KALAPAUPA HEAVEN

2007 / 90 min / 35 mm / Documentary

Director:  Paul Cox

Producers:  Paul Cox, Mark Patterson

Cinematographer:  Tony Clark, Hans Sonneveld, Paul Cox

Sound:  James Currie, Yuri Worotschak

Composer:  Paul Grabowsky

Editors:  Aden Young, Meri Blazenvski

KALAPAUPA HEAVEN Awards

2007:  Special Jury Mention Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival

KALAUPAPA HEAVEN is an uplifting and profoundly moving portrait of a group of people who through adversity have found forgiveness and faith by creating their own bit of paradise.  Twenty minutes by plane from modern Honolulu lies a tiny settlement forgotten by time.  Kalaupapa, a peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, with its swaying palms, unspoiled beaches and stunning mountains, is a paradise on earth - but with a dark and dramatic history.  Kalaupapa is a leprosy colony.

In 1998 Paul Cox was allowed by the remaining Hanson disease (Leprosy) patients of Kalaupapa to make a biopic on a Jesuit priest, Father Damien - ‘Molokai, The story of Father Damien’.  In 2005/2006 Paul was invited back by the patients to make a documentary on their lives.  KALAUPAPA HEAVEN focuses on the personal stories of the leprosy patients of the island, illustrated through interviews, archival footage, photographs, home movies and re-enactments.  Elderly survivors proudly display their scars and wounds, where crippled patients “walk” their dogs by driving old jalopies through the palm-lined streets, where churches reverberate with the sound of singing, where chilling tales of spirits are never in short supply. 

Australian Film Critics Association - Peter Krausz - 2007

“This deeply humanistic and beautifully directed reflection ... combined with breathtaking scenery and a meditation about life and death.” 

Star-Bulletin - Jason Genegabus - 2007

“An important examination of a community that faces unfathomable change when the last residents die in coming decades.”