Gemma will be inducted into the the Emmy Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science ( NATAS) in the upcoming News and Documentary Emmy Ceremony in NYC this month!

Sharing words and photos from the Paulus Akademie in Zurich this month.

“We have had a great evening watching your film with your special intro and speaking about the film, its genre and its topics. The audience was touched and impressed by the richness of the film, by its humor and deepness, by the different stories the film tells, by your honest role as director and involved woman at the same time and by the beauty of the pictures caught by the camera. We posted a review with a few pictures of the event on our webpage” – The programming team

Link: https://www.paulusakademie.ch/the-island-in-me/

Both films have been selected to screen in Switzerland and Germany as part of the World Day of Prayer!

To give you some context, since I was not familiar myself with this world wide event, in 1927 a World Day of Prayer was celebrated internationally for the first time by Christian women of different denominations. It was established in the United States out of a desire to create peace and build community. The women of the World Day of Prayer also established important signals for peace and reconciliation and I was told that also fought for equal rights for women in church and society. These women of this event were among the first ones to campaign for environmental protection. They fearlessly stood up against racism and intolerance.

This event is nowadays celebrated on the same date in March in more than 150 countries around the world.

Every year a different country or region in the world will be featured and liturgy and spiritual materials as well as films will be offered to create dialogue. The women in their communities will be able to use these resources to create awareness and dialogue.

This year the country chosen is The Cook Islands and the organizers have chose both films about Pukapuka to show to communities around the world.

I have been told by a dear friend from Switzerland that The World of Day of Prayer is a way to honor different spiritual ways of life all over the world.

The World Day of Prayer will take place on March 7th and tomorrow as a preview to this day The Island In Me will screen at the Paulus Akademie in Zurich.

For more information visit the link below: https://www.paulusakademie.ch/

Deeply grateful for all the gifts that making these two films have brought into our lives and to Johnny, Amelia and EVERY Pukapukan and Cook Islander who was part of these two film productions!

Virtual Q&A with Otto and Gemma on PBS Hawai’i from 2 to 3:30pm.

Screening is open to everyone, anywhere!

Date: May 29th from 1 to 2:30pm Hawai’i, the last 30 minutes are dedicated to answer your questions.

Calculate your time here

RSVP here now by May 24th to receive your zoom link and participate! 

Visit PBSHawaii.org