Laura Margulies has been creating hand painted animated films and commissioned work for 35 years. Her work combines motion, color, texture, live action, rhythm and sound to create award winning, expressive media. Laura’s work has been screened worldwide in such venues as The Sundance Film Festival, The Sundance channel, MTV, PBS, VH-1, The Ann Arbor Film Festival, The Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, FIFO Tahiti Film Festival, Annecy Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival and on Hawaiian Airlines “in flight programming” among others. Her film, Blue Cooler, won the Audience award at HIFF 2021. Laura created and supervised animation for the Symphony of the Hawaiian Bird and Symphony of the Hawaiʻi Forest which were performed live with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra. Besides making films, Laura has taught animation at numerous schools including New York University, The School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, Punahou School and Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking. She is an Associate Professor of Animation at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in the School of Cinematic Arts.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu

Kumu Hina Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu is the 2016 White House Champion of Change as well as the recipient of the 2020 USA Today Women of the Century Recognition. She is the current Ambassador of Culture for The Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement and engages both the Kanaka (Hawaiian) and larger (non-Hawaiian) community as an educator and spokesperson for matters of Hawaiian language, history, and culture. She is a staunch advocate and leader for her people and currently engages the community at many levels. Her teachings include Kanaka philosophy and worldview, cultural sensitivity and awareness sessions, that are inclusive of Hawaiian history and perspectives from a distinctly Kanaka centric focus. She has received the National Education Association Ellison Onizuka Award.

Hinaleimoana is also a Hawaiian chant, dance and song composer and is credited for having written the song Ku Haʻaheo E Kuʻu Hawaiʻi (Na Hoku Hanohano Song of the Year) that unites her people in the pursuit of justice for land struggles in Hawaiʻi. Her film work earned an Emmy for Aikāne and an American Oscar award Top 10 Nomination for Best Animated Short Film for Kapaemahu.

She has featured/produced/directed other award-winning films such as Kumu Hina, A Place In the Middle, Leitis in Waiting, Lady Eva and Kapaemahu animated short and full length documentary. Hinaleimoana is a caregiver for her mother, and remains active in Hawaiian circles, and in the Tongan Community as a member of the Siasi o Tonga Tauataina (Free Church of Tonga). Hinaleimoana is also a founding member and Board President for Kulia Na Mamo NGO serving Mahu/LGBTQI+ and People of Color in Hawaiʻi.