Directed by Hawaiian nature artist Laurie Sumiye, A Paradise Lost is a hybrid animated/live-action documentary that follows the plight of a small, yellow bird who sued to prevent its extinction in Palila v. Hawaii in 1979.
The Palila, found only on Mauna Kea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, remains one of the rarest birds in the world. During the court case, a stuffed Palila sat at the table during the historic environmental lawsuit that established habitat protections for American endangered species. This Palila specimen narrates the film from its POV. Today, the endangered finch’s prognosis is critical; a Native Hawaiian conservationist strives to restore Palila’s native forest lost to climate change, cattle ranching, and sheep grazing.
A Paradise Lost made its world premiere at the 2025 Hawaii International Film Festival and will receive a limited theatrical release in NY & LA, running July 31st through Aug 6th, 2026 via Blooming Ink Pictures. In New York, the film will play at DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema for one week starting July 31st. In Los Angeles, the film will play Sunday, Aug 2-Tues, Aug 4, 2026, at the Now Instant Theater and Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles.
Following its East Coast debut in New York, the film will be presented on PBS nationally and select global airlines.
A Paradise Lost sweeps audiences to a Pacific island wilderness straight into the struggle of Palila on Hawaii Island, journeying into misty sub-alpine forests. The doc from the Bird Extinction Capital of the World has been a decade in the making, uncovering the decades-long battle with hunters against restoring Palila’s habitat and removing introduced game animals eating native forests, pushing the bird to the edge of extinction. Through intimate interviews, colorful animation, and stunning footage of Mauna Kea, the film highlights Hawaii in a way most people have never experienced.
Watch the official trailer for A Paradise Lost above.
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