Plot
Although the mountain volcano Mauna Kea last erupted around 4,000 years ago, it is still hot today, the center of a burning controversy over whether its summit should be used for astronomical observatories or preserved as a cultural landscape sacred to the Hawaiian people. For five years the documentary production team Nā Maka o ka 'Āina ("the eyes of the land") captured on video the seasonal moods of Mauna Kea's unique 14,000-foot summit, the richly varied ecosystems that extend from sea level to alpine zone, the legends and stories that reveal the mountain's geologic and cultural history, and the political turbulence surrounding the efforts to protect the most significant temple in the islands: the mountain itself.
Trailer
Cast
Puhipau
Narrator (voice)
Manu Aluli Meyer
Herself - Philosopher of Education
Keawe Vredenburg
Himself
Sam 'Ohukani'ōhi'a Gon
Himself - Conservation Biologist
Kealoha Pisciotta
Herself - Mauna Kea Anaina Hou
Nelson Ho
Himself - Sierra Club
Paul Neves
Himself - Royal Order of Kamehameha
Hanalei Fergerstrom
Himself
Reynolds Kamakawiwo'ole
Himself
Kahu o Terangi
Himself
Pualani Kanahele
Herself - Kumu Hula
Steve Hess
Himself - USGS Biological Resources
Julie A.K. Leialoha
Herself - Natural Area Specialist/Biologist
Deborah Ward
Herself - Sierra Club
Moses Kealamakia
Himself
Catherine Robbins
Herself
Kekuhi Kanahele
Herself
Sayako Kuroda
Herself
Rose Tseng
Herself - University of Hawai'i at Hilo
Kenneth Kumor
Himself - NASA
Brad Finney
Himself - Environmental Engineer
Maxine Kaha'ulelio
Herself
Everett Franco
Himself
Fred Chaffee
Himself - W. M. Keck Observatory
Victoria Holt Takamine
Herself - 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition
Rolf-Peter Kudritzki
Himself - UH Institute for Astronomy
Tom Peek
Himself
Abraham Kamakawiwo'ole
Himself
Anthony Ako
Himself
Kapono Souza
Himself
Clarence Kukauakahi Ching
Himself
Pi'ilani Smith
Herself
Hanalei Soli Niheu
Himself
Mikahala Roy
Herself
Peter Michaud
Himself - Gemini Observatory
John Lee
Himself - NASA
Charles Young
Himself
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor
Himself
Roselyn Smith
Herself
Tom Geballe
Himself
Michael Vittorio
Himself
Rita Colwell
Herself
Dickie Nelson
Himself
