Jeannette Paulson Hereniko
Jeannette Paulson Hereniko | |
|---|---|
 Jeannette Hereniko | |
| Born | Jeannette Lee Butts May 23, 1940 Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Occupation |
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| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater |
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| Subject | Asia-Pacific and Cultural |
| Notable works | The Land Has Eyes (producer) |
| Notable awards | Korean Cinema Award for lifetime promotion of Korean cinema, Busan International Film Festival, 2009 HIFF Legacy Award, HIFF, 2022 |
| Spouse | Vilsoni Hereniko (1997 – present),
G. William Paulson (1960 - 1979) |
| Children | Brad William Paulson, Kelly Colleen Paulson, Holly Paulson Sereni
|
| Website | |
| wildwisdomthepodcast | |
Jeannette Paulson Hereniko is an American storyteller, film producer, community organizer, and cultural advocate. She is best known for founding the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), and for her promotion of Asia-Pacific and Indigenous cinema. She is also known for her award-winning films including The Land Has Eyes.
Early Life & Education
Jeannette Lee Butts was born on May 23, 1940 and was raised in Portland, Oregon. In 1958, she graduated from Jefferson High School, where she had been elected 'outstanding girl leader.'[1] She earned a Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) with a major in education from Chaminade University in Honolulu, and a Master’s degree (MA) in American Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1984, with a focus on the American reception of Asian cinema.[2][3]
Career
From 1970 to 1975, Hereniko served as “Storyteller in the Schools” for the Southern Oregon Regional Educational District.[3] After relocating to Hawai‘i in 1975, she held a similar position as a Storyteller in the Schools with the State of Hawai‘i Department of Education from 1975 to 1978.[1]
In 1976, she joined Hawai‘i's Department of Education’s Educational Television (ETV) program[4] as a Production Assistant and later became a Producer/Writer. While there, she wrote and directed the documentary ''Taro Tales'', with cultural guidance from Eddie Kamae and music by the Sons of Hawai‘i.[1]
Separately from her work at ETV, she co-produced and co-wrote ''The ‘Āina Remains'', an independent, community-based video created in collaboration with the Nuʻuanu-Punchbowl Neighborhood Board and funded by the Hawai‘i Committee for the Humanities. One notable scene reenacts Queen Lili‘uokalani’s garden club gathering flowers in Uluhaimalama, the Queen's garden.[1]
From 1980 to 1990, Hereniko served as Community Relations Officer and Educational Specialist at the East-West Center in Honolulu. In 1980, she proposed and founded the Hawai‘i International Film Festival as part of a public outreach initiative.[1][3][5] She directed HIFF from 1981 to 1996, and in 1990, the festival became an independent nonprofit organization separate from the East-West Center. Under her leadership, HIFF developed into a major platform for cross-cultural dialogue and a showcase for films from Asia and the Pacific.[1][3]
In 1990, she was named the inaugural director of the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). That same year, she became a founding board member of the international nonprofit organization, Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) and later established NETPAC/USA, where she compiled packages of Asian films for educational institutions across the United States.[6]
In 1996, she was appointed by Dr. Elizabeth Daley of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Communication to incubate a digital database of Asia-Pacific films. That project became the foundation for ''AsiaPacificFilms.com'', which launched in 2009 as a subscription-based streaming service for universities. The platform was later acquired by Alexander Street Press, where she continued as a film curator until 2018.[1]
In 1997, she and her husband, Vilsoni Tausie Hereniko, established Te Maka Productions LLC. Their first collaboration, ''Fine Dancing'', was a theatrical production that premiered on their wedding day, August 7, 1997. They later produced the short films ''Just Dancing'', ''Salisi'', and ''Woven'', followed by the internationally acclaimed narrative feature film ''The Land Has Eyes'', which was written and directed by Vilsoni and produced by Jeannette.
''The Land Has Eyes'' was filmed in 2000 on the island of Rotuma, where Vilsoni Hereniko was born and raised. With the exception of Māori actress Rena Owen and one other actor, the cast was composed entirely of first-time Rotuman performers, most of whom had never seen a film. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won Best Feature Film at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, screened in Film festivals and commercial theaters around the world and was Fiji’s official 2004 submission for Best International Feature Film conderstion for the Academy Awards.
Hereniko has served on juries at international film festivals including Berlin, Pusan, Singapore, Mumbai, Brisbane, and New Delhi. In 2007, she was named a member of the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nomination Council in Brisbane, Australia.
Personal Life
In 1960, she changed her name from Jeannette Lee Butts to Jeannette Paulson. She was previously married to G. William Paulson and has three children. In 1997, she married playwright and professor Vilsoni Hereniko. Together they have a blended family that includes seven grandsons.
While raising her children in Southern Oregon, Jeannette Paulson began storytelling at the Jackson County Library. In 1963, she co-founded the Storytelling Guild and served as its first president. Under her leadership, the Guild established the Children’s Festival in 1964 at the Peter Britt Gardens in Jacksonville, Oregon. Both the Guild and the festival continue to operate today.
She also wrote and performed two autobiographical one-woman shows, ''Wild Wisdom'' (2017) and ''When Strangers Meet'' (2019), which she performed in Hawai‘i, California, and Oregon.
Awards and Recognition
- Busan International Korean Cinema Award 2009 for lifetime promotion of Korean cinema[7] (2009)
- Hawai‘i International Film Festival Legacy Award[5]
- Zonta Southern Oregon's 1973 Woman of the Year (1973)
- Honolulu YWCA Most Outstanding Woman in Arts and Humanities 1984 (1984)
- Digital Business of the Year (2009)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Hereniko, Jeannette (August 1, 2025). "Jeannette Hereniko Autobiography". Jeannette Hereniko. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "About Us". asiapacificfilms.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Wilcox, Leslie (January 10, 2017). "Jeannette Paulson Hereniko | Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox". PBS Hawai'i.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Everly, Hubert V. (December 1964). "E.T. V. In The College Of Education". UH College of Education. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Hawaiʻi International Film Festival", Wikipedia, July 28, 2025, retrieved August 2, 2025
- ^ "NETPAC USA". NETPAC USA. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Myung-Gu, Han (October 9, 2009). "Pusan International Film Festival Day 2". LIFE. life.com. Retrieved October 28, 2009.