Three films produced by The Honu Project to support sea turtle conservation
For All Time
Video Documentary, 1991, approx. 14 minutes
Bronze Award, Houston International Film Festival 1992
Photo: Matthew Godfrey
The seed for The Honu Project was planted in the summer of 1990 when two volunteers decided to take a brief trip to Costa Rica. A chance encounter with a cocktail napkin drawing of turtles and the words "Playa Grande" led them to one of the world's most important nesting sites for the endangered leatherback turtle. Having no filmmaking experience, they enrolled in local video production classes, assembled a volunteer crew, and flew to Costa Rica to document the leatherback turtles and the threat posed by coastal development at Playa Grande.
The resulting documentary, For All Time, captures Dr. Peter Pritchard's expression of the importance of creating a national park for the leatherback turtles and hatchlings of Playa Grande "for all time." Dr. Pritchard presented the film at the International Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation Workshop, and it was used by the Costa Rican government and others to raise funds to buy out private landowners and create "Las Baulas de Guanacaste National Park" in 1992.
Baby Green Sea TurtleEmaciated and Tumor-ridden Green Sea TurtleA Turtle Cleaning Station
Sea turtles have been swimming the Earth's oceans since the age of the dinosaur. But today, green sea turtle populations in Hawaii, Florida, and other areas of the world are being devastated by a mysterious disease called fibropapilloma. This disease—which is most often fatal—is at epidemic levels in some areas, and is starting to spread to other species of sea turtles as well. Fall of the Ancients takes a close look at fibropapilloma—its characteristics, research being done by concerned scientists, and potential causes. The work of sea turtle biologist George Balazs (Honolulu Lab, NMFS) is highlighted. Fall of the Ancients also describes poaching and environmental pollution as threats to sea turtle populations, and a novel Hawaii-based turtle breeding and education program.
Baby Sea Turtles head for the OceanGreen Sea Turtle Swimming
This amazing documentary weaves together the legend of the ancient Hawaiian turtle goddess Kauila with the real life saga of one of the world's most endangered reptiles, the mysterious hawksbill turtle of Hawaii. See and hear stories in chant and hula that have not been told in centuries as biologists try to protect a being whose ancestors saw the rise and fall of the dinosaurs.
A film by Jay April & Lou De Liberto
Produced by The Honu Project
Starring: Rubellite Kewena Johnson, George Naope, Kealii Reichel, John Kaimikaua, Sunny Collo, & Charles Kaupu
Red Turtle Rising began as a Honu Project documentary about an inspiring hawksbill monitoring program at Kamehame Beach on the island of Hawaii. Director Jay April and cameraman Lou Di Liberto contributed extraordinary vision to create an amazing documentary that weaves together the legend of the ancient Hawaiian turtle goddess Kauila with the real life saga of the mysterious and severely endangered hawksbill turtle. Internationally acclaimed Hawaiian recording artist Keali'i Reichel visited the set and made a guest appearance. Red Turtle Rising captures stories in chant and hula that have not been told in centuries, and the work of biologists who seek to protect a being whose ancestors saw the rise and fall of the dinosaurs. This documentary was funded in part by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
