Fest Easy by John Horn

Extracted from August 1, 2002

Fest Easy - by John Horn
Forget crowded Cannes and suit-filled Sundance. John Horn reports on the Maui Film Festival and four other cinematic celebrations that actually welcome the public.

It's getting harder and harder to see good movies. They're still being made-trust me-but you simply can't see them. The 24-screen multiplex was supposed to deliver two dozen different titles, from the big hits down to the small art films, but the reality is "Austin Powers in Goldmember" plays on 20 screens while "Stuart Little 2" claims the remaining four.

Many small-town theaters never get some of the year's best independent releases (or any foreign-language titles at all). With their demonic emphasis on hits, Blockbuster and HBO sure aren't filling the gap. About the only way real film lovers can see quality movies these days is to pack your bags and attend a film festival. That kind of excursion used to be as trying as sitting through "The Country Bears," but all that's changing.

Fact is, some of the best and least-publicized film festivals gear themselves toward regular moviegoers, not Hollywood hotshots. You may not spy as many stars at these cinematic celebrations as you would in Cannes, but a hotel room there costs $500, you're not actually going to get into any movies and what are you really going to say to Nicolas Cage if you run into him, anyway? "I loved you in 'Gone in 60 Seconds'?"

A film festival's survivability, in fact, is often inversely proportional to the number of celebrities it draws. January's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, still has great programming, but it turned unruly and nearly unbearable as soon it was "discovered" by the film industry. Like Cannes, Sundance is now about as hospitable to ordinary tourists as East Timor.

Yet there are alternatives. Five top North American festivals not only feature outstanding programming but also stand apart as great holiday destinations even without the movies. So if you're tired of the same old dreck at the multiplex and want to plan a movie vacation more ambitious than visiting the Dyersville, Iowa, "Field of Dreams" ballpark, consider these options:

The Maui Film Festival at Wailea. The trailer in front of every film at this new festival carries this introduction: "There are more than 1,200 Film Festivals on Earth ... luckily one of them is on Maui." That's almost all you need to know. This small summer fest, entering its fourth year in 2003, stands alone for its peerless al fresco venues, and the films are well-chosen, too. To watch movies at the sprawling outdoor Celestial Cinema, you unfold a lawn chair or a blanket on the rolling grass of the Wailea Golf Club. Silent films are shown on the beach mere yards from the waves at the open-air SandDance Theatre. Director Barry Rivers's programming focuses on "life-affirming" stories, and this past June's festival included "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," "Tadpole" and "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys." Movies are shown at night, so you don't have to abandon your cabana and frosty mai tai during peak tanning time. The area's premiere hotels, led by the Four Seasons Resort Maui, will offer discounted festival packages for next year's event, June 11-15...