POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENETER PREMIERES 'SHARING ALOHA' VIDEO
The Salt Lake City-based Deseret News’ Tad Walch, in a March 1, 2025, article wrote this about the U.S. mainland premiere of the 95-minute feature documentary, Sharing Aloha: A Backstage Look at the People Behind Hawaii’s Most Popular Attraction:
“A new documentary by the director of ‘Meet the Mormons’ colorfully and emotionally captures the literal, educational and emotional development journeys of the students who join the cast at the PCC and perform 19 hours a week to support their schooling,” wrote Walch. He covers The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which founded Brigham Young University–Hawaii in Laie in 1955 (named the Church College of Hawaii until 1974), and the adjacent Polynesian Cultural Center in 1963.
Sharing Aloha premieres in Orem, Utah: The beautifully done video premiered February 26, 2025, during the Zions Indie Film Fest 2025 at the Scera Center for the Arts in Orem, Utah.
It tracks the progress of several incoming Brigham Young University–Hawaii students from the South Pacific who undergo auditions for the Center’s world-famous night show, Hā: The Breath of Life. It also introduces several dozen other BYUH “veteran” student workers at the Center
Walch also quoted Blair Treu, Sharing Aloha’s writer, producer, and director, who said he “hopes it soon will find a place on a major streaming platform like Netflix, Hulu, Roku, or Prime Video, but first it will tour the film festival circuit…and build momentum by word of mouth.” Meanwhile, he added that a performance schedule in San Francisco has been sold out.
Walch also quoted one of the students, Malcolm Timoteo, a Samoan-Rotuman from Las Vegas, Nevada, who plays the male lead, Mana, in the night show. Timoteo said, “The beauty of the film is that this magic that you feel watching just a couple of our stories is the same magic you hear from most of the students who work at the Polynesian Cultural Center.”
“Those kids are real students. Those kids leave their families to find a better education. …It’s a wonderful thing that sometimes we take for granted, but it happens every single day. I’m grateful for this film because these stories are real.”
Understanding the vision of the Center: “We initially hoped to create a Polynesian Cultural Center video for streaming media that we could use to raise awareness of the Center for people coming to Hawaii. In the process of doing that, we decided we also want people to understand why we’re doing what we do, and the importance of our mission,” said Eric Workman, the Center’s chief marketing officer and vice president.
“We believe the Cultural Center has something special to offer here that can help spread aloha — not just for our guests inside the Center. We want people everywhere to feel our aloha and be inspired by it to model aloha wherever they are around the world.”
Vibrant BYU–Hawaii students “regard guests…as ‘ohana”: For example, in an early line of Sharing Aloha the narrator states, “The Polynesian Cultural Center regards guests not merely as visitors, but as ‘ohana — family, welcomed by vibrant students from adjacent Brigham Young University–Hawaii, each one working earnestly to build a brighter future.”
Referring to the Hā night show, the narrator said, “Here, in this Broadway-worthy production, students are the life blood, the story tellers, the cultural ambassadors bridging their authentic past to our present.” He also soon described the Center’s relationship with BYU–Hawaii as a “symbiosis,” and added the two institutions are “entwined…in a harmony that is as inspiring as it is essential.”
One last quote from the video narration: “This is an invitation to journey into the heartbeat of the Polynesian Cultural Center and take a peek into the lives of the people who make it work.”
Sharing Aloha premiered for the home crowd — employees, alumni, community members — at the Cultural Center’s Hawaiian Journey Theater on February 12, 2025.
Tagaloataoa Delsa Moe, the Center’s vice president of cultural presentations, which oversees all of the students involved in the video, said she received warm feedback after the private screening. “People felt like they were back home. Those who had worked at the Center said they could totally relate to at least one of the students [in the video]. One said, ‘It made me homesick.’ They felt so connected, even though they had worked at the Center decades ago. It was very nostalgic for them. It made them feel they were still a part of this.”
“For those who had never worked at the Center, they also said seeing the back-story of the students, and what it takes for them to come humanized those people who make up the heart of the Cultural Center, helped them realize the students’ made sacrifices. Some of them came from humble backgrounds. It tugged at their hearts emotionally.” Moe said.
“They walked away feeling good, not just about the video, but about the Polynesian Cultural Center’s mission.” She added she recognized Malcolm Timoteo’s mother from the premiere, and told her, “What a blessing he’s been to the Center.”
In the Deseret News article, Treu explained that all proceeds that Sharing Aloha might earn would go toward scholarship funds that support the Cultural Center’s student performers.
For more information on Sharing Aloha and future screenings, go to the link below: Sharing Aloha documentary
