Kumu Hina (2014)

There's a moment near the end of Kumu Hina where a young girl called Ho'onani steps up to lead a performance, and the sound that comes out of her is enormous. Powerful, proud, completely her own. I'm not ashamed to say it moved me to tears. That single moment is worth the price of admission on its own, and it tells you everything you need to know about what this documentary is trying to do and largely succeeds at doing.

The film centres on Hina, a Hawaiian teacher (Kumu means teacher) who identifies as Māhū, a traditional Polynesian concept describing someone who occupies the middle space between masculine and feminine. What I found genuinely eye-opening here is how the documentary unpacks the Hawaiian and wider Polynesian understanding of gender. There's no confusion or controversy in the way it's presented. The community understands that biologically you're born male or female, but gender itself is a spectrum of masculine and feminine energy, and a person can sit anywhere along that line, including right in the middle. That's the Māhū. And far from being something shameful or marginal, it's a recognised, respected place in the culture. I found that honestly beautiful. It's self-expression in the truest, most uncomplicated sense, and it puts a lot of so-called modern conversations about identity to shame.

Hina herself is a compelling figure. She's dedicated her life to keeping Hawaiian culture alive, teaching the kids the language, the traditions, the dances, and even fighting to ensure that burial sites are treated with the dignity they deserve. There's a quiet ferocity to her. She knows what's being lost, she knows why it matters, and she's doing something about it. That's the documentary I wanted to spend the full runtime with.

Which brings me to my one real frustration with the film. A significant chunk of it is given over to Hina's marriage, and it's genuinely uncomfortable viewing at times. Her husband, I believe originally from Fiji, is at times unkind to her in ways that edge towards emotional cruelty. It's hard to watch someone so generous and warm be treated with what feels like contempt, and to the film's credit it doesn't shy away from that tension. But I kept wishing we were back in the classroom, back with the culture, back with the community. The marriage storyline doesn't ruin the documentary, but it does pull focus from the things that make it special.

The other major thread, and the one that genuinely grabbed my heart, follows Ho'onani, a young girl who also identifies as Māhū and who wants nothing more than to take part in the boys' group activities. Watching the boys gradually accept her, and then watching them rally around her as their leader, is one of the most quietly moving things I've seen in a documentary in a long time. And then that performance happens, and she just opens up and roars. I genuinely hope she's doing well now, a decade on from when this was filmed. I really do.

If you're drawn to Pacific Island culture and storytelling, I'd also point you towards Vai (2019), which takes a more fictional approach to Pasifika womanhood across several island nations but shares some of the same spirit of cultural pride and identity that makes Kumu Hina worth your time.

Three and a half stars. It could have been four, maybe more, if the balance had tipped a little further towards the Hawaiian cultural story and a little further away from the marriage. But what's here is touching, important and at times genuinely moving. Hina is a remarkable person, and Ho'onani's voice still rings in my ears.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 2014  | Watched: 2025-06-18

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
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Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
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Buy: Amazon Video · DocAlliance Films
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