On August 8th, 2023, Hawai’i experienced one of the worst wildfires in US history. The fire destroyed the town of Lahaina, Maui, completely disrupting the lives of the communities who lived there.
HEALING LAHAINA, a short documentary film by Laurel Tamayo, tells the story of Laurel’s family, who lost their multigenerational home in the 2023 Lahaina wildfire. Through personal recounts, this documentary paints an intimate portrait of survival, climate change and colonization, and community resilience.
Many have seen the shocking images and videos from the destruction of the Lahaina fire, but as news stories slow down many survivors are living in uncertainty. This documentary highlights the personal stories of Lahaina survivors, and how a community finds strength and resilience through healing. This documentary will help tell their story, while also acting as a global call to action for climate resilience and disaster preparedness.
HIFF Student Advisory Committee member and Assistant Camera and Production Assistant on HEALING LAHAINA, Amia Voluntad, had the opportunity to sit down with Director Laurel Tamayo and ask her a few questions about her perspective of the disaster and her drive to create this film.
My first question, can you share a little bit about yourself?
“My name is Laurel Tamayo. I was born and raised in Honolulu Hawai’i, and I now reside in Los Angeles. My full-time job is at the Intersection of Climate Change in Film and TV. I consult screenwriters on how to integrate climate friendly behaviors on screen—things like eating plant-based, driving electric vehicles, and solar panels. Outside of my full-time job, I have been working on this passion project titled HEALING LAHAINA, which has been selected for the 44th Hawai’i International Film Festival. It is going to be playing in the MADE IN HAWAI’I SHORTS: HO’OMAU Program.”
Could you share a bit why this story was so important for you to tell? What did it mean to you?
“What’s wild (and sad) is that I was a subject of a film called GEN Z MENTAL HEALTH: CLIMATE STORIES (HIFF43) and we shot that in 2022. One of the questions we asked was “What is your greatest fear regarding climate change?” I had actually said that my greatest fear was the unprecedented disasters that I keep seeing on the news. So the fires, the floods, the hurricanes, all that are getting worse because of climate change. It’s wild that I had said that in 2022.
Around the time when we were filming that, I had taken a trip back to Maui. It’s a trip I have done every year since I was a baby. We always go to Kaanapali beach. I remember when we went in 2022 it was just so hot. The sand was stinging my feet, and when we came back in from snorkeling for an hour, my coffee cup had melted and morphed into the sand. It was that hot. I remember at that moment realizing that this place I had imagined taking my future kids and future grandkids one day may be too unbearably hot as the effects of climate change worsen. It’s wild because I would tell this story back in 2022 to different people and on panels. I had no idea a year later the deadliest wildfire in US history would hit the town of Lahaina and take the home of my family members.
For me, I really want this film to show the reality of climate change and its many different impacts that you don’t even think about are a reality. I also wanted to show how special Hawai’i is. It sounds corny to say its the aloha spirit but it’s real. People were doing anything they could to try and bring supplies in. When the one main road was closed, people were bringing in boats with supplies. You saw the best in people during this dark time, so I really wanted to show the importance of community and how the people of Hawai’i truly stepped up and looked out for each other in this time, and how communities outside of Hawai’i could learn from, as these disasters will probably affect everyone in the country eventually.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this was the first film you directed, right?
“Yeah, this was my first time directing a film professionally. I had done small films for college, but yeah this was my first time out of college that I directed something.”
How was that experience for you?
“I think everything worked out beautifully. All of the stories we got to tell were amazing, and I’m so grateful for the bravery and vulnerability of our subjects, especially knowing how much they lost whether that was a parent or their home or their neighborhood. I knew this was a sensitive topic and we had to be very careful as we didn’t want to be exploitative. We actually let all of the subjects watch the film and give us any feedback, which I think was important since we didn’t want to cause more harm to them and their community.
Being that this was my first film, it was very scary going into it, especially knowing how expensive it is to make a film. In the beginning, I remember wondering how on earth we were going to raise money for this film…I was very happy that we were able to crowdfund half of our budget, and then we received the Pink with Purpose award, which is a mental health award in partnership with Victoria Secret and the JED foundation, which is a suicide prevention foundation. The JED Foundation also reviewed the film to make sure there wasn’t anything that would trigger people from Lahaina.We were trying to be very thoughtful about making this film and hoping that it can bring more good than harm.”
My last question for you is now that Healing Lahaina is complete, what are your plans for it?
“We are planning an impact campaign, which will include community screenings. In Hawai’i we want those screenings to be fundraisers for Lahaina nonprofits. We also want to pair it with mental health aspects, so having resources for people and providing opportunities to reflect and see if they need any support.
Right now we have the Honolulu community screening planned and we are also working on bringing something like that to Maui. As far as screening outside of Hawai’i, we want to use those as fundraisers, and we also want to pair them with disaster preparedness workshops. Because it’s a 35 minute short film, I think that’s the perfect length for community screenings to pair it with some kind of educational presentation or workshop. We have three impact pillars that have guided us from pre-production and now through our impact campaign,
The first is supporting Lahania wildfire survivors. We want to point people to nonprofits that they can donate to as we rebuild. The second is reducing the stigma around mental health. In the film, we have middle-aged men talking about their mental health and how the wildfires impacted it. Those aren’t the typical people you see talking about mental health, and so I hope it helps to destigmatize asking for help. So we want to provide resources at screenings about climate change and mental health. The third is encouraging global climate resilience, climate resilience meaning to be prepared for climate change and the effects of it. We’re doing that in the form of disaster preparedness. That is our goal for the film.”
Thank you so much Laurel! I am so excited to see the film! Is there anything you’d like to add?
“I think I’d like to say thank you to all of the subjects in the film. I know it’s a sensitive topic, and like I said earlier I’m so grateful for their bravery and vulnerability in sharing their stories to make this film possible. I know that this has been a very difficult time as there are 102 people who passed in this fire, and Lahaina was a tight knit community so I think everyone there knew someone who didn’t make it. It’s such a difficult and sensitive topic that I think everyone in Hawai’i was affected by it. I just hope this film reminds people how special Hawai’i is, how the people came together, and how beautiful it is, as well as honoring the people who passed.”
Amia Voluntad, founder of Written Truth Productions in Maui, Hawai’i, is a filmmaker and storyteller whose work in narrative and documentary films highlights God’s creation. With eight notable films, she also excels in acting, art, music production, and writing. Additionally, Amia supports young filmmakers as a member of the HIFF Student Advisory Committee.
