Stones - Ty Sanga Short Film

Hawaiian filmmaker Ty Sanga’s short film Stones won the Best Short award at the 2010 Maui Film Festival.

The short film brings to life the myth of the ancient Hawaiian Mu people, who once lived peacefully in Hawai’i until ‘humans’ inhabited the islands forcing them in to the forests. They hid from the humans and did not make themselves known to them. They were nocturnal and only ventured out of their caves to gather food at night, as once the Sun shone and beamed onto their skin their bodies turned to stone. All the Mu people had left Hawai’i in search of quieter land, and only two remained there, a husband and his wife named Nihipali. Their lives were short lived, as her new friendship with a young human girl left her distracted and stranded in a field as the sun rose. Her husband found her stone figure in a nearby field and joined her willingly; standing by his wife as the sun rose declaring his everlasting love for her.

Migration is also present in the myth, as nearly all the Mu people left Hawai’i in search of a more prosperous land for its people. Although the Mu people are not factual creatures, this may signify the many Pacific Islanders today are migrating to nearby countries in the hopes of a more abundant life for their families. In stating this, I’m not inferring the life of the average ‘P.I’ has a lack of abundance as all Pacific nations have plenty of food/shelter/support and clean natural resources to live from, but because of their weaker economies Pacific nations aren’t as ‘strong’ as more established larger countries surrounding the Pacific. P.I’s who migrate covet a higher income and better education which drives them to move abroad to countries like the USA, Australia and New Zealand to take advantage of the benefits Western countries have to offer.

Myths and legends are commonly spoken throughout the Pacific; even the most ancient tales are still thriving today amongst Pacific communities. Oral story telling is an important pastime in many Pacific nations that help to keep alive the myths from the old religion as well as legends about more modern figures. Of course, recent technology has enabled these myths to be expressed through written and also visual text. Myths are not merely stories but the morals within the myth are used to educate those who listen to them. In my opinion the underlying moral of the myth of the Mu people and the husband and his wife is love, love between a husband and his wife and love for their homeland which was signified by their decision not to leave with the rest of their people.