“HIFF46 Opens with World Premiere of 'The Navigator' Honoring Nainoa Thompson’s Legacy in N” — what this page in the network covers. The 46th Hawai’i International Film Festival (HIFF46), presented by Halekulani, kicks off with the world premiere of The Navigator, a powerful documentar... The 46th Hawai’i International Film Festival (HIFF46), presented by Halekulani, kicks off with the world premiere of The Navigator, a powerful documentary directed by Jordan Manley. The film spotlight on Nainoa Thompson, a pioneering Native Hawaiian navigator who, nearly 50 years ago, became the first to revive traditional Polynesian wayfinding techniques using celestial and oceanic cues.
Filmed entirely in Hawai’i, the documentary captures Thompson’s journey from student to master navigator and his role in reestablishing Indigenous knowledge systems aboard the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s voyaging canoes. The festival’s choice of this film as its opening night feature underscores a deep commitment to cultural preservation and storytelling rooted in local heritage. For the complete material, the listing points back to the source inside the network.