A new documentary celebrating surf icon Duke Paoa Kahanamoku will screen Saturday at the historic Waimea Theater, and the Kaua‘i man who helped make it will be in attendance.
The 90-minute film, “Waterman,” premiered last week at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival on O‘ahu.
The documentary charts “The Duke’s” journey from Waikiki beachboy to an internationally recognized, multi-talented athlete, Olympic swimming medalist and ambassador of aloha.
Billy Pratt, a director and past president of the nonprofit Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation, was born and raised on Kaua‘i. He contributed to “Waterman” as an associate producer.
“If you look at Duke, he is the greatest icon that we, as a state, have in Hawai‘i,” Pratt said. “Mind you, we’re talking about a 131-year-old individual. He has four statues or monuments in three different countries. I’m not so sure if (Muhammad) Ali or even (Michael) Jordan have that.”
“Waterman” shows Duke, who was born in Honolulu in 1890 and died there in 1968, was more than the father of modern-day surfing. He dominated the competitive swimming scene, winning five medals across three Olympic Games. He also played Olympic water polo, and excelled at canoe paddling and beach volleyball (his close friend invented the game in 1915, according to Pratt).
Duke even became a hero outside the realm of sports, when he took action in the aftermath of a California shipwreck.
He accomplished all of this against a turbulent backdrop.
“We’re talking about a period in which he lived through the overthrow of the monarchy, World War I, World War II, statehood, constant oppression, inequality and racism,” Pratt said. “He so successfully navigated his way through such a tumultuous time period, and the foundation he did it in was rooted deeply in humility and integrity.”
That foundation is summed up by aloha.
Duke championed it quietly, according to Pratt, who described Duke as a man able to spread his light through his supreme athleticism.
“He often spoke that what he cared about more was this sense of aloha — treating friends, visitors and loved ones with aloha, with love,” Pratt explained. “It was so vital and important to him that it became his creed in life.”
“Waterman” features narration by Hollywood actor and frequent Kaua‘i visitor Jason Mamoa, reenactments featuring world champion longboarder Duane DeSoto and commentary from contemporary surfing legends including Hanalei’s Laird Hamilton, Kelly Slater and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore.
Moore watched a rough cut of “Waterman” prior to making history at the Olympic Games this summer, a century after Duke first recommended surfing as an Olympic event.
“She said it certainly did inspire her,” Pratt recalled. “And she went on (to win) the very first gold medal ever given in the sport of Olympic surfing, a Hawaiian from the same bay as Duke Kahanamoku.”
“Waterman” will screen at the Waimea Theater at 7:30 p.m. before continuing its film-festival tour.
Tickets are $10 per person, and can be purchased online at waimeatheater.com/.
The documentary will hit movie theaters in spring 2022, and will ultimately become available on a to-be-determined online streaming platform.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
