Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-shortlisted filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson formed Qwaves to make films that emanate from the voices of those on the outside, that inspire creativity, that incite us to abandon our comfortable role as spectators and compel us to question and to act. Over the past decade they have collaborated with Native Hawaiian teacher and cultural icon Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu on a series of films focused on Pacific Islander lives and voices. Their recent work with animator Daniel Sousa uses ancient and modern legends to probe core elements of human nature across place, time, and identities.

Qwaves films were an early part of citizen-generated journalism on the Internet, have screened and won awards at the Berlin, Toronto, Tribeca, Annecy, Human Rights Watch, and many other film festivals around the world, exhibited at the Smithsonian, British, Bishop and American Natural History Museums, and have been viewed by millions of people on PBS, Netflix, Amazon, and international broadcast networks. The Kapaemahu project, which began as an animated short film, expanded into a children’s book, immersive museum exhibition, PBS documentary, educational curriculum, and permanent display at the Hawai’i Convention Center.

IMPACT

Qwaves helped pioneer the movement to use film and media to catalyze community engagement, dialogue and action on a range of often overlooked issues.  From LGBTQ equality in small town America to gender diversity in public schools, from cultural erasure in Hawai'i to the criminalization of sexual and gender minorities in the Pacific Islands, Qwaves campaigns have helped to elevate and center the stories of affected communities in movements for change.

Our impact work has received support from Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation, ITVS,  Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Omidyar Ohana Fund of the Hawai’i Community Foundation, and Pacific Islanders in Communications. Educational and community engagement partners include PBS Learning Media, Learning for Justice, Welcoming Schools, Native Hawaiian Education Council, Kanaeokana, and ACLU.