Filmmakers capture Before "Blue Crush" and after "Gidget," there was the real-life personality of mother, surfer, environmentalist and Hawaii legend Rell Sunn, dubbed the "Queen of Makaha," her favorite home break.
Makaha’s ‘queen’
Screening tonightBy Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.comSunn, who died of breast cancer in 1998 at age 47 after a 14-year battle, is the subject of a remarkable film, "Heart of the Sea." Mixing contemporary footage with vintage surf photography, San Francisco Bay area filmmakers Charlotte Lagarde and Lisa Denker capture Sunn's spirit in this story of triumph and sadness.
The film was screened at last November's Hawaii International Film Festival, on PBS and more recently at "Sunset on the Beach" in Waikiki.
Now "Heart of the Sea" returns to Hawaii for three showings -- two public -- beginning today at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The film will also be shown next week to students at Waianae High School, and another public screening will take place Wednesday on Molokai.
"These screenings are more for outreach to show the film in communities and at organizations most affected by the subject matter," Lagarde said. "It's important that kids in Waianae see the film because Rell, who lived there, was such a role model."
"Heart" took five years and cost $450,000 to complete.
Lagarde and Denker learned about Sunn through female surfers in Santa Cruz while working on the film "Zeuf." The subject of the film was a close friend of Sunn's and the first person she called when she was diagnosed with cancer.
One of the ironies of the filming is that it was done by outsiders. "I know some local filmmakers who, when we were looking for (stock) footage, had a sort of 'How dare you' attitude because they felt Rell was theirs," Lagarde said. "We met a lot of people who said they always wanted to make a film on Rell but never got around to it.
"Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to see the whole picture. When you come from the outside, it's easier to see the full picture and not be afraid to ask questions."
NAMED one of Hawaii's most influential 20th-century women by ABC television, Sunn -- whose Hawaiian name Kapolioka'ehukai means "heart of the sea spray" -- was eulogized in the New York Times for having "captured the heart of Hawaii" during her battle with cancer.
She lived her entire life in Makaha, an area troubled by crime, drug abuse, high teen pregnancy and school dropout rates. But to Sunn it was a place of family and friends and her beloved ocean. She began surfing at age 4 and seldom strayed far from the water. She lived briefly in Oklahoma and had a daughter in a brief marriage.
Sunn also led her community as an organizer and activist for at-risk youth and for the preservation of Hawaii's natural beauty and cultural traditions. She founded the annual Menehune surfing contests at Makaha for kids.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer, she discovered that native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women have the highest incidence of breast cancer of all women in the United States. When she realized that detection and prevention programs were underfunded, she became an activist for breast cancer awareness and for the protection of the environment from the toxins she believed caused her disease. Her family otherwise has no history of breast cancer.
"HEART OF THE SEA" traces Sunn's remarkable personal and public life, interweaving her last interview in 1997 -- two months before her death -- with surfing footage, archival news footage, home videos and interviews with her daughter, friends, fellow surfers, doctors and others in the community.
Among those interviewed were former professional surfer Jeannie Chesser; Surfer's Journal photo editor Jeff Divine; outrigger coach and childhood friend Luana Froiseth; surfer and Hawaii state Sen. Fred Hemmings; daughter Jan Sunn-Carreira; and surfer and nurse Kathy Terada.
Producer-director Lagarde's other films include the award-winning documentary "Swell" (1996), about four generations of female surfers in Santa Cruz, Calif., and "Zeuf" (1994), a documentary about a female surfer's struggle with breast cancer. Lagarde's "Every Child Should Have a Chance" (2001), "Tribal Sovereignty: Unplugged" (1998) and "Juvenile Justice: Unplugged" (1997) are distributed in public schools nationwide.
Director-cinematographer Denker has worked in the film industry for more than a decade as art director on numerous films, including Alison Anders' acclaimed indie film "Gas Food and Lodging" and Alexander Payne's "Citizen Ruth." She was a cinematographer and assistant editor on "Swell" and assistant director on "Juvenile Justice: Unplugged" and "Tribal Sovereignty: Unplugged."
In 1995, when Lagarde contacted Sunn about a documentary, Sunn was interested but undergoing cancer treatment. It wasn't until October 1997, just months before her death, that Sunn called Lagarde and gave the OK. The next month, Lagarde and Denker visited Makaha for 10 days.
Two days after they left, Sunn fell into a coma. A month and a half later, she died.
Denker said the film could not have been done without Sunn's introductions to the Makaha community and the approval of her family.
"Gaining people's confidence to do interviews is very hard, especially when you're from the mainland and no one knows you," Denker said. "The most important people for us to please was Rell's family; it was an ongoing worry to us.
"A lot of people had very specific ideas how her illness and life should be presented. The bottom line for us is that Rell's life wasn't just abut surfing or cancer or the legacy of the Menehune contest, but much bigger things. She had layers of diversity in how she lived her life. She left, leaving a legacy."
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A screening with filmmakers Charlotte Lagarde and Lisa Denker, followed by a question-and-answer session: 'Heart of the Sea:
Kapolioka'ehukai'Place: Honolulu Academy of Arts
On screen: 7:30 p.m. today
Admission: $5 general, $3 for members
Call: 532-8768
Also: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kaunakakai School Cafeteria, Molokai; free
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