An award-winning film that chronicles the lives of three women who were instrumental in preserving Hawaiian culture will be featured tonight in the ongoing Traditions of the Pacific 2008 Hula Film Festival at the Bishop Museum.

"Keepers of the Flame: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women," a film by Eddie and Myrna Kamae, will be shown at 7 tonight at the Atherton Halau, Bishop Museum.

The film tells the stories of Mary Kawena Pukui, 'Iolani Luahine and Edith Kanaka'ole, who "helped revive the flame of traditional Hawaiian culture — a flame that had almost died," said Eddie Kamae, in a written statement.

Eddie Kamae will perform at 6:30 p.m.

"Keepers of the Flame" is the seventh film in Bishop Museum's 10-part Hula Film Festival series. It is part of the Museum's popular Traditions of the Pacific 2008: The Year of Hula, an ongoing series of educational programs.

The next lecture, "From Mele to Hula," will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 16. The lecture, by kumu hula J. Kimo Alama Keaulana, will explore the process involved in translating words and meanings of mele and oli into movement. Keaulana is also a Hawaiian-language instructor and consultant. He has translated more than 1,000 songs and chants of the Bishop Museum collection which are widely used by kumu hula and entertainers.

General admission to the film series is $5; free to Bishop Museum members.

For more information about the Traditions of the Pacific programs, go to www.bishop museum.org or call the Membership Office at 847-8296.

The Hula Film Festival is presented by Kamehameha Schools, Ka'iwakiloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center, with additional support from JTB Goodwill Foundation.