Film & Cinema · Saturday, November 7, 2026

Ea (sovereign)

About

Ea (Sovereign) is a documentary by Noah Keone Viernes and Sancia Miala Shiba Nash, shown as a Hawaiʻi premiere at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival (HIFF46) neighbor island encore. This screening is not on Oʻahu. It plays at Kahilu Theater, 67-1186 Lindsey Road, in Waimea (Kamuela) on Hawaiʻi Island. The 70-minute film follows Kanaka ʻŌiwi leader Keʻeaumoku Kapu and his family as they try to reclaim ancestral land in Kauaʻula Valley, Maui, after almost twenty years of legal battles. Using archival material, chants, maps, animation and community footage, it examines colonization, plantation agriculture, militarization and Native Hawaiian land and water rights. It is in English and Hawaiian, and HIFF prints no rating or subtitle details. It suits teens and adults interested in Hawaiian history, and HIFF says an extended Q&A with the film team follows. The showing is on November 7 at 5:30 PM. HIFF says tickets for most neighbor island screenings are sold through the venue's own site, kahilu.org, and HIFF's page prints no price. The same afternoon at Kahilu Theater, the calendar lists Guided by Horses at 3:30 PM, and The Navigator follows at 7:30 PM. Ea (Sovereign) also plays at The Palace Theater in Hilo on November 13 and at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on November 14.

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