Jon Heder, center, is the lovable anti-hero of "Napoleon Dynamite," the story of boys trying to negotiate the turbulent waters of high school. The film co-stars Jon Gries, left, and Aaron Ruell as Napoleon's friends.
A festival offers 65 films over
5 days of screenings, partying
and star-gazing
Five years ago director Tim Burton stood before a crowd of some 1,000 at Maui Film Festival's Celestial Cinema outdoor theater to accept the inaugural event's top award for lifetime achievement in cinema. Problem was, the crystal Silversword trophy hadn't arrived, so sweating festival executive director Barry Rivers pretended to hand Burton the imaginary trophy.
The renowned director stared at Rivers, his empty hands, then at an eerily quiet audience. Slowly, a smile spread over the director's face.
Maui Film Festival @ Wailea
Dates: June 16 through 20Places: Celestial Cinema at Wailea, Maui SkyDome at Wailea Marriott, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, SandDance Silent Film Classics Theater on Wailea Beach
Tickets: $10 to $20, available online at mauifilmfestival.com; in person at outlets including Borders Books & Music (starting Friday) and The Shops at Wailea (beginning June 11).
E-mail reservations: Available on first-come, first-served basis for special events; tributes and receptions through boxoffice@mauifilmfestival.com. Provide name, phone number(s) and list of desired events.
Call: (808) 579-9244
"It's the most beautiful award I've ever received," Burton chirped, wiping away an imaginary tear. "I'm, I'm so not worthy."
The director reached for the invisible award, threw an arm around Rivers, and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.
This year's festival, running June 16 to 20, has all its awards well in hand, including the traditional Silversword and Stella, plus three new honors -- for a Maverick, Pathfinder and Trailblazer. Movie lovers will be treated to 65 films, the most ever, at five venues.
While the inaugural event was staged on a shoestring budget, this year's festival is powered by a record budget of nearly $1 million, plus in-kind donations. Its biggest sponsor is presenter Tommy Bahama, and some funds will trickle in from sales of event passes, topping out at $2,500 for a Galaxy Pass that includes admission to films, tributes and special events such as food tastings and a Father's Day concert.
"This festival has been a real challenge to take it to the next level," said Rivers, who created the event with wife Stella. "But it's not a question if we should, but that we must."
Producer Ted Hope, a producer of the films "21 Grams," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "American Splendor" and "The Door in the Floor," will be honored with the first Trailblazer award. Academy Award-nominee actor Angela Bassett also will receive an award and political humorist Bill Maher will pick up the Maverick Award, the first person outside the film industry to be honored at the festival. Academy Award winner Adrien Brody will be back for a third visit.
One of Rivers' biggest coups will be five days of international cable coverage provided by CNN. A dozen CNN crewmembers, including Sibila Vargas ("Reality TV"), will prepare 32 stories from several locations, including the Celestial Cinema and Taste of Wailea. CNN also will run a story on its Web site a week prior to the event.
Rivers expects the worldwide TV coverage "to result in a sea change in the festival. If it doesn't create a tsunami-sized wave of interest, I will be surprised."
Since childhood, Julien and Sophie (Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard) have dared each other to perform various stunts -- wearing an external bra, for example. In "Love Me if You Dare," their challenges grow bolder and they fall in love.
Rivers describes this year's films as "the strongest in our history ... smart summer movies from major and minor studios." The selection continues to embody the festival philosophy of "compassionate vision, life-affirming storytelling and freedom of artistic and political expression."
"The quality of these films also reflect Hollywood's commitment to the festival," he said.
Some of the films selected from among 1,033 entries -- up from last year's 688 -- are Paramount Classics' French comedy "Love Me If You Dare," Lions Gate's "Danny Deckchair" and "Open Water," Fox Searchlight's "Garden State" and "Napoleon Dynamite," HBO Films' "Everyday People" and Fine Line's U.S.-Colombian drama "Maria Full of Grace."
Documentaries are a large part of the program, making up three of five screenings at the Maui Digital SkyDome on the Wailea Marriott rooftop: Buena Vista's "America's Heart & Soul," the Hawaiian surf film "The Ride" (not the Nathan Kurosawa drama shown at last year's Hawaii International Film Festival) and "Farther Than the Eye Can See," about a legally blind climber who made it to the top of Mount Everest.
Several documentaries will be shown at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului: Magnolia's "Control Room," which looks at Al-Jazeera coverage of the war on Iraq; IFC Films' "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster"; "Parallel Lines," the odyssey of a filmmaker in search of America in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; "Mauna Kea -- Temple Under Siege," about the conflict between cultural tradition and scientific research; and "Until the Violence Stops," a focus on the V-Day women's movement.
The political nature of many films reflects world conditions, Rivers said. "Unless you're living in a cave somewhere -- no pun intended -- the world right now seems like an especially political sphere of reality, especially with an election coming up." (Sources say a recent controversial film may receive a surprise screening.)
Obtaining good films is not Rivers' biggest challenge; it's getting filmmakers to attend. Although Maui is an attraction, many "stars" require private jets so they can avoid airport check-in and security hassles. The festival does not yet have a major sponsor with a corporate jet, but that is another of Rivers' goals.
A record 17,500 tickets were sold for last year's five-day event, a 75 percent jump from 2002. A one-night record of 3,025 was set at the Celestial Cinema for the surf film "Step Into Liquid," which attracted an eclectic mix of water-sports enthusiasts in surf shorts and mainstream film junkies in Levis and dress shirts.
"That's what makes us so unique," Rivers muses. "People understand these films are for everyone and if some films seem out of their mainstream, then a venue like the Celestial Cinema balances that out."
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Festival passes
Rising Star: Includes choice of three nights at Celestial Cinema; four films at SkyDome, Castle or McCoy Theaters; one night of Festival Tributes; three Filmmakers Panels. Cost is $150.
Shooting Star: Includes admission to any film at any venue; two nights of Tributes, preceded by Mauitini Martini Tastings; three Filmmakers Panels; Father's Day Concert. Cost is $300.
Comet: Includes all Shooting Star offerings, plus TwiLight Reception and Cosmic Comedy Club, both on opening night; Starry Night MoonDance; Taste of Wailea; Taste of Chocolate; Closing Night Star Gazing; Dessert & Salsa Dance Party; Audience Awards. Cost is $750.
Galaxy: Includes all Comet Pass offerings, plus private party at Wolfgang Puck's Spago; three private VIP brunches; reserved VIP seating at Festival Tributes and film screenings at Castle, McCoy and Sky Dome Theaters; and guaranteed admission to premieres and special screenings (must arrive no less than 10 minutes prior to start time). Cost is $2,500.
In "Danny Deckchair," Rhys Ifans escapes the problems of his life by taking to the skies of Sydney with the help of helium balloons.
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Special events
June 16
Opening Night TwiLight Reception and Celestial Cinema Premieres: Heavy pupu and libations; 6 p.m. at Fairmont Kea Lani Resort. Cost is $150, includes admission to Celestial Cinema double feature.Opening Night Cosmic Comedy Club: Stars "Mad TV" regular Bobby Lee and Freddy Soto of "The Three Amigos" national tour; 10:30 p.m. at Mulligan's on the Blue.
June 17
Thursday Night Tributes: Two tributes preceded by reception; 7 to 10 p.m. at Maui Digital Skydome; $50.
June 18
Friday Night Tributes: Two tributes preceded by reception; 4 to 7 p.m. at Grand Wailea Resort Ballroom; $50.Starry Night MoonDance: Heavy pupus and entertainment; 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Tommy Bahama's Tropical Cafe; $50.
The documentary "Proteus" fuses science and art in telling the story of 19-century biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose fascination with the sea is reflected in the images he recorded, particularly thousands of species of a single-celled undersea organism called the radiolarian.
June 19
Taste of Wailea: Includes Celestial Cinema double feature; 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Private Training Facility at the Wailea Gold & Emerald Golf Course; $150.Taste of Chocolate: Desserts, champagne and entertainment, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.; at Tommy Bahama's Tropical Cafe; $50.
June 20
Sand Sculpture Contest: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wailea Beach below the Grand Wailea Resort; free.Island Style Father's Day Concert: 5 to 7 p.m. at Diamond Resort Hawaii; $20 general ($10 age 14 and under).
Closing Night Audience Awards and Stargazing Dance Party: With desserts and beverages; 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Seawatch Restaurant; $50.
Miscellaneous
"Rivers 2 the SEA": Surfing lessons with Tide and Kiva Rivers for individuals or small groups. Call (808) 280-8795 or (808) 280-6236 for details.
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The Movie Marquee
"Concert for George": Tribute to George Harrison under the musical direction of Eric Clapton features performances by and interviews with friends of the artist, including Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Ravi Shankar and Ringo Starr.
"Danny Deckchair": In this lighthearted comedy about starting over, cement truck driver Danny (Rhys Ifans) escapes his suburban prison and his scheming girlfriend (Justine Clarke) and blasts into the skies of Sydney in a garden chair tied with helium balloons. A mighty thunderstorm blows him clean off the map and spits him out far away over the lush green town of Clarence, where he reinvents himself and discovers a soul mate.
"The Door in the Floor": Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger star as a couple coming to terms with a sea change of emotion during one turbulent East Hampton summer, in this adaptation of James Irving's "A Widow for One Year."
"Garden State": This quirky romantic comedy from Zach Braff ("Scrubs"), also starring Natalie Portman, follows twentysomething Andrew Largeman as he returns to his New Jersey hometown to reconnect with family and friends in this story reminiscent of "The Graduate."
"Henry's Garden": This brilliant 3D computer-animated story tells of a monster who loves flowers but experiences a harsh transformation in his environment.
"Jaws Underground": A tribute to the local boys who are unsung heroes of big-wave riding, in their own words. Witness the epic surf that crashed on Maui's coastline on Nov. 26, 2003, and Jan. 10, 2004, two of the biggest days of surf ever recorded.
"Kumbh Mela: Short Cut to Nirvana": Although few in the West have ever heard of it, the Kumbh Mela is among the most spectacular gatherings of people in the world. More than 70 million pilgrims attend this extraordinary spiritual festival, held every 12 years near Allahabad, India, for more than two millennia. Audiences are whisked on a voyage of discovery through this vibrant world, accompanied by an irrepressible young Hindu monk, Swami Krishnanand, and several Westerners on their own spiritual quest.
"Little Black Boot": In this "Cinderella" story for the new millennium, Cindy is the prince who leaves her boot behind at the prom for her lady love to track down.
"Love Me if You Dare": An eccentric romantic dramedy that is part ultramodern fairy tale, part psychological probe into the games we play in life and love. Julien and Sophie meet as children and devise a game in which they exchange a tin box, within which lies a dare. Whoever takes the box must also take the dare. As adults, the harder Julien and Sophie compete in the game, the less they are able to communicate their emotions, allowing them to avoid admitting they are in love.
"Maria Full of Grace": The winner of the Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and acting and directing awards at the Berlin International Film Festival tells the story of a young woman's journey from a small Colombian rose plantation to the streets of New York.
"Mauna Kea -- Temple Under Siege": Although Mauna Kea last erupted more than 3,600 years ago, it is still generating heat as the center of a controversy over whether the peak should be used for astronomical observation or preserved as a wahi pana, a cultural landscape sacred to the Hawaiian people. For five years, the production team Na Maka o ka 'Aina captured the seasonal moods of Mauna Kea's unique 14,000-foot summit environment, the richly varied ecosystems that extend from sea level to alpine zone, the legends and stories that reveal the mountain's geologic and cultural history, and the political turbulence surrounding efforts to protect the most significant temple in the islands, the mountain itself. The filmmakers also visited the Apache elders of Arizona in an effort to find commonalities among indigenous people elsewhere regarding "sky islands."
"Mending the Sacred Hoop": Viggo Mortensen ("The Lord of the Rings") is just one of the fascinating people interviewed for this spiritual documentary chronicling the American Indian peace movement started in 1990 by the Lakota Nation. Viewers meet Arvol Looking Horse, the 19th-generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and learn about his history, beliefs and the specific role he plays in Lakota society. Every summer, Looking Horse leads the annual Peace and Unity ride, which concludes on the summer solstice with a ceremony for peace. Narrated by Peter Coyote, with an eclectic soundtrack featuring U2.
"Metallica: Some Kind of Monster": Three years in the making, this film from acclaimed documentary filmmakers Berlinger and Sinofsky ("Brother's Keeper," "Paradise Lost") provides a mesmerizing, in-depth portrait of the successful heavy metal band as it faced monumental personal and professional challenges while recording "St. Anger," when longtime bassist Jason Newsted unexpectedly quit, and relations between the bandmates were at an all-time low. The non-initiated will be fascinated by this dynamic glimpse behind the scenes of the music industry, proof of the universality of the creative process no matter what the medium.
"Napoleon Dynamite": Is Napoleon Dynamite the ultimate outcast or the reluctant hero of a kickback generation? Jon Heder is the lovable loser who lives with his grandma and older brother, and vows to help his best friend Pedro snatch the student body president title from mean teen Summer Wheatley. The film captures the comedy, tragedy, disorientation -- and sweetness -- of trying to make it through life. Or at least high school. A hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival and winner of Best Feature Film at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, this film marks the debut of director Jared Hess.
"The Notebook": In this sweeping and timeless romance based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks ("Message in a Bottle"), a young wealthy woman comes to the coastal town of Seabrook, N.C., in the 1940s to visit her family. She meets a local mill worker and over the course of one carefree summer, they fall in love. Her parents and the sudden outbreak of World War II drive them apart, but both continue to be haunted by memories of each other. Decades later, a man (James Garner) reads from a mysterious, faded notebook to a woman (Gena Rowlands) he regularly visits at her nursing home. Though her memory has faded, she becomes caught up in the story of the young couple, as their love, choices and passions are revealed.
"Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown": This short documentary tells the life story of Woody Brown, a 92-year-old legend in the worlds of surfing, sailing and soaring. Brown has not only lived a life full of seemingly endless adventure and accomplishment, including inventing the modern catamaran and setting world gliding records, but he has done so with a kind of selflessness, simplicity and generosity that have made him a role model for generations of Hawaii's people.
"Open Water": "Jaws" meets "The Blair Witch Project" in this spine-tingling drama based on actual events. An overworked American couple, Daniel and Susan (Daniel Travis and Blanchard Ryan), set off for an island holiday, hoping for relief from the strain of their workaholic lifestyles. The morning after they arrive, they board a local dive boat for an underwater reef tour. Due to a series of miscommunications and a distracted crew, the couple is accidentally left behind. What follows is the story of their ordeal: cold, alone and miles from land, adrift in shark-infested waters.
"Parallel Lines": This classic American road trip movie with a twist takes place in the fall of 2001, as filmmaker Nina Davenport drives from California to New York, where her apartment once looked out on the World Trade Center. The events of Sept. 11 quickly recede into the background of this life-affirming, transformative documentary, becoming instead a portal into the inner lives of Americans. The filmmaker stops along the road to talk with strangers who end up sharing personal stories of loss, hope and redemption, while touching on a wide range of subjects, from the meaning of love to the horror of the atomic bomb.
"Passing Hearts (En Del Av Mitt Hjärta)": In this quiet drama about a young boy's search for answers, Daniel meets the family whose late son saved his life.
"Pororoca": No matter how many surfing documentaries you have seen, this look at the fast and endless wave, Pororoca, "The Destroyer," will still thrill you. The tidal bore wave occurs as the result of a combination of lunar, tidal and river conditions, providing the ultimate Amazon jungle surf adventure. Surfers Ross Clarke-Jones and Carlos Burle lead a motley crew through the jungle to the world's largest river to attempt to ride this muddy, mysterious and seemingly endless monster wave in this combination of "Apocalypse Now" and "Endless Summer."
"Proteus": For the 19th century, the world beneath the sea played much the same role that "outer space" played for the 20th. The anchor of this uniquely constructed, award-winning documentary is the story of biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel (1843-1919), who found himself torn between seeming irreconcilables: science and art, materialism and religion, rationality and passion, inner and outer worlds. Through his discoveries beneath the sea and the drawings he would make of them, Haeckel came to terms with these dualities, and his work profoundly influenced not only biology, but also movements, thinkers and authors as disparate as Surrealism, Sigmund Freud, D.H. Lawrence, Vladimir Lenin and Thomas Edison. Told almost completely with 19th century images.
"Saved!: Good girl": Mary (Jena Malone) and her domineering best friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), are starting their senior year at the top of the social food chain at American Eagle Christian High School -- until Mary's boyfriend reveals he might be gay. When Jesus appears to her in a vision, she heeds his message to "do everything she can to help him" and, to her horror, she ends up pregnant. Suddenly, Mary begins to question everything she's believed in, and Hilary Faye and her devoted "disciples" turn against her. Mary finds herself alone until she's befriended by the school's other outcasts, who band together to navigate the treacherous halls of high school and make it to graduation.
"Seducing Dr. Lewis": "Northern Exposure" goes to Quebec in this Sundance Award winner. The charming film spins the yarn of a ragtag fishing community on a tiny, impoverished island that must persuade a young Montreal-based doctor (David Boutin) to live in their town to get a much-needed new factory. Over a one-month trial period, the villagers try to satisfy his every need and convince him that their town offers all the charms of a thriving metropolis.
"The Speeding Ticket": Sammy, who has just broken up with his girlfriend, lies to get out of a speeding ticket by telling the cop that he's on his way to propose marriage. Unfortunately, the officer is so moved by his story that he escorts Sammy right to his ex's front door.
"Time for a New God": This thought-provoking filmed monologue, featuring Rabbi Irwin Kula, argues that we are facing an unsettling time of transition and that we need to rethink our image of the Divine. Kula believes that our sacred moments do not happen in churches, synagogues or mosques but rather in our everyday lives and through our relationships with each other.
"Twins": Director Martin Bell, accompanying his wife, award-winning photographer Mary Ellen Mark on a book project about twins, wanted to explore further the extraordinary bond he saw in her subjects. After being photographed, a series of identical twins of varying ages and backgrounds were asked 20 questions. This heartwarming documentary comprises their answers.
"Two Brothers": This cinematic fable was shot in and around the temples of Cambodia and Thailand. Two tigers are separated as cubs and taken into captivity, only to be reunited years later as enemies by an explorer (Guy Pearce). Unexpected circumstances lead them back to the freedom and majesty of their ancestral home.
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