Chief of War: The Sacred Niu Grove | Talk Story Ep. 8

Pa‘a Sibbett sits down with Mainei Kinimaka to discuss Episode 8: The Sacred Niu Grove. Their talk story explores Mainei’s path into acting, the importance of creating space for Hawai‘i and Pasifika voices, and the kuleana of telling stories with care. They reflect on the weight of portraying historical trauma, the responsibility of nurturing talent, and the power of story to shift perceptions and build community. --- 0:00 Intro 0:43 Welina 1:05 Spoiler Alert 1:30 Getting Into Acting 2:46 Jason Seeing Something in People 3:45 What Was the Audition Process Like? 4:52 Reading for Ka‘ahumanu's Part 5:49 Increasing Access to the Industry 6:34 Kōkua for Jason Momoa 9:56 The Only Thing That Matters is the Story 10:53 Learning All the Aspects of Production 13:19 Caring for the Actors and Performances 13:51 Heke and Nahi 15:00 Heke Was Created for the Show 16:15 Heke and the Connection to Once Were Warriors 17:36 The Heaviness of Olowalu 19:53 Pasifika People and Trauma 21:35 Hard To Watch at Home 22:34 Changing the Perceptions of the World 26:02 Ka‘iana and Kamehameha 27:08 Siua Ikale‘o 29:05 Siua's Guitar Audition 31:34 Siua's Influence on the Writers 32:51 Be Yourself in the Audition Process 36:41 ICAN and Hawai‘i Talent 38:14 Putting in the Work 40:43 The Sacred Grove and Relationships 46:05 Keala and ‘Ōpūnui 47:23 Cliff Curtis, Fight Scenes, Ali‘i Minor 49:08 Finding Out 50:44 Not Historically Accurate 53:34 Iwi 55:23 Kalanikūpule and Brandon Finn 1:00:05 Temeura Morrison and Brandon 1:01:14 A Last Difficult Scene 1:06:18 Not All Warrior Culture, A Nurturer of Life 1:07:49 Outro --- Watch Chief of War on Apple TV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/chief-of... Dive deeper into more episodes of Hu‘e Kaona: Chief of War Talk Story Sessions at https://www.kanaeokana.net/chiefofwar Like and subscribe: youtube.com/kanaeokana?sub_confirmati... --- Find learning resources and links at https://kanaeokana.net/chiefofwar Learn more about the Hawai‘i Film Alliance: https://hawaiifilmalliance.org/