The inaugural Wailuku Film Fest just wrapped on Maui, after five days of events. The festival ran from Wednesday, June 17, through Sunday, June 21, with screenings at ʻĪao Theater, Naylor Theater and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
“It was remarkable,” Brian Kohne, the festival director and Maui film commissioner told Aloha State Daily this week. “We exceeded our expectations in all areas. It was an ambitious vision, and one that our team somehow managed to execute. The community showed up in great numbers with enthusiasm. From beginning to end, it just couldn't have been more magical.”
The first four days of screenings took place at ʻĪao Theater and Naylor Theater. For Kohne, seeing crowds in front of the historic ʻĪao Theater, which opened in 1928, was memorable.
“That was probably the most significant for me personally was just having this beautiful gem — historic ʻĪao Theater will be 100 next year — and just being able to live my own childhood dream and be walking into this beautiful building and seeing her alive with cinema.”
The five-day event brought extra customers to a number of local businesses, including food trucks, bars, restaurants and galleries. One food truck told festival organizers that on the second day of the festival, she was making $3,000 more than she would on a normal day, according to Kohne.
He estimates that over the entire festival there was a combined audience of 5,000 to 6,000 unique visitors. Attendees were mostly kamaʻāina and the exact number of funds raised were still “coming to bear,” Kohne told ASD.
“Whatever numbers we might have done mean nothing in comparison to the uplift Wailuku Film Festival might have had on the local businesses because that is also what this was about,” he continued. “It’s about filmmakers. It’s about telling our stories, but it was about bringing pride back into Wailuku and invigorating a town through the arts that are on the rise.”
The final day of the festival drew close to 1,300 people, Kohne estimates, for the Best of the Wailuku Film Festival, which presented encore performances of the films that audiences and jurors loved most at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
The finale featured “Lahaina Rising,” which was selected by the jury for Best Hawaiʻi Feature, “Concrete & Salt,” which won audience choice for Best Hawaiʻi Short, Jack Johnson’s “Surfilmusic,” which won audience choice for Best Watersports Feature, and “Finding True North,” a film about an adaptive surfer, which won audience choice Best Watersports Short and received a standing ovation.
“Chicken skin, that one,” Kohne said.
Lahaina residents were able to see “Lahaina Rising” for free at the MACC due to support from GoFundMe and Imua Maui Nei.
These films won festival awards chosen by a jury:
Best High School: “Resilient Reefs” by Autumn Hoida, Myrna Zsofia Mesler, August Eyerman, Makyah Kotter and “Toilet World” by Bill Richards, Ezekiel Kanana-Namauu, Manny Dukelow
Best College: “Nā Kāne ʻElima,” directed by Ethan Chang, and “James,” directed by Anne Di Martino
Best Hawaiʻi Feature:“Lahaina Rising,” directed by Matty Schweitzer
Best Hawaiʻi Documentary Short: “Sacred Island: Living the Dream” directed by Blake Abes
Best Indigenous Documentary Short: “Māhū: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter,” directed by Lisette Marie Flanary
Best Indigenous Narrative Short:“Kūkini,” directed by Mitchel Merrick
Best Indigenous Feature: “The Stolen Children of Aotearoa,” directed by Julian Arahanga
Best Indigenous Narrative Short: “Courage,” directed by Eric Michael Hernandez
Best Watersports Feature: “Harbor Chronicles ʻShaping a Legacy,’ ” directed by Chris Sardelis
Best Watersports Short: “The Sea & She” directed by Tyler Shortt
Best Animated Short: “The City on the Edge of Whatever,” directed by Naynay McDermott
These films won festival awards chosen by the audience:
Best Hawaiʻi Short: “Concrete & Salt," directed by Austin Alimbuyuguen
Best Indigenous Feature: “Mālama Mākua," directed by Mikey Inouye
Best Indigenous Documentary Short: “Remembering Wai," directed by De Andre Makakoa Takahashi
Best Indigenous Narrative Short: “Kapō Ma’i Lele (Kapo and her Flying Lady Parts)," directed by Laura Margulies & Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
Best Watersports Feature: “Surfilmusic,” directed by Emmett Malloy
Best Watersports Short:“Finding True North,” directed by Matty Schweitzer
“Over the four days, not only was it a lot of people around that were buying, but now people have an awareness that Wailuku is this dynamic, very local town, and there's a lot to offer,” Kohne said. “We want to believe that's certainly one of the immediate legacies of our efforts.”
During the festival, filmmaker and writer Destin Daniel Cretton, who is the director of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, returned to Maui to work with students of the Hisako Film Lab, a nonprofit that provides hands-on filmmaking instruction to Maui’s youth.
"The Wailuku Film Festival is a celebration of the aspects of cinema and storytelling that really matter," shared Cretton in a written statement. "The programming highlights a beautifully diverse lineup of films that challenge, inspire, entertain and spark thoughtful dialogue regardless of your cultural background. I left the festival feeling more connected to my home and full of hope for our future. I can’t wait for next year.”
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Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
