Q&A with Don Muña: 'Language transmission is making a comeback'

Don Muna

By Jack Niedenthal

Don Muña is an award-winning CHamoru filmmaker from Guam. He co-founded the Guam International Film Festival, has helped develop the local film industry and is an executive producer at PBS Guam. His work has earned multiple honors and has been studied internationally. My relationship with Don goes back to 2010 when I attended the inaugural Guam International Film Festival.

Pacific Island Times: PBS Guam plays a unique role in your island community. How do you see the mission of PBS Guam differing from commercial media, and why is public broadcasting especially important for Guam?

Don Muña: PBS differs from commercial media primarily because we focus on education. Public broadcasting serves the interests of the community. Without that, many issues would be left to social media and individual interpretations. As information becomes more decentralized, culture and history can become watered down. Public broadcasting helps provide a trusted source of information and cultural authenticity.

PIT: As executive producer of PBS Guam, what are some of the most important stories that public television should be telling today about Guam and the CHamoru culture? How do those stories differ from what you might see on commercial television?

DM: The most important stories are the ones that are true. One advantage of being in the middle of the Pacific is that we can focus on telling stories honestly. Many of our most valuable stories have been passed down through generations but have never been recorded. The challenge is finding and authenticating them. Those are exactly the kinds of stories PBS should be preserving and sharing.

PIT: Many Pacific cultures are concerned about preserving language, history, and traditional knowledge. How can PBS Guam help ensure future generations remain connected to their cultural identity?

DM: We tell what we know and what we discover. Recently, we received support through a collaboration involving the American Archive of Public Broadcasting to digitize nearly 2,000 tapes from our archives. These recordings contain many of our older stories and cultural records. Projects like this help keep our people connected to their history and identity.

PIT: Preserving culture in the Pacific is becoming increasingly difficult. Guam faces strong Western influences, and we see similar challenges in the Marshall Islands. What is being done to help keep the CHamoru language and culture alive?

DM: Interestingly, young people in Guam are doing better with the language than my generation did. Many of us who are descendants of World War II survivors did not become fluent speakers. But now there is renewed pride in learning Chamoru. Our generation is making a conscious effort to ensure our children learn the language. In a way, language transmission seems to have skipped a generation, but now it is making a comeback.

PIT: That’s interesting. My own children grew up fully bilingual in English and Marshallese, but many of my grandchildren are learning Marshallese more as a second language.

DM: It’s difficult. We’re living in a period of rapid change, and so much of our daily life now revolves around technology. More and more children are spending their time on devices. It’s something we all have to pay attention to.

PIT: Along with your brother Kel, you were one of the founders of the Guam International Film Festival. Looking back, what impact do you think GIFF had on Guam’s creative community and local film industry?

DM: Timing was important. Digital filmmaking technology had finally become affordable for ordinary people, which is how Kel and I got started. GIFF helped local filmmakers make connections with others in the industry. It created opportunities for networking, collaboration, and exposure that simply didn’t exist before.

PIT: What about the possibility of bringing GIFF back?

DM: There are a lot of moving parts involved in organizing a film festival. Most people would rather attend one than run one. That said, I see two possible models.

The first is the original GIFF—a community festival focused on showcasing films. Over time, it grew into something larger, attracting filmmakers from around the world who wanted to screen their work in Guam.

The second model is one that could help build a genuine film industry and create media-related jobs for local people. That would require government support through permitting assistance, tax credits and incentives for off-island productions. A future version of GIFF with that kind of economic impact would require serious planning and government involvement.

PIT: You mention government and tourism support. Guam certainly offers the type of tropical setting that some productions seek. Is that being actively promoted today?

DM: Not really, at least not in a coordinated way. Some Asian production companies come to Guam to film television programs, music videos and other projects. Korean and Japanese productions are among the most common. The most recent major U.S.-based production was Netflix’s "Operation Christmas Drop." I’ve heard the production spent more than a million dollars locally, although I’m not sure exactly how much of the film was actually shot on Guam.

PIT: When you and your team created the feature film set in Guam, "Shiro’s Head," were you writing for an American audience or a local audience? And when you’re creating content for PBS Guam, are you thinking locally or globally?

DM: We’re pretty selfish creators in that regard—we create primarily for local audiences. There is some thought given to the Chamoru diaspora living abroad, but our focus is on telling our own stories. We want to paint an authentic picture of our culture that anyone can appreciate. At PBS, we occasionally broaden our focus, but most of our content is created first and foremost for the people of Guam and the Mariana Islands.

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PIT: Looking ahead, what is the vision for PBS Guam? How do you compete in a world dominated by social media, where everyone can be a broadcaster?

DM: We’re still figuring that out. We’re constantly asking what PBS can uniquely contribute to our community. One area where we’ve always had success is localized live broadcasting. We’re working towards covering live sporting events such as jiu-jitsu, soccer and basketball, all of which are very popular with local audiences.

There are countless stories to tell within our own communities and new technologies provide new ways to tell them. Our challenge is to continue using those tools to create content that remains relevant and meaningful to our people.

PIT: What are the most popular programs on PBS Guam?

DM: Sports are always popular. Programming focused on young people also does very well. And anything featuring our manåmko’—our elders—and our culture tends to attract strong audiences. Cultural programming continues to resonate deeply with our viewers.

   Jack Niedenthal is the former secretary of Health Services for the Marshall Islands, where he has lived and worked for 45 years. He is the author of “For the Good of Mankind, An Oral History of the People of Bikini,” and president of Microwave Films, which has produced six award-winning feature films in the Marshallese language. Send feedback to jackniedenthal@gmail.com

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