heart of the sea

we spend a lot of time out at makaha when we're home and a friend always shares the story of when he met rell sunn (aka the queen of makaha) at the beach. a few years ago, he raved about a documentary on rell called heart of the sea after it aired on independent lens on pbs. the film racked up a number of awards when it was released for its poignant take on rell's life and is a lesson in living your life with grace and how truly embodying the aloha spirit is good not only for yourself but for your community too.

unfortunately, the film is not currently on the pbs schedule (but you should still check out il which is one of my favorite programs on tv) and nowhere to be found at netflix, however the hawaii state library happens to have a vhs copy so you can put your library card to work if you still own a vcr.

dvds can be picked up at women make movies swell cinema which also has a trailer posted on their website.

fyi - rell's family has set up a non-profit which keeps the rell sunn menehune surf contest going and which also supports breast cancer research in honor of rell. click here to learn how you can help.

{update | jan 2010: dvds are now on the shelves at your local library!}