Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula - on PBS

By happy accident, I was switching through the channels late last night, and I happened on a great little independent documentary on PBS. I thought it would be of interest to some, here. It's Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula.
It's about the only male-only hula school (halau) in Hawaii. It began decades ago, in the early 70's, in attempt to recover the ancient traditions of the hula, as part of the Hawaiian Pride movement. The art of hula had become almost exclusively associated with female dancers, thanks to Hollywood and tourist shows. But originally, it was very much a "man thing", too.
Here's the full link:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/menofhula/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_5_independentlensbrnakamaleithemenofhula_2008-05-07

There's a "Check local Listings" link. I may have seen the last showing in my area (Dallas), but I checked around, and it's showing in many other areas this week, still.

BTW, the idea for the film grew from an earlier documentary by the filmmaker, Lisette Marie Flanary, named 'American Aloha - Hula Beyond Hawaii'. That one's available from Netflix.

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2008-05-08 07:51 ]

I saw this too and it was very interesting.

I'm assuming that Robert Cazimero, the director featured last night, is the same one who is in the Brothers Cazimero group. They do all sorts of terrific Hawai'ian and Hapa songs. Great arrangements too.

Kaulana na Pua!

On 2008-05-07 07:46, pablus wrote:
I'm assuming that Robert Cazimero... is the same one who is in the Brothers Cazimero group. They do all sorts of terrific Hawai'ian and Hapa songs. Great arrangements too.

Yes, and the filmmaker says there's additional footage of the Brothers Cazimero playing a concert for May Day at the Waikiki Shell, in the special features section of the DVD, along with interviews with his brother, Roland, and manager, John de Mello.
You can buy the DVD for $24.95, but it doesn't appear to be available for rental, yet.

Wonderful! Thanks for posting this Limbo Lizard. I'm really looking forward to seeing this film.

MrsHoptiki

To buy the documentary, go here: http://www.neoflix.com/store/leh96

Unlikely to be shown in the UK... but at least it's available on DVD.

The Stevenson Wedding Mug by Cheekytiki, 2006

[ Edited by: 54 house of bamboo 2008-05-09 12:25 ]

Excellent. The show aires 5.5 times next week! Once on reg tv and five times on HD.

WOW!! Emotionally power packed film! I strongly recommend everyone who loves the Hawaiian culture see this documentary. If you think contact sports (football, soccer, etc) requires teamwork, check this out.

Two thumbs up here!
Aloha.

Wish I could see it ...Just learned the other day the the hula originated in Molokai .

[ Edited by: sushiman 2008-05-11 14:47 ]

This is a PBS hijack....

Sushiman, PBS loves to sell their shows. Doubtful the show would be on the web addy. :(
Hula starts at 11:30pm tonight on San Diegos PBS channel.

Also, tonight at 7:30pm is Equitrekking on Hawaii at Parker Ranch.

Well, after a cursory bit of clicking, San Diego is the only place I found that still has upcoming showings: Thur., May 15, at 5:00AM, and Fri., May 16, at 6:00 AM.