MISSION & OBJECTIVE
The Maui Film Festival believes in the power of Original Cinema.
It is the rocket fuel that ignites our passion, our vision and our mission.
As importantly, choosing each year’s Original Cinema ‘jewels’ helps the festival reveal its character, soothe our collective soul and share our finds with the world.
Because the Maui Film Festival strongly believes that when filmmakers explore what it means to be human — alongside Humankind's relationship to all Life — Original Cinema can move culture, shift paradigms and meaningfully help to create a future worthy of today and generations yet unborn.
LONGSTANDING SUBMISSION CATEGORIES 2000-2020
U.S. & World Cinema Features and Short Films:
A platform for independent film making, creative expression, Maui Film Festival (the “Festival”) supports emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning filmmakers, curates innovative new ideas through panels, premieres, exhibitions, and live performance.
Eligible projects include feature films (run time less than 40 minutes) and short films (run time less than 40 minutes); including Narrative, Documentary, Animated and Experimental films. Visit MauiFilmFestival.com to review a collection of films presented (2000-2019).
'NEW IN 2020' SUBMISSION CATEGORIES
'LIVES. ON. LINE.'
The inaugural Maui Film Festival ‘LIVES. ON. LINE.’ awards category celebrates projects that discover, highlight, and celebrates New Online Work from storytellers who choose to create and share their work specifically for the online space. Entries in this category are eligible to both an Audience Award in the Shorts category and the ‘LIVES. ON. LINE.’ category.
(1) The project must be standalone audio-visual short form and/or episodic content created specifically for the online space.
(2) All submitted episodes must be 20 minutes or less in length.
(3) Entry Fee is based on its length and Date Entered. Details further below.
Eligible projects include web series; shorts specifically created for the online space; and other episodic content meant for online viewing.
'B-BRAVE'
The inaugural Maui Film Festival B-BRAVE awards category is a juried award for storytelling supported by a brand recognizing the intersection of advertising and entertainment. The Maui B-BRAVE Award is open to all work funded with support of a brand in collaboration with artists or filmmakers. The finalists will be recognized by the Maui Film Festival, and screened at the Festival. Entries in this category are eligible to both an Audience Award in the Shorts category and the ‘B-BRAVE’ category.
(1) The project must have been made with the support of a brand in collaboration with artists or filmmakers.
(2) Projects must have a storytelling element; projects that are strictly intended as commercial spots will not be considered.
(3) Entry Fee is based on its length and Date Entered. Details below.
‘B-FREE’
The inaugural Maui Film Festival 'B-FREE’ awards category offers an opportunity for filmmakers creating works that — by expanding the mind through mindfulness and psychedelic journeys, the joy and rush of extreme sports, the search for multi-cultural empathy, shared pleasures or immersion in the lives, actual or fictional, protecting and celebrating the planet, its people and their kaleidoscopically unique art forms — to explore, reveal and enlighten their audience’s world view. Entries in this category are eligible for both an Audience Award in the category of their running time and the
‘B-FREE’ category.
(1) All submitted projects can be any length from 1 to under 180 minutes.
(2) Entry Fee is based on its length and Date Entered. Details below.
‘B-FRESH'
The inaugural Maui Film Festival ‘B-FRESH’ awards category has been created to celebrate the joy of music and the new, emerging and ascendant musical artists and the filmmakers who bring their songs visually to life. Always expansive and resonating — in a seemingly endless world of music videos, longer form narrative and documentary films— these always ambitious projects on the life and work of a specific solo artist, band, orchestra or out-of-nowhere paradigm shaking musical maven — can change the world, and us, forever. Entries in this category are eligible for both an Audience Award in the category of their running time and the ‘B-FRESH’ category.
(1) All submitted projects can be any length from 1 to under 180 minutes.
(2) Entry Fee is based on its length and Date Entered. Details below.
PLEASE NOTE: Submitted projects must not have had ANY public screening, broadcast, distribution or exhibition before January 1, 2019.
*Not applicable to ‘B-BRAVE’ category submissions only.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
"The Maui Film Festival exceeded my expectations. It’s Celestial Cinema is mind-blowing! And one of the best places anywhere in the world to launch a movie."
— Trevor Groth, Longtime Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival
Since 2000, the Maui Film Festival has presented five days and nights of under-the-stars Film Premieres, Special Screenings, Festival Tributes, Filmmakers Panels, and world-class Special Events and Culinary Arts Celebrations.
You can get a great feel for the event by visiting MauiFilmFestival.com — where you can also view last year’s film program and complete menus for last year’s three ’Tastes’. A complete list of all the Maui Film Festival’s Honorees from our first year in 2000 thru our 20th annual festival in 2019 will also be found there alongside our clearly stated commitment to Original Cinema.
As importantly, from the perspective of filmmakers considering submitting their work for consideration, the Festival has also been hailed as "Hawaii's Answer to Sundance" in the Los Angeles Times by respected entertainment writer John Horn.
In addition, indieWIRE has also chimed in, describing the Maui Film Festival as a "jewel-box festival-able to handle anything without becoming unwieldy or impersonal. Flawlessly planned. Watch for even greater things to come.
The national press is taking notice, with the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, LA Times, CNN, E!, Entertainment Tonight and Vanity Fair all reporting on its goings-on."
In addition, among others, the list of outlets that have covered the Maui Film Festival has included: Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Vanity Fair, LA Weekly, People, Premiere, Rolling Stone, Screen International, USA Today, Vanity Fair, VH1 Music, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, AOL, E! Online, Entertainment Weekly, FilmFestivals.com, The Hollywood Reporter, Huffington Post, IMDb, indieWIRE, Bravo, CNN, Entertainment Tonight, Starz Cinema, CNN Headline New, Jimmy Kimmel Live, E! (US + Intl), Moving Pictures, Late Night with David Letterman, Movie Television, Reelz Channel, USWeekly.com, CNN International, Modern Luxury Hawaii, Angeleno, San Francisco Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine.
Each year's event also features an eclectic 'jewel box' program of approximately 40 narrative, documentary and international features and short film 'gems' that are enjoyed by a diverse audience of 15,000 to 17,500 annually. The festival has had the honor of screening films, with budgets between $50,000 and $100,000,000, that have been provided by major studios and their mini-major divisions, independent distributors and both longtime and first-time filmmakers.
We also take great pride in our hard earned reputation in the industry as reflected in the kind words from two highly regarded pillars of the industry — Variety and The Hollywood Reporter who honored us with these kudos….
COURTESY OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: "The Maui Film Festival is the embodiment of relaxed elegance providing ample opportunity to enjoy stargazing of both the Hollywood and heavenly varieties shoulder-to-shoulder with its A-List honorees." And the mavens at independent film's touchstone 'publication' indieWIRE noted that "The Maui Film Festival Serves Up Feasts, Stars and Enlightenment. It's where the seaside rules and studio execs retreat and where there's enough A-list presence on and off screen to make it an island celebration deserving of its industry recognition.”
COURTESY OF THE VARIETY: Last but nor least, Variety, the often cited 'Bible of the Entertainment Industry’, reported that the “The Maui Film Festival is growing as an international destination for cineastes and industry insiders and is becoming the circuit's favorite sun-baked sibling while celebrating cinema from the intersection of smart and heart. With open-air screenings, the festival once again ditches traditional Hollywood devices like black ties and red carpets for flip-flops, all for the sake of a more intimate experience. The fest's lineup, which includes Hollywood fare (alongside) a selection of smaller cinematic endeavors from around-the-world that focus on human triumph.”
We hope you'll choose to honor us with your submission.
We look forward to viewing your submission and thoughtfully considering it for inclusion in this year's exemplary film program.
ORGANIZERS
Barry Rivers, Founder/Director of the Maui Film Festivals Stella Rivers, Co-Director of the Maui Film Festival
And All 700+ of the Talented, Dedicated, uber-Competent and Creative STAFF, Artisans, Activists and Volunteers Who All Share a Commitment to Manifesting Positive and Sustainable Cultural Change through Original Cinema in 2020 and Beyond!
2020 AUDIENCE AWARDS
UNLESS A FILM CHOOSES NOT TO PARTICIPATE, ACCEPTED FILMS ARE ELIGIBLE TO WIN AUDIENCE AWARDS. Selected projects from all categories will be presented to the public at the 21st Annual Maui Film Festival.
THE FESTIVAL WILL ALSO PROVIDE TWO COMPLIMENTARY FILMMAKER PASSES TO EACH ACCEPTED FEATURE FILM AND ONE COMPLIMENTARY FILMMAKER PASS TO EACH ACCEPTED SHORT FILM.
FILMMAKER PASSES ARE IDENTICAL IN THEIR INCLUSIONS AND AGE RESTRICTION TO THE COSMOS PASS. VIEW DETAILS AT: http://www.mauifilmfestival.com/2020-savings-now
COMPLIMENTARY FILMMAKER COMP PASSES ARE OF NO CASH VALUE, MAY NOT BE SOLD TO THIRD PARTIES AND ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE.
