(Note from the editor: The Haumana is the latest in a series of reviews AsAmNews will be featuring in the coming week from CAAMFest in San Francisco. The Haumana is scheduled to play March 16 at the Sundance Kabuki Theater and March 23 at the New Parkway Theater.)
By Priyal Patel
This year’s CAAM Film Festival is showing the Hawaiian film, The Haumana, written and directed by Keo Woolford. The festival features a variety of films that tell stories about different people from all over the world. However, being a Polynesian dancer myself, I was curious to know more about this film. The Haumana (meaning pupils or students), is a film about a young man, Johnny Kealoha, who works at a tourist luau show and is faced with the challenge of preparing a group of high school boys for a Hula show after his Kumu (master of Hula, instructor) passes away.
Kealoha, played by Tui Asau, is a young man who has seemed to have lost his way. The story 
is about Kealoha, finding himself through his Kumu’s last wish. Resisting an alcohol addiction and performing at a Polynesian luau show every night, Kealoha struggles to connect with his roots and discover the true meaning of dancing Hula.
The film, set in modern day Hawaii, is a simple story with a simple question: what is Hula? Most people will associate Hula with “luau” or “swaying hips,” but The Haumana not only teaches the audience, but also the characters what Hula is and means to them. Even with Kumu Napua and his students doubting him, Kealoha decides to honor his Kumu Margaret’s last request and lead the boys.
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Having never gone through Kumu Hula training, Kealoha finds himself learning just as much as his students. Learning and teaching at the same time proves to be difficult for Kealoha. The boys upstage and challenge him at his first class, but his desire to prove he can honor Kumu Margaret’s wish pushes him to work harder. He starts to doubt himself and see the error of his ways. Kealoha, called the “sell-out,” and “joke of the island” for starring in a tourist luau show, searches for redemption, and in the end finds his way back to his roots and ancestors.
The ensemble cast, featuring mostly fresh faces, gives an overall good performance thanks to the chemistry between the boys. Asau gives a solid performance as Johnny Kealoha. Although a small role, Linda the bartender, played by Kelly Hu, gives a stand out performance as Johnny’s unspoken motivator. The cinematography shows the real beauty of Hawaii, which is vital to telling the story. The writing and direction is an outstanding effort by Keo Woolford for his first feature film.
Perhaps the best part of the film is that the story is relevant to today’s generation. The characters, all relatable, go through their own problems and struggles. Along the way they learn what it means to understand and preserve their culture. Woolford brings to light an important issue within today’s youth culture: understanding and respecting your roots.
Learning dance from a Kumu hula myself and living in a time where Hula has been commercialized and used solely for entertainment, I can relate to the message of this film on a personal level. Like all Polynesian dance, every movement, chant, lyric, costume, and adornment has a meaning and a purpose. The job of a Kumu Hula is to teach these meanings, beyond just the movements. The job of the Haumana, the students, is to learn these meaning and dance with purpose.
Passing along tradition is a vital part of preserving a culture, and it is something that many Polynesians are striving to do with the new generations. Preserving and learning about any culture is important to its survival in the new age. That is why the message of this film is in fact relatable to everyone, not just Hula dancers.
Hula is not just “hip shaking or luau dancing,” it is a way of life; respecting the Kumu, land, gods and ancestors, and passing along these traditions. Whether Woolford’s intention was to teach this valuable lesson or to entertain an audience, he succeeded in doing both. The Haumana is a human story; a heartwarming and uplifting film that Hula dancers and all audiences alike will enjoy.
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