Triton’s Call Staff

The University of Guam hosted a free screening event of the film “Mothering Guahan” in the CLASS Lecture Hall on Aug. 26.

The film, which was spearheaded by director Leiana S.A. Naholowa’a, resulted from her thesis project. Her thesis focuses on mothering in post-colonial Chamorro literature in Guam.

The film featured interviews with Chamorro women who are mothers and indigenous scholars who have done research on Chamorro women and mothering. The film also portrayed a round table panel discussion between five women in the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center.

Despite Naholowa’a’s academic background in the English department, she said she always had an interest in film making. Producing and directing “Mothering Guahan” served as an opportunity for her to incorporate her personal interests and provide more representation of Chamorro people in the mass media. She also said the film would serve as a reminder that women in the Chamorro culture are powerful, which can be easily forgotten.

Naholowa’a also wanted to explore the many roles of a Chamorro mother through the perspectives of three generations of women. The women’s ages ranged from mid-20s to around 60. Certain moments in the film were also dedicated to indigenous scholars expanding on the history of Guam, which featured a matrilineal society.

Naholowa’a’s project team consisted of director of photography/lead editor Brian Muna, project advisors Faye Untalan and Laura Souder, and project consultant Carlene Okiyama.

One of the purposes of the screening was to collect public feedback on the film. Attendees were given two sheets of paper. The first was an evaluation sheet, which was given back after completion. The other sheet included discussion questions and information on the panelists that were present for a question and answer session post-screening.

Another reason for the screening was to generate interest amongst the public to fund the remainder of the project. The film itself is still a work in progress and the “sneak preview” shown at UOG was funded by grants awarded by organizations such as the Guam Council of the Arts and Humanities Agency and National Endowment for the Arts. However, Naholowa’a said that the project’s future endeavors would be crowdfunded.

In regards to those future endeavors, Naholowa’a has plans to incorporate more local artists and actors to perform cultural reenactments. Until then, she is working on having more film screenings open to the public before its completion.