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Maui Film Festival director Barry Rivers and co-director Stella Rivers had the honor and privilege of presenting the inaugural Maui Film Festival Visionary Award to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama following the conclusion of the Benefactor's Lunch at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Tuesday, April 24th.
The Visionary Award was presented to honor His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama's heartfelt and lifelong commitment to inspire Humanity to care for both each other and all life on Earth, to express the Maui Film Festival's appreciation for the many ways in which the deep wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism has inspired our commitment to present movies that set free tears of laughter, sorrow and joy in a world that doesn't always seem to make sense, and to acknowledge the appreciation of the people of Maui and the Earth for the ways in which His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama inspires millions and millions of people everywhere to live lives of greater patience, understanding, tolerance, compassion and love.
Stella and I would like to offer special thanks to Shep Gordon for bringing the Festival's interest in honoring His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama with the Visionary Award to his staff's attention, and for making available such a special moment for it to be presented. Thanks as well to Shep, the Aloha Friends for Compassion, the volunteers and employees at the Maui Dharma Center, the MACC and elsewhere, and to many members of the Maui Film Festival at Wailea staff who were hired to help organize this week's visit.
To continue the interest in Tibet and its people, we are proud to be hosting the Maui premiere of DREAMING LHASA (synopsis and link to official web site and trailer below) this Friday, April 27th at 5:00pm and 7:30pm at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Admission to the film will be $10/person or one "click" of a Maui Film Festival Passport (for those who choose to use their passes). Bentley Kallaway will light up the CandleLight Cafe with her soulful voice on Friday.
The Pendey Foundation will be set up at our community table to provide information about the wonderful work they are doing, and which Stella and I are proud to have supported for many years, to educate Tibetan children living in exile in India.
And finally, we're pleased to announce that your contributions at the recent complimentary KUNDUN screenings on April 18 raised more than $2,000 to help cover the expenses of the Dalai Lama's visit. Again, special thanks to the Aloha Friends for Compassion for their support that night.
Many Thanks to All. It's been a uniquely wonderful week on Maui.
Mahalo & Aloha.....Barry & Stella
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FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 5:00pm and 7:30pm
DREAMING LHASA
Following the visit of H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama to Maui, there's probably no better narrative film to screen about the current situation in Tibet than this journey into Tibet's past and voyage of self-discovery in which a Tibetan filmmaker from New York goes to Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama's exile headquarters in northern India, to make a documentary about former political prisoners who have escaped from Tibet and has her life changed after running into an enigmatic ex-monk who has just escaped from Tibet. In English and Tibetan with English subtitles. Unrated. 90 min.
film preview >
official site >
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FRIDAY, MAY 4, 5:00pm and 7:30pm
THE NAMESAKE
SPECIAL FRIDAY SCREENINGS. This cross cultural romantic dramedy about a blonde beauty and her equally beautiful boyfriend of Indian ancestry, from acclaimed director Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding" and "Vanity Fair") that is ultimately about what it means to be an American Family, "Brims with intelligence, compassion and sensuous delight in the textures, sights and sounds of life--all the way from the Taj Mahal to Pearl Jam" raved The Chicago Tribune. In English, Bengali and Hindi with English subtitles. Rated PG-13. 122 min.
film preview >
official site >
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Wednesday, MAY 9, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS
Gretchen Mol ("The Notorious Bettie Paige"), Elizabeth Reaser ("Sweet Land") and Justin Kirk star in this sophisticated, humorous screwball sex comedy, nominated for a Grand Jury prize at Sundance, which takes its title from its heroine's passion for opera. It isn't just another trendy toe-dip in sexual experimentation. It is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "a Brainy and Balmy" romp through the 20/30-something world of sensual exploration that runs through millions of love lives like a jolt of thunder and a bolt of lightning." Unrated. 92 min.
film preview >
official site >
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Wednesday, MAY 16, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
MISS POTTER
Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson co-star in what the Seattle Times called a "Magical little movie" that explores the life and loves of Beatrix Potter, the author of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," the beloved and best-selling children's classic. but also less well known as an early feminist and environmentalist who took control of her literary empire and saved vast acres of luscious farmland from greedy developers. "In every way, Miss Potter is a very beautiful thing" raved the SF Chronicle. Rated PG. 92 min.
film preview >
official site >
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Wednesday, MAY 23, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
AVENUE MONTAIGNE
The NY Times took special note of the joie-de-vivre that pervades" this "delicious Robert Altman-like mosaic" about a beautiful young woman who comes to Paris and lands a job waiting tables at a chic bistro on famed Avenue Montaigne, the city's nexus for art, music, theater and fashion. "A deftly joyful, nuanced comedy. Deeply Parisian in the best of ways" wrote Vanity Fair and "leaves you with a satisfied glow" added the NY Times. And finally, "thoroughly enjoyably and wistfully charming" according to the Seattle Post. In French with English subtitles. Rated both PG-13 by the MPAA and "Ooo-La-La" by the MFF. 108 min.
film preview >
official site >
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Wednesday, MAY 30, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
THE ASTRONAUT FARMER
Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton and Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen star in this wonderful film about Charles Farmer and the pursuit of his one goal in life: to be an astronaut even if it means overcoming the most seemingly insurmountable odds on the eve of the long-anticipated launch of his barn-built rocket. "There is a thin line separating visionaries from fools, and Thornton walks it adroitly in this disarmingly sincere follow-your-dreams fable...specializing in surrealist indie-whimsy." raved the NY Times. Rated PG. 102 min.
film preview >
official site >
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Wednesday, JUNE 6, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
TBA
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JUNE 13 - 17, 2007
Maui Film Festival
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