Previous NOWNESS contributor Bradley Tangonan, a Hawaiian-born director and producer, presents this thoughtful new film taken from an ongoing series exploring native Hawaiian culture, craftsmanship, and the spiritual energy (or 'mana') of raw materials. Telling the story of a single, traditional craftsman—Tom Pōhaku Stone—and their journey to hone a wood-carved surfboard, Tanognan's film rides the waves of life, spirituality, and landscape.
Speaking of the film's reflective protagonist and his relationship to the natural (and spiritual) world, the filmmaker explains: "Tom is one of the native Hawaiian responsible for reviving the tradition of shaping surfboards from wood, in which the techniques and materials are of secondary importance to the spiritual nature of the practice." He continues, "As a craftsman, he sees himself as a medium responsible for transforming wood from one state to another, channeling the 'mana'".