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.”