Huliau Environmental Filmmaking Club
Now in its 16th year, our filmmaking club is our longest-running program. The program assists students in making short environmental films ranging from documentaries to music videos. These films share the important work being done by community groups in Maui Nui to protect the ʻāina and empower youth voices on environmental issues. In the 2025-26 school year we will be offering a programs each semester after-school and during fall and spring break. We are also providing assistance to teachers who want to engage their students in creating films during school hours.
Apply now for our spring semester collaboration with Hisako Film Lab!
This advanced filmmaking program offers an in-depth, project-based immersion for motivated high school students eager to elevate their storytelling and production skills while creating media with a meaningful message for our Maui community. Working in small teams, students will produce original short films that shine a light on important local environmental, social or cultural issues. Students will receive detailed guidance throughout the process and will be joined in-person and virtually by industry professional guest speakers, including Hisako Film Lab founder Destin Daniel Cretton (director of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day).
The program is FREE and will takes place between January 19-April 13, 2026 at a Central Maui location (click the button below for more details).
Project Theme
Students will pitch their own film ideas centered on an important sustainability, cultural, or social issue unfolding right now on Maui or within the broader community. Films can take the form of Narrative (scripted, with actors, fictional and/or dramatized) or Documentary (highlighting real people and real events) and may adopt any tone or style—serious, lighthearted, funny, bizarre, animated, or beyond. The ultimate goal is to create work that is both entertaining and meaningful to our Maui community, and our team of filmmaking instructors, environmental experts, and guest speakers will guide students every step of the way to make that vision a reality.
Further details and the program application can be found on the Hisako Film Lab website, which you can visit by clicking on the button below.
In-School Filmmaking Support for Teachers & Students
In addition to our regular semester-long program, we will continue to offer filmmaking support to teachers and students during the 2025-26 school year. Teachers can use the form below to request support for film projects with their students which have an environmental or ʻāina-based focus. Examples can include documenting on-campus sustainability projects, exploring the ahupuaʻa where your school is located, student perspectives on an environmental topics, and more. Our staff will provide equipment and a combination of both virtual and in-school support for filmmaking projects for grades 7-12 in Maui County including planning, filming, and editing.
In addition, we can also offer assistance to individual students or small groups of high school students working on environmental films for senior projects or school projects. Students must be in grades 9-12 in Maui County to request our support in creating a short film. To qualify your film must have an environmental or ʻāina-based focus or message. After reviewing your request, we will contact you with further information. Use the link below to submit your request.
Serving youth from all Maui schools
We have served youth ages 12-18 from over 20 different schools on Maui and Molokaʻi! Your donations help keep our programs affordable for all students.
Over 100 films on YouTube!
Our YouTube channel now has over 100 student films with over 125,000 views! They empower the voices of Maui’s youth to educate our community and visitors about how they can help protect our island’s environment.
Award winning films!
The 100+ short environmental films produced by our filmmaking program have been selected over 180 times in 27 film festivals around the world! These films include documentaries, claymation films and even music videos.