The Story of Everything began as a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) Community Inspiration project with its creator, Hawai’i’s First Poet Laureate Kealoha Wong. The performance is an epic poem created by Kealoha and brought to life by Kealoha himself and a cast of 10 dancers and musicians. And now the film The Story of Everything has been produced and directed by Engaging the Senses Foundation!
NACF President and CEO Lulani Arquette will be in attendance for the screening along with Kealoha.
“‘The Story of Everything’ is my most important work, it’s the culmination of everything I have learned throughout life,” said Kealoha, founder of renowned HawaiiSlam and a MIT nuclear physics graduate. “It took me half my life to study the science behind this piece, half my life to study the art of poetry and storytelling, and about half a decade to actually create this work.”
Kealoha draws upon the talents of supremely accomplished, indigenous artist Kau‘i Kanaka‘ole, master of the ‘aiha‘a style of hula and oli; Grammy-nominated ukulele virtuoso and composer Taimane; Quadraphonix, a Hawai‘i-based freeform world beat band; aerial dancers Jamie Nakama and Jory Horn; the hip-hop artistry of Jonathan Clarke Sypert; and the contemporary art of Solomon Enos, whose extraordinary work is exhibited internationally. Special appearances will be made by visionaries Kealoha and Solomon Enos at the film event.
“‘The Story of Everything’ deepens our cross-cultural understanding, reveals our shared universal humanity and educates us about our responsibility to each other and Island Earth,” said Mona Abadir, Chief Executive Officer of Engaging the Senses Foundation. “We are thrilled to showcase and share Kealoha’s beautiful story for the first time in the Bay Area, along with our stellar partners Berkeley Arts Research Center, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and The Arion Press,” said Abadir.
“‘The Story of Everything’ is a film made by the Engaging the Senses Foundation for the big screen, and we are delighted to help bring its artistry and awe to our stage at UC Berkeley,” says Beth Piatote, director of the Arts Research Center. “Kealoha’s vision of melding multiple origin stories radiates through spoken word, visual splendor, and Hawaiian traditional arts of hula and music in the unfolding of this grand story. The screening is a perfect date night to launch the Earth Day weekend, and a powerful meditation on the love–and the stories–that connect us all.”
To learn more about the making of the film and cast visit www.storyofeverything.org.
‘The Story of Everything’ was previously accepted to Hawai’i International Film Festival and Maui Film Festival in late 2022 with its California debut at UC Berkeley to kick off the 2023 Earth Day weekend.
About Engaging the Senses Foundation – (ETSF) is an educationally oriented non-profit focused on collaborative partnerships, programs and film making which illuminate the intersection of the arts and mindfulness, with a particular focus on the universal language of poetry. ETSF believes by engaging the senses through the arts and storytelling that equality, social justice, environmental awareness and compassion can be advanced in local communities and around the world.
In collaboration with the screening of the film, the Arts Research Center will host a Poets Laureate reading and conversation. Kealoha will join California’s new Poet Laureate Lee Herrick and Oakland’s Youth Poet Laureate Nadia Elbgal on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 5pm at Durham Studio Theater at UC Berkeley. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact: Laurie Macfee, Associate Director, macfee@berkeley.edu.
Who: Engaging the Senses Foundation, along with co- sponsors Berkeley Arts Research Center, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and The Arion Press.
What: The Story of Everything film
Where: Wheeler Auditorium at University of California at Berkeley
When: Friday, April 21, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. film showing. The event is free and open to the public.