The award-winning documentary “;Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii”; has continued to anger, enlighten, provoke and inspire diverse audiences long after its debut.

Filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly contends that the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom affects every aspect of life for native Hawaiians to this day.

Using the backdrop of live-fire military exercises at Makua Valley; the unearthing of ancient Hawaiian burial sites to make way for luxury homes and discount stores; protests against the Akaka Bill; and the struggles of the homeless, Kelly makes the case that native Hawaiians face systematic obliteration at the hands of an American system that promotes militarism, tourism and overdevelopment.

The film was honored as best documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival in late 2008 and last month won a special jury prize at the Festival International Du Film Documentaire Oceanien in Tahiti.

Kelly has attended more than 60 screenings throughout Hawaii, discussing the film afterward with thousands of viewers.

“;Americans have rights, Hawaiians have kuleana,”; said Kelly, who considers it her personal responsibility to bring attention to the Hawaiian independence movement.

Of Hawaiian and Irish ancestry, Kelly was raised in Southern California, keeping close ties to family on Oahu and the Big Island. She moved to Honolulu 10 years ago, after earning a master's of fine arts in directing from the University of California-Los Angeles.

Also a prolific writer, she's working on fiction at the moment, deciding which of two short stories to turn into a screenplay. “;One is a Hawaiian political comedy, which I need after “;Noho Hewa”; because that was the most unfunny movie I will ever make.”;

She considers herself lucky to get to the gym, happy when she's in the ocean. The only thing she misses about Los Angeles is the movies.

With the Akaka Bill just passed by the U.S. House and pending in the Senate, Kelly discussed the idea of native Hawaiians having federal status akin to an Indian tribe.

QUESTION: So what do you think of the Akaka Bill?

ANSWER: What I think of the Akaka Bill is that it's the United States government — state and federal governments — attempting to further confuse people and lie to people and cover up the fraudulence of the U.S. presence in Hawaii, the fact that it's an illegal occupation. ... This is all a lie that's designed to confuse people and also to give them the impression that Hawaiians wanted to be part of the United States and now acquiesce to being part of the United States, and in reality the bill's designed to actually extinguish Hawaiian title to the crown and government land of the archipelago.

Q: To take resources away from Hawaiians?

A: They're always taking the resources away, for over 100 years now. But they want to give the appearance that Hawaiians agree to it. Since 1993, since the apology bill, especially, they've been moving down this path.

Q: Then why do so many Hawaiians support the bill? The Office of Hawaiian Affairs does.

A: How many people work at OHA? When you say Hawaiians support it, so many Hawaiians, what Hawaiians are you talking about? Nobody has ever asked us as a people what we want. They have never, ever come to the Hawaiians. When you go to a state agency like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, that is the state, that is not the Hawaiian people.

Q: If the Hawaiian people were asked what they want, what do you think they would say?

A: Here's what I know. I know that when a question is framed, it's usually framed to elicit a particular answer. It's about process. It's about how Hawaiians are able even to contend with the original question about the Akaka Bill. If we are going to talk about the Akaka Bill, then we have to back up and talk about the Apology Bill, then we have to back up and talk about statehood, then we have to back up and talk about the so-called annexation, then we're right back to the overthrow. The expectation of the non-native or the American government is that Hawaiians are going to reach in and have this kind of decisionmaking process about something like an Akaka Bill when that's not the only issue here. The legislation completely tries to distract people from the real story here, what really has happened to Hawaiians ... We have to look at all our issues with America, not just an Akaka Bill. We have to contend with all of it.

Q: So where do you start? Because (inaction) also becomes a convenient way to block any progress.

A: But how do you define progress? There is no progress if the rights of Hawaiians are taken away in that process. This legislation makes sure that Hawaiians can't bring land claims to U.S. courts, that there's no way Hawaiians can hold the military accountable, that there's no way Hawaiians — even if they did manage to get a land base, which they won't — can even have a casino. This is all about what Hawaiians can't have. This isn't about what Hawaiians can have. They want to stuff a few hundred million dollars down our throats, tell us “;Aren't you lucky,”; and take all our rights away? Forget it!

Q: Do you think the bill will get through the Senate?

A: That's not even the right question. The question is “;Why are they even trying to put it through the Senate?”; It's just like the treaty of annexation that certain people in the United States tried to pass in 1897 that they couldn't pass; they tried in 1893 also. It should never have been there. So no wonder it didn't pass. Why are they even trying to bring it to the Senate? It shouldn't even be there. It shouldn't exist.

Q: What do you think will happen in Hawaii if the Akaka Bill does pass?

A: It's just a continuation of what the United States has been doing to Hawaiians for over 100 years. Our lives are not going to get better. And the thing that I'm most concerned with is the psychological impact that something like this will have. I also think that five or 10 or 20 lawyers, some of them Hawaiian and some of them not, are going to get stinking rich. That's always what happens. The way I look at Sen. (Daniel) Inouye is that in a way this is his swan song. He wants to make sure that his life's work of militarizing Hawaii is firmly in place. ... This bill is about containing Hawaiian resistance and containing Hawaiian sovereignty.

Q: But I've talked to other Hawaiians who speak just as fervently in support of it, say it would protect Hawaiian entitlements.

A: Federal aid? You know where they can stick that, because if we had control of our own land and resources, we don't need to borrow money from nobody. We don't need their $70 million in federal aid. It's like hitting somebody on the head and then giving them an aspirin and saying “;Now don't you feel better?”; This idea of us having to live off of federal aid, off of the welfare, the crumbs, that the United States is going to throw to us, is absurd and insulting. We're very capable of running our own affairs, without nonprofits like the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement telling us how to do it. It's the nonprofit industrial complex of the Hawaiian community that's going to be turned into a bunch of corporate entities. I promise you that those people (supporting the bill) are Hawaiians who are getting something from the government. And you can't really take those opinions seriously, because it's a conflict of interest.

Q: So what do you want for Hawaii?

A: I'm just one Hawaiian. But what I hope for, and what I pray for, every day — because I love this place — is that it survives, that it recovers. To see what's being done to it, to see the place being swallowed whole, is just soul-crushing. This place is worth saving, regardless of what flag is waving over the government buildings. We need a moratorium on the desecration, no more taking our kupuna out of the ground. No more! We need a moratorium on forcing Hawaiians into a situation that makes them homeless in their homeland. Real estate overdevelopment needs to stop. I don't ever look at this just as a nationalist issue. We're forced to talk about it in terms of the law. We're forced to talk about it in terms of politics. But we are never allowed to talk about it in terms of our humanity. And that's really the only way we should be discussing the future of any place. Can we sustain our own humanity? I would hope that all Hawaiians would just stand up and say, “;I'm Hawaiian. I have a responsibility here.”; Despite what's happened to us. Despite what the United States has done. I have a responsibility to take care of this place.