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June 21, 2004
It's very hard to define The Maui Film Festival…
Is it a local festival or national festival? Well, to paraphrase the old Chunky Soup slogan, it tastes like a national, but it eats like a local. Nowhere in the world does a festival offer more appealing diversions to its festival guest than Maui. The Taste of Wailea was the best "Taste of" event I have ever attended. That same evening MFF presented "Taste of Chocolate," which was another delight, from the chocolate to the champagne to the jazz band and singer. The Celestial Cinema is a dream for any moviegoer who wants a quality picture, a great big screen, good sound and the peace of nature surrounding them while still on the safe environs of a golf course. (And because it's Maui and not Manhattan, they can show R-rated films without censoring them too… which made for some interesting moments in The Door In The Floor.) The staff couldn't be nicer (or prettier, given that 90% of the team is female and most of them could be in the running for Miss - or Mrs. - Hawaii).
The punchline to all that is, "What about the films?" But even that isn't really fair. Barry Rivers has brought in a lot of good movies. The filmmakers and actors who have come to participate are in a state of giddy reverence. And every venue other than the outdoors Celestial Cinema is also excellent.
But still, what about the films? Is this a film festival or a multi-purpose cultural event? There are a half-dozen films made by Hawaiians at this festival, none of which are playing at the major venue. The balance of the fest is made up of well-selected art-major films, all of which are within minutes of theatrical release. But even that is something that many small festivals would love to be able to say. Still, as someone who attends film festivals across the globe, large and small, having experienced the Maui Film Festival, I have to admit that the film festival is, in the end, an afterthought.
So why does it work? Every high/mid-level festival in the world, including the IFP's LAFF, now underway in Los Angeles, has got to be drooling and spinning their wheels trying to figure out how to get the kind of promotion by CNN that this festival has gotten this year. It is truly one of the most remarkable achievements an event of this level has ever managed.
But that is the magic secret. Barry Rivers is clearly an event promotion genius. In just five years, he has made a footprint that is far bigger and deeper than is conceivable/appropriate for the event he has built. Which, again, is not to say that there is not a terrific event here. The people of Maui and all of the Hawaiian islands should be ecstatic. And Rivers has done what so many small-fest programmers dream of… he programs art films into a beautiful local theater all year long, using his festival as an anchor and launching pad for that effort.
I guess my intellect wants to find an answer to this thing. And my heart keeps telling me that there is no such answer, nor should there be. When something that is honorable and well intended and full of joy, why would any of us question its validity?
But then again, I know that some of you reading this will be doing just that. And that demands a more intellectual response from me. So instead of calling it the Maui Film Festival, let's call it the Maui Film Experience. Because the experience is what drives this festival. And in truth, it is what drives most festivals.
The magic trick - and it has been that from the beginning - is to convince the media and industry that there is a great film festival going on here, all the while programming the best possible festival from the well-trod and well-established list of films that, as I wrote before, are about to come to a theater near you (or near you nearest big city). It is always easier to sell potential guests to make a trip to Maui rather than to so many less exotic locations. But still, as you mature, you need to offer more than a nice trip. Rich people don't need free trips. In addition, the support of the local community, both governmental and private, relies on the perception of the perception of the festival. Interestingly, local workers at the resorts where the festival is centered don't seem to notice much of a change in the traffic from the festival. As with Vegas, this is already a major, major destination. So the festival must be as much a matter of pride as it is need.
What would I suggest if I were asked? I would probably look at more days at the Celestial Cinema, pushing the whole festival to a more languorous 10 days. This is a languorous experience. It could easily carry the weight of a few more days. The films that play at Celestial are the focus of the festival. That is the nature of the beast. It's all well and good to have 60 films, but the ability to create the image of that open air cinema, in all its beauty, is where the great pitch is. If Angela Bassett was the big name honoree this year, they should have shown What's Love Got To Do With It at that venue. The audience would have loved it and the homage to Bassett would have been great. And had Barry been able to convince the studio to drop some money to make it a sing-a-long version, it would have been truly special. After all, we all know the words. 10 locals picked from the crowd dancing to "Proud Mary" next to Angela Bassett live would have been a true one-of-a-kind event. Why not a Ted Hope double feature an older film than Door In The Floor playing side-by-side with talent from the film in tow. A 10 minute pre-show chat with Ted about the film and 10 minutes after would be fun and again, one-of-a-kind for a fest of people having fun and not loaded with cineastes.
Maui doesn't need a dramatic or doc competition… if they don't want to have journalists in attendance. There are many kinds of competition possible. But for journalists, unless they find a way to get A-listers here each year, there needs to be some new product to chew on. It's a given. Even with the films they have, the magnificent MACC theaters are 20 minutes from where everyone is staying. I am a writer who tends to average more than four films a day at a film festival. Here, I saw a total of seven, I believe. I love being here, but if I had to convince an editor to pay for the trip based on that, I'd be staying home.
Filmmaker Louis Schwartzberg
doesn't want this to become the story, but…
