A K LEO T H E
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7 to THURSDAY NOV. 8, 2012 VOLUME 108 ISSUE 31
Serving the students of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
V O I C E
www.kaleo.org
‘Finding Kukan’
B reaks Barriers
Robin Lung inspects the original copy of “Kukan” that was founded in a restoration lab in Maryland. MIA FERNANDEZ
CAITLIN KURODA Features Editor Few people know of “Kukan,” a 1941 documentary that highlights China’s resistance to Japan during the early years of World War II – and even fewer know of Ling-Ai Li, the Hawai‘i-born Chinese woman who braved war alongside cameraman Rey Scott and overcame her own fi lmmaking inexperience to produce this Academy Award honoree. Hawai‘i fi lmmaker Robin Lung discovered Li while trying to fi nd a Chinese heroine to look up to. “Finding Kukan” is Lung’s in-process documentary that chronicles her search for the thought-to-be-lost fi lm and the life of the forgotten woman behind it.
THE NEED TO BE BLONDE “I hated my hair, I hated my f lat nose – I wanted to look like a haole,” said Lung,
Kitchen
who, despite growing up in the multicultural environment of Hawai‘i, always “fantasized about having blonde, curly hair” like the heroines of the movies and mystery novels she loved as a child. “I had a lot of role models around me, like my teachers were Asian. But they didn’t have that kind of glamour that you assign to people who are in fictional novels or movies” she explained.
A H E RO I N E AT L A S T It wasn’t until her college years that Lung became interested in learning about her Chinese heritage. Later, Lung made a mid-life career switch to making video biographies, and always wanted to make a documentary on a Chinese woman from Hawai‘i, but didn’t have anyone in mind until she received vintage myster y novels from a friend.
$1 OFF Kava W/UH ID “AFTER SURF GRINDZ”
847 Kapahulu Ave. Honolulu, HI 96816 / 808-735-2225
Within the books, set in Hawai‘i, Lung discovered a character that fit her every defi nition of a role model: a Chinese-American woman holding the position of head sleuth. “And it depicts her like this amazing, modern, smart, sexy, worldly woman,” Lung said. Lung became obsessed with fi nding the fi gure that this character was based on and she came across Li – a teacher, writer, dancer, actress and producer. She was never rich and famous but lived life as though she was, holding her head high and drawing attention to herself wherever she went, all while embracing and promoting her heritage. “I don’t know for sure whether she inspired this fictional character, but she’s very similar … so the more I learned about Ling-Ai, the more I felt she was so close to the fictional character that … I started to fall in love with,” said Lung.
Go to kaleo.org for a full list of results and reactions from the winners and losers of Election Day 2012.
See Restoring, page 5
Report
WEDNESDAY N: W: S: E:
5-9 f t. 3-5+ ft. 0-3 ft. 3-5+ ft.
THURSDAY N: W: S: E:
3-5 f t. 1-3+ ft. 0-3 ft. 2-5 ft.