Oceanbone is both an intimately personal and profoundly community-driven film. As a Kānaka Maoli filmmaker and public historian, I am committed to telling stories that challenge colonial narratives and center Indigenous experiences. This film emerges from the deep responsibilities I carry—not only as a Native Hawaiian—but as part of a larger Pacific community that has long fought to honor our ancestors and confront the legacies of their displacement.

The fight for repatriation is not solely about the physical return of stolen ancestors—it is about restoring relationships, healing generational wounds, and reaffirming Indigenous sovereignty. This story is personal to me, as the histories of loss, silence, and resistance carried by Pacific Islander communities resonate with my own.

I was called to this project because the silence around the displacement of Pacific ancestors is deafening, yet the calls for their return are rising. Oceanbone is rooted in community storytelling, shaped by the voices of Pacific Islander elders, scholars, and activists. Guided by the leadership of Dr. Tarisi Vunidilo, the film offers a poetic reckoning with the enduring legacies of colonialism and the power of community-led activism.

Visually, I approached Oceanbone as both an elegy and a call to action. The ocean is not just a backdrop—it is a living presence, a witness to what has been taken, and a carrier of memory and return. I resisted linear storytelling, allowing the film to flow like the ocean itself: sometimes calm, sometimes crashing, always persistent.

This is my sixth film, and with each project, I have deepened my commitment to socially engaged and Indigenous-centered filmmaking. With Oceanbone, I hope audiences will not only feel the urgency of this movement but also witness the beauty, strength, and resilience of Indigenous communities across the Pacific.