A ﬁlm by Tiare Ribeaux

Links:

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Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

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A ﬁlm by Tiare Ribeaux

Logline:Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

While navigating between survival and her connection to the land,a weaver experiences a transformation when she ﬁnds out her
drinking water has been poisoned by fuel leaking into O'ahu’swatersheds.

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxPōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

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A weaver navigates between survival and her connection to the‘āina (land) while a mysterious rash grows on her body. While
working as a cleaner, she becomes entranced by a mysterious
painting and learns it is inspired by a Hawaiian creation story. As
her rash worsens, she realizes her drinking water has beenpoisoned by fuel leaking into the island’s watersheds, andundergoes a major transformation.

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A weaver navigates between survival and her connection to the‘āina (land) while a mysterious rash grows on her body. As herrash worsens, she realizes O‘ahu’s drinking water has beenpoisoned by fuel leaking into the island’s watersheds, andundergoes a major transformation. Weaving practices, a creation
story, a mysterious creature, and the mundane come together toreveal the horrors that lie underneath our daily lives and bringthem to the surface. In a poetic homage to our sacred waters, thelinkage between our bodies, the water, and the land is woven
together.

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxShort Synopsis:202351)

A weaver, Kunawai, navigates between survival and her connection to the ‘āina(land) while a mysterious rash grows on her body. She has visions of a mysterious
creature lurking in the waterways as she tries to go about her daily routine and herwork as a cleaner. As Kunawai continues to have haunting visions that may be realor imagined, she goes through a metamorphosis after she ﬁnds out her drinking
water is being poisoned by fuel leaking into the island’s watersheds. The
transformation of Kunawai takes her through cemented waterways until she
reaches the ocean to be cleansed or perhaps, reborn.

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A weaver, Kunawai, navigates between survival and her connection to the ‘āina(land) while a mysterious rash grows on her body. She has visions of a mysterious
creature lurking in the waterways as she tries to go about her daily routine and herwork as a cleaner. After becoming transﬁxed by a mysterious painting she ﬁnds at
a client's house, she is plagued with visions of being underwater, and learns thepainting is related to a Hawaiian creation story. As Kunawai continues to havehaunting visions that may be real or imagined, she goes through a metamorphosis
after she ﬁnds out her drinking water is being poisoned by fuel leaking into theisland’s watersheds. The transformation of Kunawai takes her through cemented
waterways until she reaches the ocean to be cleansed or perhaps, reborn.

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Weaving practices, creation stories, a mysterious creature, and the mundane cometogether to reveal the horrors of that lie underneath our daily lives and bring themto the surface. In a poetic homage to our sacred waters, the linkage between ourbodies, the water, and the land is woven together through visual metaphors.

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxLong Synopsis:

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxPōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

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DCP on request with subtitles.
Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
File Options:
2160p
2.82GB
4096 x 17061080p
697.99MB
2048 x 854

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

1440p
1.42GB
2732 x 1138

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxFormat:2023
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Our ﬁlm references and inﬂuences are a mix of Thai NewWave, directors like Tsai Ming-Liang, Cronenberg, Mati
Diop as well as all of the new wave of Hawaiian cinema thatis coming out today.

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Pō'ele Wai combines magical realism, dark fantasy andhorror within a classical narrative to tell a visceral story of theeﬀects of poisoning (of our bodies and our land) in a poetic
homage to our sacred waters. There are lush backdrops ofthe rainforest, waterways, and reﬂections combined with theurban environment that oﬀer a juxtaposition of the mundanewith the landscape of dreams.

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxTone & Atmosphere:2023
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Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

The soundtrack is original, and the guitar riﬀs andmelodies that drift in and out of the ﬁlm and give it its
dream-like feel were composed by musician Ted de
Oliveira, who also did the sound design alongside
Tiare Ribeaux. An original 'oli' (chant) “Kane i kaWai” that resonates with the reverence we hold for
our 'wai' (waters) was written by Auli’i Mitchell. An
original song “A Drift” was written for the ﬁlm bymusician Jason Chu with his haunting yet beautiful
vocals that linger with us after the credits are over.

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxTone & Atmosphere:
Soundtrack

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What we hold sacred bridges the past, the present and thefuture.

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxDirector’s Statement:

E ola i ka wai!
(Water is life!)
Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Taking a unique approach to telling a story, Pō’ele Waiaims to convey the pain, trauma, and cognitive dissonanceas Kānaka as our water and our ‘āina are poisoned andharmed - as extensions of our bodies and our ancestral land.
It speaks to a more universal story of occupation, landdegradation, and subsequent poisoning of spiritual beliefs.
At its core it really aims to be a reclamation of what wehold sacred, telling stories on our own terms, how we heal
as a community, and a story of resilience.

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Another creation story about Papahanaumoku is cited in the ﬁlm, she gavebirth to the islands from her mating with Wakea. Papahanaumoku is of alineage that Kānaka are descended from and into each of her daughters she
is reborn.

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Kunawai, our main character who goes through a transformation, could
represent a merging of these two - a death and rebirth of ‘āina - as she
descends into the ocean after experiencing the ecological disaster on ourislands within her body.

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Pō, a term/concept throughout Polynesia means not only “night” but also
- a “cosmic darkness out of which all forms of life and light wereafterwards evolved or procreated.” The Kumulipō cosmogenic
genealogical chant begins with Põ. Pō‘ele, which means “to darken”, “tobecome black/night”, is also named in the Kumulipō as the ﬁrst female/female element. Pō is an ancestor of all things, as well as a type ofunderworld where all souls go (and come from). Petroleum represents
millions of years of life and death from the deep earth, which has been
extracted and then weaponized. Pō’ele wai brings these things together ina story that weaves space, time, bodies, and the elements.

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxDirector’s Statement:
Spirit and Meaning

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxPōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxTeam Bios:

Lise Michelle Suguitan Childers(lead actor, story advisor) is aweaver and actor that was raised inKalihi Uka. They weave lau halawith Keanahala, a communityweaving program based on Oʻahu
that focuses on weaving moena andour relationship to the pūhala. In
their waking time, they are also acollector of fragmented dreammemories through methods ofulana, practice, and performance.
They have a background in the
study of butoh.

Nanea Lum (actor, story advisor) isa Kānaka Maoli artist whose work
ranges from kapa (Hawaiian wauke
beaten bark ﬁber materials) to large
scale oil paintings. Nanea’s kapa is
produced from plant material thatshe personally harvested andprocessed, dyed with inks fromhomemade charcoal, earth
pigments, and plants. Her paintings
are abstract land and ocean scapesthat apply cultural concepts ofcreation that bridge the worlds
between creation and creating.

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Kālikopuanoheaokalani (Kaliko)Aiu (actor, choreographer) is amixed Kānaka Maoli dancer andchoreographer, researcher, andwriter exploring art-making andcommunity-building. Aiu
co-founded Ka Hui Hoʻokino
Hālāwai (H3) is an indigenous,
māhū collective that focuses onlearning and practicing traditional
Native Hawaiian skills in order tobuild community that centers
ancestral senses, the revival ofcultural rituals, andqueer/gender-expansive
experiences in Hawaiʻi.

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Tiare Ribeaux (writer, director) is a
Kanaka 'Ōiwi ﬁlmmaker, writerand creative producer based
between Honolulu and Oakland.
Her work involves a magical realist
exploration of spirituality, labor,
and the natural environment,
drawing upon the structure of
dreamworlds and Hawaiian
cosmology to critique both socialand ecological imbalances. Herﬁlms use visual narrative
storytelling and components ofscience ﬁction and fantasy toreimagine both our present realities
and future trajectories of lineage,
place and belonging. She iscurrently a Sundance Native LabFellow.

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxTeam Bios:

Vincent Bercasio (cinematographer)
is a photographer, ﬁlm editor andcinematographer based in Pearl
City, O‘ahu.

Jason Chu (soundtrack, BTS) is anartist and musician based inHonolulu on the island of O’ahu.
His photographic work explores
dream landscapes that blend
portraiture and scenic still lifes witha focus on celebrating Hawai’i’svarious spaces, its inhabitants, andthe local culture. Jason composed
the song "A Drift" for Pō'ele Waiand did the primary BTS for thisﬁlm.

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Sebastian Galasso (co-writer,producer) is an actor, ﬁlm
producer, & creative director
based in the San Francisco BayArea. His work ranges fromfeature ﬁlm, music video andinstallation to recorded music.
His cultural background is of
mixed race, Black-American,Italian, and IndigenousAmerican. He is interested incrafting projects and cinematicworlds that make use of his own
poetic and sometimes visceralexperiences in urbanenvironments.

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Jody Stillwater 周青海(cinematographer, producer) is adirector and ﬁlmmaker from the San
Francisco Bay Area. His ﬁlm andinterdisciplinary project themes are
based in dream logic and tactile
reality, with a modern/transforming
approach to visual semiotics &archetype, grounded in Easternrhizomatic systems and Westernclassical narrative. His cultural
background as a
Chinese/Norwegian/Cherokee-Am
erican amidst colliding waves ofpost-temporal diaspora andarhythmic, intertidal class structures
has inﬂuenced a value of justice,representation and the ethereal in
his cinematic work.

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A ﬁlm by Tiare Ribeaux
A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxPōele Wai Electronic Press Kit
Pōele Wai

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BTS Photo Credit:
Jason Chu

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxPōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

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BTS Photo Credit:
Jason Chu

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BTS Photo Credit:
Jason Chu

A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxContact Information:

Pōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Tiare Ribeauxtiarenoelle@gmail.com+14155399171
IG @tiareribeaux
www.tiareribeaux.com

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A ﬁlm by Tiare RibeauxPōele Wai Electronic Press Kit

Additional Film Stills

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