians reveal tormenting issues that conflict with their deeply held traditions.
Major funding provided by the CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING and the WALLACE ALEXANDER GERBODE FOUNDATION
Produced in association with NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION
Produced, Directed, Shot & Edited by STEVEN OKAZAKI
1992 / Documentary / 56 Minutes