MEDIA RELEASE

Katsu Goto (left), actor Kimo Apaka (right)

Katsu Goto’s incredible but true story, a powerful saga of hope and inspiration arising from tragedy, is the subject of a remarkable new documentary about a poignant chapter in Hawai‘i’s history. Today, more than 130 years after Goto arrived in the Islands to work on a sugar plantation, his story is being given new life with the vision of filmmakers Patsy Iwasaki and Danny Miller. Their presentation at the Lyman Museum explores the research and making of “Honoka‘a Hero: The Story of Katsu Goto”—a film spanning his life as plantation laborer, to successful businessman and labor rights advocate, to his tragic lynching in Honoka‘a town in 1888. The documentary features historical reenactments by students from UH-Hilo’s Performing Arts Department and its Chair, Dr. Jackie Pualani Johnson. Joining Iwasaki and Miller is Dr. Yoshinori Kato, a researcher who shares some of his important contributions to the film. This program is being offered on two occasions at the Lyman Museum on Monday, March 6, 7-8:30 p.m., and a matinée on Tuesday, March 7, 3-4:30 p.m.

The nationally accredited and Smithsonian-affiliated Lyman Museum showcases the natural and cultural history of Hawai‘i. Located in historic downtown Hilo at 276 Haili Street, the Museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For more information, call (808) 935-5021 or visit www.lymanmuseum.org

Some of the cast and crew of the Katsu Goto movie project at the D. Uchida – Kona Coffee Living History Farm.