After a two-decade land fight in Lahaina, the story behind EA (SOVEREIGN) is heading far from Maui’s shores and onto an international stage. The feature documentary, centered on a Lahaina family’s battle to reclaim ancestral kuleana lands, is set for its international premiere at Toronto’s imagineNATIVE festival. The film tracks Keʻeaumoku Kapu, Uʻilani Kapu and other community leaders through courtrooms, ʻohana life and their efforts to care for Kauaʻula Valley.
International Premiere At imagineNATIVE
The festival’s official program places Ea in its Land-Based lineup, with in-person screenings in Toronto scheduled for June 2–7, 2026, and an online viewing window from June 8–14. As announced by imagineNATIVE, the event is the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous-made screen content and will host the film’s international bow.
Festival Run From DisOrient To Toronto
EA (SOVEREIGN) kicked off its festival run earlier this spring with a screening at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival in Eugene, Oregon. The DisOrient program page lists the film and its creative credits and underscores its mix of landscape cinematography, archival materials and digital mapping as it heads to Toronto; see DisOrient.
Filmmakers, Subjects And Style
Co-directed by Noah Keone Viernes and Sancia Miala Shiba Nash and produced by Viernes and Lance D. Collins, the feature blends original animation, field recording and community testimony to bring land and memory onto the screen. As reported by Maui News, the film chronicles a rare quiet-title jury trial that helped the Kapu family reclaim a 3.4-acre parcel in Kauaʻula Valley.
Song, Archive And The Lost Cultural Center
The documentary features a newly released recording of the 19th-century mele "E Hoʻi ka Nani i Mokuʻula," performed by Keʻeaumoku and Uʻilani Kapu and available on streaming platforms like ehoikanani.hearnow.com. The film also incorporates footage tied to Nā ʻAikāne o Maui, the Front Street cultural center that burned in the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire, a loss documented in Maui County’s long-term recovery plan.
Legal Legacy
A 2017 jury verdict in a quiet-title case awarded the Kapu family ownership of the contested Kauaʻula parcel and, according to the film’s producers, helped change how police respond to disputed title and trespass calls. "It really is about Native people reclaiming their family lands," producer Lance Collins said in an interview with Maui News, a perspective that frames the courtroom scenes as part of ongoing sovereignty work rather than a one-off legal win.
Screenings And Community Impact
Producers say they are working toward an official Hawaii premiere and are lining up community hosts and Kuleana Land Workshops so the film can be shown where the story is rooted. As reported by Maui Now, the Kapu ʻohana have been leading workshops to help other Native Hawaiians navigate land disputes and plan future local screenings.
From courtroom records to newly recorded mele, EA (SOVEREIGN) keeps the focus on stewardship, the quiet daily work that sustains place and community, even as it carries the Kapu family’s story to a global audience. Its journey from regional festivals to imagineNATIVE will be watched closely by cultural workers, legal advocates and communities rebuilding after the Lahaina fire.
