The Story of Everything Film Premieres at Maui Film Festival, 2022
We come from both positive and negative
kealoha
from life and death
from evil and good
from heroes and monsters
from givers and takers and healers and murderers
from saints and sinners and losers and winners
from the elite to the beggars
from straight to gay
from conservative to liberal from fundamentalist to atheist
from black to brown to red to orange to yellow
to green to blue to indigo to violet to white
from big to small, and through it all, the one thing that remains the same,
no matter how crazy or different we may seem to each other is that
We are Cut from the Same Cloth.
We celebrated the world-wide premiere of The Story of Everything film, Hawai’i Poet Laureate Kealoha’s epic multimedia exploration of the universe, the earth, and human consciousness, on the evening of July 8th at the Maui Film Festival! Held in MACC’s spacious outdoor amphitheater, the rapt crowd sat on on blankets, beach chairs, folding chairs, and bleachers to take in the entirety of the film.
Created as a gift for his son, The Story of Everything is Kealoha’s way of exploring humanity’s rich and diverse explanations for the origins of life. A founder of the famed Hawai‘i Slam and an MIT nuclear physics graduate, Kealoha says that,
The Story of Everything is my most important work and is the culmination of everything that I have learned throughout life. It took me half my life to study the science behind this piece, half my life to study the art of poetry and storytelling, and then about half a decade to actually create this work.
In the film, Kealoha and his talented cast of dancers and musicians, along with Kau‘i Kanaka’ole — a member of the illustrious Native Hawaiian Kanaka‘ole family whose expertise in hula and oli are transmitted through matrilineal succession and who began the evening with a chant — took us a journey through the Stars and the Big Bang, into our Solar System, on to a deeper understanding of our Planet based on the beautiful Kumulipo creation story, through evolution, migration, and into the present and hope for the future of our beautiful earth.
The evening’s showing was followed by a question-and-answer session where members of the audience asked searching and intelligent questions of Kealoha about The Story of Everything’s genesis, future plans, and impact on their hearts and minds.
The following day ETSF held a celebratory lunch for cast and creators to present cast members with framed portraits painted by Solomon Enos, who created the artwork and visual style for the film. It was a time of festivity, felllowship and great food, thanks to our friends at Hali’imaile General Store!
Thanks to the immensely talented cast and creators who crafted The Story of Everything into a powerful gift to the world.
ETSF’s special thanks and appreciation to Barry Rivers, Founder & Director of the Maui Film Festival, which has brought decades of cinema to Maui for island residents and guests in the true spirit of Aloha. Engaging the Senses Foundation is honored to receive his following announcement:
“We take great pride and pleasure to announce our 2022 Maui Film Festival Narrative Feature Audience Award goes to The Story of Everything for its sparkling originality, visual magnificence and mind-opening beauty, depth and importance.
BARRY RIVERS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF MAUI FILM FESTIVAL
We are beyond psyched to congratulate the film’s ‘fire starter’ an visionary Kealoha, its producer Engaging the Senses Foundation, and the entire all-star ‘ohana, which built the amazing one-of-a-kind ‘experience’ and cinematic memory of the lifetime”
Congratulations to Kealoha and to the entire cast and production team! Please stay tuned for future film showings, events, workshops and other educational opportunities to engage with The Story of Everything.
