directors Noah Keone Viernes and Sancia Miala Shiba Nash producers Noah Keone Viernes and Lance D. Collins co-producers Sancia Miala Shiba Nash and Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick executive producers Bianca Isaki, Linda Nye, Claire Daoang director of photography AJ Feducia editor kekahi wahi sound designer Noah Keone Viernes opening animation director Shinya Akutagawa digital cartographer Sean Connelly Hawaiian Language Supervisor and Field Producer Puaokamele Dizon camera operators Sancia Miala Shiba Nash, Noah Keone Viernes, Puaokamele Dizon, Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick, Benjamin Viernes sound recordists Noah Keone Viernes, Jon Yim, Joel Katz drone operator Matty Schweitzer additional voiceover Brendan George Ko, Mikiʻala Puaʻa Freitas archival footage The Hawaiian Legacy Foundation: Eddie and Myrna Kamae, Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina: Joan Lander and PuhipauEa (2025) 70 mins. 16:9, color, sound
Ea [Sovereign] is a feature length documentary about Keʻeaumoku Kapu, a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) community leader, activist, and caretaker of Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural Center in Lahaina, Maui. Through resonant landscapes and multimedia expressions of indigenous presence, the film focuses on Kapu’s nearly 20-year battle, in and out of the U.S. court system, to reclaim ancestral kuleana land in Kauaʻula valley on the northwest coast of the island of Maui. Ea is a testament to the resilience of one family, whose efforts serve as a source of guidance for their community as well as future generations pursuing land and water rights across the Hawaiian archipelago.
Support Nā ʻAikane o Maui, Cultural Center of Lahaina here: https://naaikane.org