Where Smoke Rises

Pua ka uahi is a wonder-filled Indigenous animation following Pele, a hot tempered fire goddess, who has been challenged by the shapeshifting trickster Kamapuaʻa in a race from Puna to Hilo. Pele traverses through the land and helps a few friends along the way. Will she win, or will she enjoy the journey even if it means losing the race?

English closed captioning.

  • Kalilinoe Detwiler
    Director
  • Kalilinoe Detwiler
    Writer
  • Tiffany Ganti
    Producer
  • Kalilinoe Detwiler
    Producer
  • Kaleihiwahiwaokalani Kaʻapuni
    Key Cast
    "Pele"
  • Kaipulaumakaniolono Baker
    Key Cast
    "Kamapuaʻa"
    Moana (ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi)
  • kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui
    Key Cast
    "Hina"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Pua ka uahi
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Indigenous, Comedy, Romance, Fantasy
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 32 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    Hawaiian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Spring 2020 Academy for Creative Media Production Award
    Honolulu
    United States
  • Culture Animation Festival
    Honolulu
    United States
    October 10, 2020
Director Biography - Kalilinoe Detwiler

Kalilinoe Detwiler is an MA student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a focus on cultural studies. Kalilinoe is the writer and director of Pua ka uahi (2020) which received an Academy of Creative Media Production Award. She is currently working as a storyboard artist and animator on the short film Kapo Mai Lele, and as a mentor with the ʻŌlino Arts Summer Animation program.

Kalilinoe's career began as a production assistant on the short film Hele Kalei (2017). Uproot (2019), her first animated short film, screened at the SIGGRAPH 2019 convention in LA, the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival 2019, the HIFF@Home 2020, and the Maine Student Film Festival 2020. It was also nominated for the ACM Best Drama, Animated Film, Director, and Character Design awards. She participated in the 24-Hour Animation competition with the 30-second short Potluck (2019). Kalilinoe was an animator, background artist, and light FX artist in Midnight Showing (2019), directed by Gavin Arucan (Academy for Creative Media at UH Mānoa’s single nomination in the Animation Category for the CILECT Prize 2020, Animation Celebration Fest 2020, Florida Animation Film Festival 2020, 2020 ACM Audience, Best Animated Film, Best Comedy, Best Character Design and Animation awards). She began the Mānoa Creative Productions club at UHM for student animators, and will be finishing her second semester as president.

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Director Statement

I have described my past and current films as wai, water, that flows as part of a greater stream. In the ʻauwai, Hawaiʻi’s irrigation ditch system, water is recycled so that all the loʻi are able to feed fresh water to the growing kalo. Contemporary literature is like the kalo that draws from the stream of moʻolelo and traditional knowledge, and the people will consume it and feed it to the next generation. As a Native Hawaiian scholar and artist, I am aware of my kuleana toward the wai, the mana, the knowledge, the messages that I put forth. At the forefront, this film draws from the moʻolelo of Pele and Kamapuaʻa in order to showcase the island of Hawaiʻi through a Ghibli-inspired style. The Native Hawaiian community has been involved during all stages of production because it is for them that this film is made. The film explores and navigates the evolving world of Pacific representation in film using the technologies of animation. It is another push toward cultural perseverance with hopes that it will contribute to the discussion of ethical Indigenous storytelling while encouraging the next Native Hawaiian storytellers to raise their voices and sing to the world their stories of home.