Jeannette Paulson Hereniko
Jeannette Paulson Hereniko | |
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| Born | Jeannette Lee Butts May 23, 1940 Portland, Oregon, United States |
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| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater |
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| Subject | Asia-Pacific and Cultural |
| Notable works | The Land Has Eyes (producer) |
| Notable awards |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | Brad William Paulson, Kelly Colleen Paulson, Holly Paulson Sereni
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| Website | |
| wildwisdomthepodcast | |
Jeannette Paulson Hereniko (born 1940) is an American storyteller, film producer, community organizer, and cultural advocate. She is best known for founding the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), and for her promotion of Asia-Pacific and Indigenous cinema. She is also known for her award-winning films including The Land Has Eyes.
Early life and education
Jeannette Lee Butts was born on May 23, 1940 and was raised in Portland, Oregon. In 1958, she graduated from Jefferson High School, where she had been elected "outstanding girl leader".[1] She earned a Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) with a major in education from Chaminade University in Honolulu, and a Master's degree (MA) in American Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1984, with a focus on the American reception of Asian cinema.[2][3]
Career
From 1970 to 1975, Hereniko served as "Storyteller in the Schools" for the Southern Oregon Regional Educational District.[4] After relocating to Hawai'i in 1975, she held a similar position as a Storyteller in the Schools with the State of Hawai'i Department of Education[4][5] from 1975 to 1978.
In 1976, she joined Hawai'i's Department of Education's Educational Television (ETV) program as a production assistant and later became a producer/writer.[6] While there, she wrote and directed the documentary Taro Tales,[7] with cultural guidance from Eddie Kamae and music by the Sons of Hawai'i.
Separately from her work at ETV, she co-produced and co-wrote The 'Āina Remains,[8] an independent, community-based video created in collaboration with the Nuʻuanu-Punchbowl Neighborhood Board and funded by the Hawai'i Committee for the Humanities. One notable scene reenacts Queen Lili'uokalani's garden club gathering flowers in Uluhaimalama, the queen's garden.
Raising local financing and gathering a volunteer staff, Hereniko launched the first Hawaii International film Festival on November 1, 1981.[4] She directed HIFF from 1981 to 1996,[8][9] and in 1990, the festival became an independent nonprofit organization separate from the East-West Center. Under her leadership, HIFF developed into a major platform for cross-cultural dialogue and a showcase for films from Asia and the Pacific.[8]
In 1990, she was named the inaugural director of the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).[10] That same year, she became a founding board member of the international nonprofit organization, Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) and later established NETPAC/USA, where she compiled packages of Asian films for educational institutions across the United States.[11]
In 1996, she was appointed by Dr. Elizabeth Daley of the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for Communication to incubate a digital database of Asia-Pacific films. That project became the foundation for AsiaPacificFilms.com,[5] which launched in 2009 as a subscription-based streaming service for universities. The platform was later acquired by Alexander Street Press, where she continued as a film curator until 2018.[1]
In 1997, she and her husband, Vilsoni Tausie Hereniko, established Te Maka Productions. Their first collaboration, Fine Dancing, was a theatrical production that premiered on their wedding day, August 7, 1997. They later produced the short films Just Dancing, Salisi, and Woven, followed by the narrative feature film The Land Has Eyes, which was written and directed by Vilsoni and produced by Jeannette.[12]
The Land Has Eyes was filmed in 2000 on the island of Rotuma, where Vilsoni Hereniko was born and raised. With the exception of Māori actress Rena Owen and one other actor, the cast was composed entirely of first-time Rotuman performers, most of whom had never seen a film.[13][8] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival,[14] won Best Feature Film at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, screened in film festivals and commercial theaters around the world and was Fiji's official 2004 Academy Awards submission for Best International Feature Film.[15][8]
Hereniko has served on juries at international film festivals including Berlin, Pusan, Singapore, Mumbai, Brisbane, and New Delhi.[10] In 2007, she was named to the nomination council for the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, Australia.[citation needed]
Personal life
In 1960, she changed her name from Jeannette Lee Butts to Jeannette Paulson. She was previously married to G. William Paulson and has three children. In 1997, she married playwright and professor Vilsoni Hereniko. Together they have a blended family that includes seven grandsons.
While raising her children in Southern Oregon, Jeannette Paulson began storytelling at the Jackson County Library. In 1963, she co-founded the Storytelling Guild and served as its first president. Under her leadership, the Guild established the Children's Festival in 1964 at the Peter Britt Gardens in Jacksonville, Oregon. Both the Guild and the festival continue to operate today.
She also wrote and performed two autobiographical one-woman shows, Wild Wisdom (2017) and When Strangers Meet (2019), which she performed in Hawai'i, California, and Oregon.
Awards and recognition
- Busan International Film Festival Korean Cinema Award for lifetime promotion of Korean cinema[16] (2009)
- Hawai'i International Film Festival Legacy Award
- Zonta Southern Oregon Woman of the Year (1973)
- Honolulu YWCA Most Outstanding Woman in Arts and Humanities (1984)
- Digital Business of the Year (2009)
References
- ^ a b Hereniko, Jeannette (August 1, 2025). "Jeannette Hereniko Autobiography". Jeannette Hereniko. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
- ^ "About Us". asiapacificfilms.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
- ^ Wilcox, Leslie (January 10, 2017). "Jeannette Paulson Hereniko | Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox". PBS Hawai'i.
- ^ a b c Paiva, Derek (February 9, 2001). "'Wild Wisdom' from the stories of her life". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. p. 86. Archived from the original on March 3, 2026. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "One-woman show comes to Kahilu". West Hawaii Today. January 18, 2018. p. A8. Archived from the original on March 3, 2026. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Zambonelli, Vera (2018). "Jeannette Paulson Hereniko". Real Wahine of Hawaii. PBS.
- ^ "3 free films on children". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. October 14, 1979. p. 134. Archived from the original on March 3, 2026. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e Howard, Alan (2006). "Presenting Rotuma to the World: The Making of the Film The Land Has Eyes". Visual Anthropology Review. 11 (1): 74–96.
- ^ Ako, Diane (October 24, 2023). "Aging Well: HIFF founder doesn't believe in retirement". Island News. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ a b Wood, Ben (January 15, 2016). "Jeannette Paulson Hereniko". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ Chun, Gary C.W. (November 13, 2008). "Cinema". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ Koehler, Robert (January 20, 2004). "The Land Has Eyes". Variety. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ "Feature film from Fiji opening tonight has many Big Island ties". Hawaii Tribune-Herald. April 15, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
- ^ Ryan, Tim (December 4, 2003). "Isle movie to premiere at Sundance festival". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
- ^ Appelo, Tim (October 9, 2006). "The Land Has Eyes". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ Myung-Gu, Han (October 9, 2009). "Pusan International Film Festival Day 2". LIFE. life.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2009.