{"id":1238,"date":"2018-06-13T22:39:44","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T22:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2018-08-24T22:41:03","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T22:41:03","slug":"maui-fest-unspools-eclectic-slate-while-neighboring-volcano-erupts-in-distance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/new\/maui-fest-unspools-eclectic-slate-while-neighboring-volcano-erupts-in-distance\/","title":{"rendered":"Maui Fest Unspools Eclectic Slate While Neighboring Volcano Erupts in Distance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VarietyLogo1\"<\/a>The Maui Film Festival celebrates its 19th anniversary this year, and, despite taking place in an ever-more crowded calendar of summer film fests, its popularity continues to grow. The event attracts locals and mainlanders alike, and draws both casual fans and ardent cineastes with its unique mixture of sun, sand and life-affirming cinema.<\/p>\n

And this time around, in an unexpected turn, the eruption of the Kilauea Volcano on the neighboring Big Island of Hawaii has raised the Maui fest\u2019s profile to new highs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople shouldn\u2019t worry,\u201d says fest founder and director Barry Rivers. \u201cThat\u2019s 100 miles away and we\u2019re not affected at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers stresses that Maui\u2019s rugged beauty, with its beaches, ocean and backdrop of mountains and jungle, makes it \u201ca very special location \u2014 and a lot of the festival is held outdoors.\u201d Venues include the Celestial Cinema at the Wailea Gold & Emerald Golf Course, and the Toes-in-the-Sand Cinema on Wailea Beach at the Four Seasons.<\/p>\n

The fest\u2019s mission statement is \u201cPassionately created. Intelligently designed. Endlessly inspiring.\u201d This \u201creaffirms to people what we\u2019re trying to do with the festival through the choices we\u2019ve made in our programming,\u201d says Rivers.<\/p>\n

Opening night kicks off with Aussie indie \u201cFind Your Voice,\u201d starring \u201cWhale Rider\u201d star Keisha Castle-Hughes and Adam Saunders as a Maori rapper. This is followed by \u201cStay Human,\u201d a documentary about musician Michael Franti. \u201cIt\u2019s a pairing that really works well and encapsulates what the festival\u2019s about,\u201d Rivers says.<\/p>\n

The festival will close with another double bill: \u201cSerengeti Rules\u201d and \u201cShe Is the Ocean.\u201d \u201c \u2018Serengeti\u2019 is one of the most beautiful, visually stunning documentaries I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d says Rivers. \u201cThey shot in the Serengeti but also in the Aleutian Islands, the Pacific Northwest and Peru, and it\u2019s all about our need to preserve the balance of life on Earth. It\u2019s an extremely hopeful film. \u2018She Is the Ocean\u2019 is a wonderful documentary about nine women and their relationship to the ocean, and the second part of a trilogy from director Innesse Biohina.\u201d<\/p>\n

In between, the fest will present an eclectic program. Highlights include \u201cDon\u2019t Worry, He Won\u2019t Get Far on Foot,\u201d starring Jonah Hill and Joaquin Phoenix, directed by Gus Van Sant; \u201cIdeal Home,\u201d a dramedy starring Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan, directed by Andrew Fleming; \u201cThe Bookshop,\u201d starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson; and \u201cDirt Rich,\u201d which Rivers calls \u201ca documentary about healthy soil that blew my mind,\u201d<\/p>\n

Also screening: \u201cLiving in the Future\u2019s Past,\u201d starring and narrated by Jeff Bridges, which Rivers calls \u201ca beautifully shot documentary about the evolution of culture and technology\u201d; \u201cLeave No Trace\u201d; \u201cAndy Irons\u201d; \u201cKissed by God\u201d; \u201cBack to Burgundy\u201d; \u201cOff the Menu\u201d; and \u201cCalling All Earthlings,\u201d about UFOs and alien life. <\/p>\n

In addition, the fest will present filmmaker panels, Q&A sessions, honoree events and private VIP soirees, as well as its famed open-to-all themed culinary celebrations: Taste of Summer, Taste of Chocolate and Taste of Wailea.<\/p>\n

View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maui Film Festival celebrates its 19th anniversary this year, and, despite taking place in an ever-more crowded calendar of summer film fests, its popularity continues to grow. The event attracts locals and mainlanders alike, and draws both casual fans and ardent cineastes with its unique mixture of sun, sand and life-affirming cinema. And this
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