empowerment, film, knowledge, wisdom

True Hawaii

April 17, 2019

4 min read

Sam Potter presents an incredible film that goes way beyond the idyllic true beauty behind Hawaii’s white sandy beaches and emerald mountains.

By connecting to nature and ancient cultural science, Sam portrays his own growth and understanding of the natural connection that is on offer to us all, worldwide. Far away from social media, gadgets and energy distractions, Sam discovers the importance of preserving and interacting respectfully with the culture that surrounds his everyday life in Hawaii.

Making the nature and cultural connection is the ultimate answer to how we are all part of the whole. The naturally connected bio-rhythm of our beautiful, inspiring world and the positive cultural and self-healing events we experience through travelling and exploring locations. It helps reset the mind. We are constantly inspired by creators who make this connection and present cinematography and storytelling in such a brave and honest way. Gratitude to all taking part in the sharing economy and thanks to Sam Potter and the Beautiful Destinations team for making this film.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Hello, Sam Potter here, I’ve wanted to tell the story of home since I’ve picked up a camera. This may only be a sliver of what we have to share with the world, but I’m proud of what we’ve captured. This all started with a conversation between Nai (Nainoa Langer) and I as we sat above a waterfall overlooking my childhood swimming hole. I said, “We should start a travel-based series that gives people an in-depth look at cultures around the world,” in hopes that we could create something that encourages greater appreciation, understanding, and respect between cultures. His response was “Let’s start with home.” So, we reached out to Beautiful Destinations with the idea, and boom, here we are, (and what I mean by boom is months of hard work and the many, many hurdles that come with planning and executing a film project, hahaha) but nevertheless, here we are. My first thought when it came to explaining a place as complex as Hawaii was people need to understand that there are two parts to the culture, the traditional side, and the modern day side. Our modern-day life represented by Kimi Werner, demonstrates our values, the way we care for each other, for our community, and for our environment. The traditional side represented by Micah Kamohoalii, shares a little about the history of Hawaii, the practices of the Hawaiian people, and most importantly, Aloha, what it means and how that too can be practiced. Nai and I are very excited to be working with Beautiful Destinations to bring you stories like this from around the world. Our goal is to travel with respect, humility, and curiosity so that we may gain new perspectives, and hopefully we may all become a little more understanding and loving towards one another. If you’d like to follow Nai and I as we travel around the world, you can subscribe to Beautiful Destinations’ YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram.

CREATORS

Sam Potter | Writer, Director & Host | https://www.instagram.com/captainpotter/

Nainoa Langer | Director of Photography, Editor & Sound Design https://www.instagram.com/nainoalanger/

CAST Kimi Werner https://www.instagram.com/kimi_swimmy/

Micah Kamohoalii https://www.instagram.com/kahoeakamoh…

TEAM Ford Potter & Justin Shigi | 2nd Camera https://www.instagram.com/justinshiigi/

Perrin James | Additional Footage https://www.instagram.com/perrinjames1/

Dan Worden | Additional Footage https://www.instagram.com/adventurema…

Alan Potter | Copy Editor https://www.instagram.com/mr_uncle_al…

FOR BEAUTIFUL DESTINATIONS Tom Jauncey | VP Content Creation https://www.instagram.com/tomjauncey/

Nick Evans | Co-Founder https://www.instagram.com/nickevansbd/

Remi Carlioz | Chief Creative Officer https://www.instagram.com/remi.carlioz/