The Maui Film Festival kicked off last Wednesday with all four venues being powered by the bright, Hawaiian sun. The Celestial Cinema, the SandDance Theatre, the Maui SkyDome and the Starlight Cinema, now will not only be powered by the moon, but for the first time in the fest’s nearly 10 year history, also run on solar power.
Barry Rivers, the Maui Film Festival founder and director, reported that “Since its inception, the Maui Film Festival has featured nightly pre-film stargazing led by Harriet Witt, the only official film festival astronomer in the known universe. And, this year, we’re stoked beyond words, to also add that the Maui Film Festival now features the only completely solar powered under-the-stars film festival in the known universe as well.”
Rivers said that the solar power is the first step in attaining the Festival’s goal for 100% carbon neutrality. “By installing a real solar system to offset the energy for the event, the Maui Film Festival is an agent for change,” said Brad Albert, co-owner of Rising Sun Solar. “Barry [Rivers] is an innovative supporter of green energy. With his innovative vision and our technology, we had the system up and running in less than two months.”
Albert notes that the Festival is very important to the community and brings people together. He hopes that, by donating the system, Rising Sun will inspire people to turn to solar energy for its ease and cost efficiency.
And the plan to “go green” has a lot of other supporters around the area as well. The Regional Vice-President of the Hawaii Region and General Manager of the Four Seasons Resort at Wailea, Thomas Steinhauer, said that “Given the continuously evolving level of consciousness pertaining to the environmental sustainability, I was happy to hear of the opportunity to off-set power generation from fossil fuel related sources for the Film Festival. Four Seasons Maui is and has been committed towards adopting environmentally friendly practices – converting it’s pools from chlorine to saline types, installing a more energy efficient state of the art laundry plant, a solar-powered trash compactor, introducing bio-compostable take out containers are just some of the many examples.“
Hopefully, with its history of large audiences, the Festival will indeed inspire a “green” attitude among its attendances. The Maui Film Festival gathers over 20,000 moviegoers every June. Find out more about the great entertainment in such an enlightening venue at www.MauiFilmFestival.com.
With outdoor venues like the Wailea Golf LLC as the location for the Celestial Cinemas, and the Wailea Beach Mariott Resort and Spa as the Maui SkyDome location, and of course the beautiful Wailea Beach as home of the SandDance Theater, the Festival sounds like a dose of heaven itself!
Rising Sun Solar operates from a solar-powered, “green” office space in Haiku, Hawaii. For more information or to learn more about saving energy in your home or office contact Rising Sun Solar at 808/579-8288 or www.risingsunsolar.com
2008 Maui Film Festival at Waiela sponsors include Premier Sponsor: Starz Entertainment; Official Sponsors: Hawaii Tourism Authority, Heineken, Ameriprise Financial; Major Sponsors: The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui, Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa, Baccarat Wailea Resort & Residences, Wailea Golf Club, The Shops at Wailea, Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Diamond Resort Hawaii, Destination Resorts Hawaii; Industry Sponsors: Maui Film Office, Hawaii Film Office, Variety, Netflix, Picture Mill, Dolby, The Hollywood Reporter, The Friedman Group, Fotokem, PSAV Presentation Service, B W R Public Relations; Sponsorship ”Ohana: Tommy Bahama, Capische?, Mala Wailea, Hawaii Organic Ocean Vodka, Mana Foods, FIJI Water, Honolulu Coffee Company and SeaWatch Restaurant; Kama’aina ‘Ohana: Roberts Hawaii, Hawaiian Style Magazine Rising Sun Solar, 101 Things To Do, Hawaii Modern Luxury, Maui Economic Development Board, HILuxury, Roots, Wailea Beach Villas, This Week Magazines, Enterprise Rent A Car and SpectraColor Hawaii.
Award Winners at the Maui Film Festival
* Narrative Feature – Choke
* Documentary Feature – The Human Experience
* Comedy Feature – Summerhood
* Narrative Feature, World Cinema – Captain Abu Raed
* Documentary Feature, World Cinema – War Child
* Best Cinematography – The Fall
* Ensemble Cast (2-way tie) – The Great Buck Howard and Bottle Shock
* Experimental Film – Hawaiian Starlight
* Green Cinema (2-way tie) – The Humpback Code and Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai.
* Narrative Short – Chief
* Documentary Short – Guardians of the Sea
* Animation – Hot Dog
* Maverick Award – Pierce Brosnan
* Navigator Award – Virginia Madsen
* Galaxy Award – Dennis Quaid
* Nova Award – Felicity Huffman
