A new short film at this year's Honolulu Surf Film festival traces Indigenous surfing from Polynesia to the West Coast and puts Native Americans and Hawaiians in the spotlight.
Kaliko Kahoonei is a surfer from Makaha and one of the stars of “Haagua,” playing this weekend at the Honolulu Museum of Art's Doris Duke Theatre.
HPR spoke with Kahoonei about how he brought paipo board surfing and west side water etiquette to the big screen.
“Haagua” will screen at 2 p.m. on July 18 as part of the Honolulu Surf Film Festival.
The short film was also picked by the Save The Waves Film Festival, which tours across North America, Latin America, Europe and the Indo-Pacific. More information on upcoming screenings can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on July 17, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
