The Smithsonian’s seventh annual Mother Tongue Film Festival screens online from February 17 to March 4. This is the first time that the Festival is using ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi as the theme.

As one of the oldest living languages in the world, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language) has a deep, but tumultuous history, including a ban that suppressed the teaching/learning of the Hawaiian Language, nearly extinguishing its use.

The festival’s Closing Night event offers a single-night sneak preview of director Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu’s latest feature film with collaborators Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu. This will be their third screening at the Mother Tongue Film Festival, following the feature documentary Leitis in Waiting in 2019 and the animated short Kapaemahu in 2021.

Tickets are free and can be reserved here.