Hana Surf Girls - Young and in Paradise

Since we're having a bit of a movie week here at Passage Paradis, here's another suggestion that I offer you  with much ALOHA.  It's a very sweet, very authentic documentary about two young women who grew up together in a very close, isolated community on Maui.  The community is sometimes known as "heavenly Hana" and is reached by most people via a very long single, scenic, and winding road.  If you ever wondered what it would be like to run away and live in paradise, this will give you a very good idea.  (Most people cannot say that they have ever witnessed opihi harvesting!)  It's very appealing, and very beautiful, and for some people, maybe a little scary. Because the flipside of growing up under the protection of a small, close community is the narrow range of life experiences and choices available. 

The good news in the movie is that each girl has found a way to go out into the world and expand her opportunities, without giving up entirely that which is most precious to her.  One becomes a professional surfer which means not only getting to travel the world, but being able to return home to Hawaii to surf regularly.  The other goes to college on a Bill Gates scholarship.  She hopes to use her education to strengthen and preserve the traditions that she comes from.  And continues to surf for her college team.

If you really are getting sick of the cold and the dark by now, this movie with it's scenes of sun and sea and a lush green environment might be just the thing!   And I promise, the men in your life will be VERY HAPPY to watch it (over and over!) with you.  And hopefully, the young women in your life will be inspired by these girls who are so graceful, smart and strong.

I don't think the movie is in wide distribution.  If it's not on Netflix, you can buy it here.

Mini- Glossary:

Aloha:  Hello, Goodbye, I love you, LOVE, goodwill

Haole: Non-Hawaiian, especially Caucasian

Mana:  Spiritual connection to the earth, nature

Opihi:  Limpets, eaten raw and harvested from isolated rocks and cliffs located in normally deep and treacherous waters