Laurie Sumiye–the artist-filmmaker who directed the striking documentary “A Paradise Lost,” a live action/animation hybrid telling the story of the Palila, a small, yellow bird, found only on the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, and for whom a landmark lawsuit was filed in 1978 to prevent its extinction—recalls growing up in Hawaii, more interested in drawing birds than interacting with them.
She enthuses about a variety of birds, but more as an artist sketching them than as any kind of aspiring birder. We discuss “Struggle For Existence,” her thesis film made to graduate from Hunter College. It was a short doc that ended up being a precursor to “A Paradise Lost,” including the melding of live action and animation, and a focus on the Palila.
Sumiye recounts being informed that she needed to continue the “Struggle For Existence” storytelling—there was a good deal more to address about the still-unfolding Palila saga. So, she evaluated everything from pending storylines that would sustain a feature-length film, to what kind of financial resources were available to underwrite that kind of project. (The Corporation for Public Broadcasting [CPB] provided funding–“A Paradise Lost” airs on PBS, nationally, on Sept. 3.) And once all those pieces were in place, she got to work making the innovative, feature-length “A Paradise Lost,” which was slated for a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles, starting on July 31. Sumiye outlined special interviews on assorted topics in the Q&As that were scheduled with certain New York screenings, presented at Firehouse, DCTV’s Cinema for Documentary Film (https://www.dctvny.org/s/firehouse-film/a-paradise-lost-MCMXKMSQCYI5FVJCCAS77CZ2BT4E) Sumiye addresses the virtues of her now-longstanding 
filmmaking proclivity to employ animation—the way it adds a broader dimension to the storytelling, as well as how it can flesh out pivotal portions of a film that might lack compelling
live-action footage. We proceed to touching on another inventive storytelling method that courses through “A Paradise Lost”: having the (stuffed) Palila—that sat on the table during the original trial–serve as narrator, directly representing the Palilas’ point of view. We conclude the conversation with Sumiye responding to my observation that many people who see the film will likely be surprised by the degree to which Hawaii is home to so many endangered species and more than a few that are on the cusp of becoming extinct. Indeed, one expert interviewed in the film says, “Hawaii is the endangered species capital of the world,” while another says, “People don’t realize Hawaii is in an extinction crisis.” She speaks to the various facets of the fragility of species in Hawaii, citing as one example a Palila-related bird, highly endangered, found only in an upper elevation on the island of Kauai, immensely vulnerable to the bite of a particular mosquito, which would be fatal. Clearly, Hawaii involves a complex, frail ecosystem—expertly depicted here as the film goes about tracing the notable, gripping tale of this historic yellow bird. (https://www.aparadiselostmovie.com/)
ALSO: I spoke with Kathy Hofstad, whose cat, Bentley, was recently honored with a special award for the work he does as a volunteer therapy cat at St. Joseph’s Hospital-South in Riverview. A 14-year-old Chinchilla Persian, Bentley received the Animal Law Section’s 2026 Rikki Mitchell Memorial Animal Achievement Award, during the section’s Florida Bar Convention meeting in June. We only heard about this a few days ago, and wanted to congratulate Bentley—and his human, Kathy—with this chat, where we learned a bit about this award-winning cat. For example, he sauntered into the therapy animal realm in the Fall of 2024, prompted by Kathy feeling he had just the right temperament for that work. Bentley, Kathy explains, reports to the hospital on Tuesday mornings, putting in a two and a half hour shift, typically visiting patients for anywhere from 2 to 5-6 minutes. He settles into the patients’ bed, sometimes he purrs, clearly bringing them great comfort. Hospitals and patients are unaccustomed to cats serving as comfort animals—indeed, Kathy notes that cats represent 2-3% of the comfort-animal population. Bentley otherwise remains a regular, if striking-looking, cat: When not working at the hospital, she says, he spends much of his time napping and looking out the window.
COMEDY CORNER: Joe Zimmerman’s “Every Bird” (https://www.zimmermancomedy.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
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