Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts to Host Screening of IAKWE: Hello, Goodbye

Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts will host a screening and celebration of the short narrative film IAKWE: Hello, Goodbye from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17 in the Mullins Library Event Space (MULN 217).

The event is presented in partnership with the Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese and filmmaker Nathan Fitch. A panel discussion featuring Fitch, actors and crew members will follow the screening, along with music and refreshments.

IAKWE: Hello, Goodbye is based on events from the life of the film's lead actor, Jacob Aija Aini Hawkes. The film follows a young traveling salesman who, after being adopted at birth, meets his biological relatives for the first time while going door to door in Northwest Arkansas. The story explores family connections from a Pacific Islander and Marshallese perspective.

Fitch filmed the movie in Springdale and worked with members of the Northwest Arkansas community throughout the project, including students from Springdale High School's media production program.

The post-screening panel will offer an opportunity for attendees to hear from members of the film's creative team about the project and its connections to the Marshallese community in Northwest Arkansas.

The event also will feature a performance by MARK Harmony, a four-piece Marshallese musical group. Members Matthew, Arsi, Raygon and Kairo began performing together in 2018 as part of an effort to raise cultural awareness of the Marshallese people, their shared nuclear legacy and climate change through music and songwriting.

Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts is a statewide program of the University of Arkansas Libraries dedicated to documenting, presenting and sustaining Arkansas' living traditional arts and folklife. The program develops and supports projects and programming in collaboration with Arkansas residents, with an emphasis on rural and underrepresented artistic traditions.

Questions about the event may be directed to Lauren Willette at willette@uark.edu.