2013 Highlights

Dear Friend,

As the first month of the New Year comes to a close, the staff at ‘Ulu‘ulu, Hawai‘i’s official state moving image archive, would like to update you on its accomplishments in 2013. It was indeed a fulfilling year!

First, thanks to your letters of support during the 26^th Hawaii State Legislature, HB1392 passed, funding the archive. It was a major achievement and we are grateful to you, the Hawai‘i State Legislature and the Governor of Hawai‘i for your support.

New Acquisitions and Collections

Life Is a Drama (1959). Daniel K. Inouye Congressional Collection

In addition to our funding success we have increased our collection holdings with new partners and acquisitions from organizations and filmmakers including:

Daniel K. Inouye Institute. We are excited to be chosen as the official repository of Senator Inouye’s film, video and audio collection working in partnership with UH Mānoa Libraries and the Library of Congress.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs. We have partnered with OHA’s Papakilo Database and will be contributing content and footage from ‘Ulu‘ulu’s collections and website as well caring for their collection of videotapes documenting cultural and political issues affecting the Hawaiian community.

Hawai‘i Craftsmen. This collection includes programs produced by the Hawai‘i Craftsmen, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting fine craft in the art community of Hawai‘i.

UH Student Video and Filmmakers Association. Highlights from this collection include “UH Magazine” a student-produced television show about events and activities on the UH Mānoa campus.

Meleanna Aluli Meyer. Her film Puamana and all original camera negatives, work prints and sound recordings from this production are housed at the archive.

Cliff Watson. His 1996 documentary "Kaʻu Sugar: a Town Remembers" on the closing of a sugar mill and all outtakes are now housed at the archive.

Ka‘u sugar mill (1996). Cliff Watson Collection

Digital Preservation

We preserved and digitized over 100 hours of videotape and film footage from our collections including a successful treatment and recovery project of videotapes with severe mold infestation. We sent 29 one-inch videotapes of Merrie Monarch reels to a trusted facility on the West Coast which successfully transferred all footage to new digital preservation files. We were able to accomplish this through the generous assistance from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Community Outreach

Throughout 2013 staff reached out to our local community, participating and presenting at many events. They included the following:

Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities
Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) Hawaii chapter meeting
Association of Hawaii Archivists (AHA) Annual Meeting
Entrepreneurs’ Day at the State Capitol
Ala Moana Lions Club meeting
Special Libraries Association Hawaii Pacific Chapter event
UHWO Library Preservation Week
Hawaii Users Group Meeting – VOYAGER
Hawai`i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts workshop
Cultural Heritage Archives: Networks, Innovation & Collaboration Conference at the Library of Congress
Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) annual meeting

Archival Screenings

We ended the year partnering with the Hawaii International Film Festival, which gave us the opportunity to highlight the work we do everyday. At HIFF 2013, we chose to present the transfer from film to digital of the film Puamana. It played to a packed house who enjoyed the spontaneous hula celebration from audience members.

Looking Forward to 2014

We will continue our hard work and dedication throughout 2014 and look forward to upcoming events and projects including:

MAVIS User Group Meeting. ‘Ulu‘ulu is proud to host our first international conference at UH West O‘ahu in April. The meeting will provide an opportunity for MAVIS users from several prestigious institutions around the world, including the National Library of Norway, the Library of Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv to meet and discuss this Media Asset Management system developed by Feenyx, a software company based in Canberra, Australia.

We hope you visit us soon at UHWO! And of course online at uluulu.hawaii.edu. Mahalo to each and every one of you for your support.

Aloha,
The ‘Ulu‘ulu Crew