COURTESY HAWAII PUBLIC TELEVISION Maiki Aiu Lake wears an elegant holoku.

Life stories

Kumu hula Maiki Aiu Lake's story
is the first to be told in a new
public television series

---

By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.com

A good biographer is innately curious about people, and this would describe Joy Chong-Stannard, executive producer and director at Hawaii Public Television, and director of "Biography Hawai'i," a new television series profiling island residents.

"I go into these things 'cause really, it's a little selfish, but I just want to know more about the people," Chong-Stannard said. In addition to directing the new series, Chong-Stannard is also one of three executive producers (Craig Howes of the Center for Biographical Research and playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl are her partners).

COURTESY HAWAII PUBLIC TELEVISION Maiki Aiu Lake.

Chong-Stannard and her partners are celebrating the debut of the first program in the series, "Biography Hawai'i: Maiki Aiu Lake," a fascinating and richly detailed retrospective on the life and times of the beloved kumu hula. Chong-Stannard, Howes and Kneubuhl will be joined by Lake's daughters, kumu hula Coline Aiu and kumu hula Karen Aiu, and Puakea Nogelmeier and Kalena Silva, for a remembrance program honoring Lake that will include excerpts from the program, and a discussion of Lake's importance as a preserver of Hawaiian culture, on Thursday at the University of Hawaii-Manoa Art Auditorium, after debuting during the Hawai'i International Film Festival.

"(Lake) did not seek the limelight, and there was an incredible lack of visual material," Chong-Stannard said of the challenges involved in producing the kumu's biography.

Luckily, Momi Kepilino, a student in Maiki's first 'uniki (graduation) class, kept scrapbooks. "If she had not done that, I don't know how we could have finished it," Chong-Stannard said. "It was a lot of it luck, and talking to people who lead you to certain things. Each biography is going to be a challenge in itself because of that."

In some cases, she says, an actor will be used to "exhibit the spirit of that person and to read the journals and the writings that this person has left behind."

Chong-Stannard and her production team are already well along with the second program in the series. "Biography Hawai'i: Harriet Bouslog" will cover the life and times of a woman revered by many as trail-blazing attorney who actively supported the labor movement. She is remembered by some for her spirited defense of seven Hawaii residents who were tried as suspected agents of Stalinist subversion in the early 1950s. (The "Hawaii Seven" were ultimately acquitted of charges that they had conspired to overthrow the U.S. government by force and violence.)

COURTESY HAWAII PUBLIC TELEVISION Students in her first 'uniki, or graduating class, are, from left, Keli'i Taua, Kalena Silva, Robert Cazimero and John Kaha'i Topolinski.

Future programs will profile Koji Ariyoshi, Princess Ruth Ke'elikolani, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole and Sanford B. Dole -- a mixed plate to be sure. Ariyoshi was one of the "Hawaii Seven" and remained a controversial figure years after his acquittal. Princess Ruth was such a staunch Hawaiian patriot that she refused to speak English or become a Christian. Dole may have been hailed in his lifetime as the embodiment of all things righteous, but is seen by many today as a racist and traitor who betrayed Queen Lili'uokalani by engineering Hawaii's annexation to the United States.

"We decided to pick people who had a lasting impact on the island," Chong-Stannard said, in explaining the decision to profile controversial subjects. "You may not agree with their politics or what they did, but (there's) no doubt that they had some influence to the course of history on our islands. It was basically to get a better understanding as a human device -- someone that could relate to in some way a flesh-and-blood person. Not just a dull history lesson."

With that in mind, Chong-Stannard explained, they decided to pick a cross-section of people from various ethnic backgrounds and time periods.

"It's really a history lesson. What are the events they went through -- why are they important, and why did they shape the course of our history?"

COURTESY HAWAII PUBLIC TELEVISION Lake at her own 'uniki.

IT'S BECAUSE OF the controversial aspects of several of these figures that the series is only profiling deceased movers-and-shakers.

"I think it's easier to step back and get a better perspective, because ... if they're still alive we're a little too close to see what their contributions have been in the long term," she said.

"What we always do is try to talk to different scholars who have various opinions about the figure, and in terms of the older folks, we're trying to get a varied perspective as much as possible. Go through the journals and the writings that this person has left behind to give some illumination of what they were thinking. The only hope can be that we'll have enough variety of opinions to make it balanced."

"The whole reason for doing this series is so we can show all the grays and make history not so black and white."

Chong-Stannard sees no end to the series in terms of finding significant people to profile. The challenge to keeping "Biography Hawai'i" going is finding the money to produce additional biographies. She is also cautiously optimistic that individual programs will eventually be available for purchase on video or DVD.

"We really hope to continue this (series), but it really is contingent on funding and it's really tough right now. We're just crossing our fingers that the community will like this and will support this after the first six come out."

'Biography Hawai'i' The story of Maiki Aiu Lake presented, with speakers including Coline Aiu, Karen Aiu, Puakea Nogelmeir, Kalena Silva: Where: University of Hawaii at Manoa Art Auditorium When: 7 p.m. Thursday Admission: Free Call: 956-3774 Also: "Biography Hawai'i: Maiki Aiu Lake" will air on KHET/PBS at 8 p.m. Nov. 20 and 7 p.m. Nov. 23.

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