Narrated from Palila’s perspective by Native Hawaiian actor Kaipo Schwab, and brought to life through vivid animation and live footage, A PARADISE LOST retells the little-known, historic 1979 court case Palila v. Hawai‘i, in which the finch became the first animal plaintiff under the newly passed Endangered Species Act. Backed by a courageous community of bird lovers, scientists and environmental groups, Palila’s lawsuit became a voice for animal rights and a critical tool for preventing U.S. species extinction.

More than four decades later, the threats to the Palila have only intensified. A PARADISE LOST embraces hope in Native Hawaiians leading the way to the future.

What does it mean to fight for life, even when the odds are against us?

Inspired by Aloha ‘Āina – love and stewardship for the land — the film presents the humble resilience of many hands who work to protect all life on Mauna Kea, the sacred center of the Hawaiian Islands. A meditation on finding light against the darkening skies of widespread global extinction; A PARADISE LOST speaks for the forgotten, a delicate plea to witness what still remains.

HELP US COMPLETE THE FILM

This film is independently produced and 15 years in the making. The journey of this film began as a short documentary titled Struggle for Existence (2010), which had a successful festival run (CUNY Asian American Film Festival, American Conservation Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, DOCUtah, and NY Asian American Film

Festival). 

Now, we are nearly pau (finished) with our feature-length

documentary.

Over time, we have collaborated with an incredible group of individuals and organizations representing indigenous, scientific, and legal communities to ensure the Palila birds’ story is told with integrity and depth. We invite you to honor the Palila’s legacy and invest in the future… for healthy Hawaiian forests, ola wai, the source of life, and planetary care for ‘āina, people, plants and animals.

By supporting our finishing campaign, you’re helping our team to:

Pay for film post-production expenses (color, sound, graphics, and other finishing costs). Center for Public Broadcasting (CPB) provided our primary source of PBS funding, they will be closing up Sept 30th due to recent actions from Congress to destabilize public media.

Invest in outreach & educational materials (learning tools, edu games, curriculum development) for classroom and community outreach, especially made for keiki. We are working with local Native Hawaiian culture & science educators and outreach professionals to share this story.

Marketing & distribution expenses (website, ads, PR, graphic design, trailer, emails); commercial films spend 50% of their budget on marketing, while indie films barely can afford a poster and postcard! Getting the word out for festivals, theatrical and broadcast screenings costs money and we have world-class film marketing professionals enlisted to help tell our story.

A PARADISE LOST is our offering: a careful act of remembering the past, a document of the present hopeful changes, a call to communities to imagine futures rooted in care and reciprocity.

Your support helps us honor the Palila species, and becomes a commitment to our shared survival.

We are excited to be reaching the end of our long journey, and can’t wait to share this film with the world. We hope you’ll join us.

OUR TEAM

Director, Producer, Writer & Animator

Laurie Sumiye is a Japanese-American artist and filmmaker from Mililani, Hawai’i who investigates environmental tensions between humans and nature. Her background in interactive media and design informs her drawings, paintings, animations, sculptures and installations. She has exhibited her work in New York, Los Angeles, Hawai’i, the UK, South Africa and Brazil and screened her award-winning short films at DOC NYC, BAM cinemaFest, DOCUTAH, and PS1MoMA. She was awarded fellowships with Firelight Media, Sundance Institute and Jackson Wild.

Producer, Director of Photography

Anne Misawa is an award-winning Director of Photography and Producer of narrative and documentary film for over 25 years. Anne was a Spirit nominee for Best Cinematography, TREELESS MOUNTAIN (dir. So Yong Kim). Her films have screened at Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival, BFI Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival among many others. She teaches at University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Nicole Tsien is an independent producer based in Queens, New York. Her 10+ year career in film/TV spans programming, curation, development and distribution at POV as Co-Producer and CNN Films as the Director of Program Development.. She’s participated on panels and juries, including CAAMFest, DOC NYC, and Austin Film Festival. Passionate about uplifting BIPOC voices in non-fiction, Nicole was honored as an Sundance Producing Fellow, DOCNYC Documentary New Leaders recipient and Rockwood JustFilms Fellow. 

Co-Executive Producer: Valerie Y.O. Kim

Example of Rewards Offered