Auli'i Cravalho on Her New Documentary Reef Builders and Giving Flowers to Indigenous Communities

Yahoo

18-04-2025

After smashing box office records in Moana 2 and coming down from a four-month Broadway run as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Auli'i Cravalho took on a new project as associate producer of Reef Builders, a new documentary available to stream now on Prime Video. The documentary highlights the work of Sheba Hope Grows, 'one of the world's largest coral reef restoration programs.'
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Coral reefs are considered among the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet, and half of the world's reefs are damaged due to changing water temperatures, ocean acidification, pollution, invasive species, changing weather patterns, and physical impacts from ship groundings and storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Reefs are an integral part of communities around the world, as they provide habitat, and feeding, spawning, and nursery grounds for more than a million aquatic species, including commercially harvested fish species.
Places like the South Pacific are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change; the coral reef loss in this region has resulted in food insecurity for islands with ocean-based economies. Nearly 70% of the region's population depends on agriculture for its livelihood, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Cravalho, who is Kānaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiian, says she loved being able to highlight the experience of Indigenous communities around the world. 'What was most important to me in being behind the camera was the tone and how we were going to show these communities onscreen,' she tells Teen Vogue. 'I was very aware of Hawai'i, of course, but we also touched upon places like Indonesia, Kenya, and Australia."
She continues, "There are so many different methods to reef building. All of them are important, and I appreciated the sentiment that we are a community of reef builders who are connected by this ocean, who are affected — as people on the front lines usually are — by climate change, from the erosion of reefs to coral bleaching.'
Below, Cravalho tells Teen Vogue more about the the new documentary, how to get involved in climate action, and what's next for her.
This conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Can you share more about the film and how you became involved as a producer?
Auli'i Cravalho: I have always been rooting for oceans — I've always been that girl. My specific love for the scientific side of this actually started in high school. I was in a summer science institute for molecular cell biology, and my particular field of study was that I tested the efficacy of different invasive algae and how well they filtered UVA, B, and C rays. [I was] hoping to find a natural form of sunscreen because I have really sensitive skin, but also because Hawai'i had banned certain sunscreens that were chemical based with oxybenzone and octinoxate, so just trying to find kind of a solution and wanting to be part of that larger ocean space and that solutions-based kind of conversation.
That same summer I auditioned for Moana and my life changed drastically. So this feels kind of like coming back to that. I attended the International Coral Reef Symposium with my friends at Kuleana Coral two years ago, and it was after those conversations that I realized, 'My God, you're doing such wonderful work! Who else is a part of the Sheba Hope Grows program?' As this documentary was kind of coming together, I learned about it. They approached me and I said, 'I would love to continue telling this story.'
It just felt really important to have a film give flowers to these communities that are also taking charge of their own restoration. We own this and we want to stay in our homelands, so we will rebuild.
I love that. I think it's really important to highlight that the problem is affecting Indigenous communities around the world. From your perspective as Kānaka Maoli, what does the restoration mean, and how does it impact your community?
AC: For a while I thought the restoration space was dominated by the scientific community and I didn't really see myself as a part of it. I don't have a college degree, but I do have a love for my homeland, and I do have a lot of passion.
What I loved most working with Kuleana and their collaboration with Sheba is that they are given the funds to educate. They're given the funds to do outreach programs with the local community. They have the opportunity to reach out to those people affected in Maui to work on the improper management of water and how that waste affects the coral communities out in the ocean. It is a much larger conversation that the community needs to be a part of.
And I liked that there was a lot of listening taking place — I learned so much by being a fly on the wall. And I appreciated how everyone's techniques are different depending on the community that you speak to, and that is respected.
In Hawai'i we have such large swells. Our winter swells really take over and knock over quite a few large coral colonies, so that was our major concern of how we can do this work. But then also, how to engage in the community, how to make sure that they understand we're not just messing things up — because there is so much that happens without communication.
So part of this film is explaining the process of getting permitting, and that is a struggle, but also one that is difficult out of protectiveness of our oceans. It's a conversation about this solutions-based thinking that needed to have happened yesterday, but if it's happening today, let us tell you how it works, why it works, and ask you to be part of it.
I am really glad that this is the conversation we're having because so often solutions are brought forward with funding, but that only lasts a couple of years, and this feels like an ownership over our own oceans. That's what will make the difference in the long run.
What can young people who watch this do to take action? How are they able to get involved in climate action and reef restoration?
AC: [I'm] starting this answer off with acknowledgement that these conversations can feel overwhelming. There's so much anxiousness and heaviness in our hearts and on our shoulders to do the right thing to fix the problems of the world. I have found, personally, that doing the work in my own backyard makes me feel good. And that small step is, I think, what makes all the difference. Truly, that I have found my space; I love my oceans, I'm going to rep coral. You know what I mean?
That makes me happy and it's something I'm passionate about. As young people, we just have that drive to make a difference. You can find that in your own backyard. You can join an arts program. You can pick up trash whenever you see it at the park or at the beach. You can join your local Sierra Club. You can go on hikes. You can learn about your native flora and fauna. You can tell stories of your ancestors. That sense of community only happens around other people, right?
A lot of our news is digested through the internet, and that disconnect is real. It disconnects us also from the solutions that these grassroots organizations are doing. If you just look up 'nonprofits in my area,' you'll find your people and whatever that might be.
You mentioned that these conversations can feel overwhelming. Do you feel like there's a lot of ?
AC: I think that there is an expectation of me. I think that there is an expectation of all of us, that we should all just be doing more. But I think there's also a sense that we could be doing a little less — we could be consuming less. It's hard to strike that balance. It's hard to figure out what's right and wrong.
I just had a conversation with a friend yesterday, and when I was talking about sunscreens that were banned in Hawai'i, she went, 'What? What do you mean?' And that's a completely real conversation. We've banned oxybenzone and octinoxate because they harm our coral reefs, and people don't know that.
So there's just a lot of information out there. You do your best, and you do your best to be informed, and you do your best to remain limber and loose when new information comes in. I made the best decisions when I had this set of information, and now that information has changed.
Be kind to your neighbors because, my gosh, we are all just trying to live in this world that is capitalistic, and no one has enough. We all feel that we need to be doing more or have more. So I have no set advice besides, just do your best and let the rest go, because your mental [health] is also its own job.
What are your plans for the future? Do you have plans to produce more films like this?
AC: Yes, I absolutely do. I was really taken by the space. I loved that it wasn't scripted. I loved that we got to meet people where they were, and tell their stories in their own words. This was not to write down what they say and put it into a pretty little capsule; they spoke about their truth in this film. And I loved learning about different communities.
I think there is absolutely more story to tell for Indigenous communities. I'm very grateful to be learning what it's like to be behind the camera, because it sets the tone for how a story is told when you have someone rooting for you backstage and behind the scenes. I like being that person.
I'm also fundamentally curious, so I hope to continue asking questions and growing and eventually work my way up to directing. But I've got a long way to go till then, and I'm happy to take my time.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
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