An eco-centric sneak preview of the Maui Film Festival
by Rob Parsons
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Maui
Film Festival maven Barry Rivers says he feels a bit like Shrek—a crazy
movie monster who’s green enough to be an environmentalist.
Rivers
is upbeat as the 10th annual Maui Film Festival at Wailea draws near.
In a year that could be the most difficult to date for the ambitious
cinematic undertaking, he took the opportunity to go with what works.
“Every
year has been challenging in its own way,” says the ever-animated
Rivers. “It turns out that without some of the big sponsorship we’ve
had in the past, we’re now more independent than ever. We did more
digging. And I think we came up with our sharpest program ever.”
“Every
year we sort of ‘genre-size’ the program, if that’s a word,” Rivers
says. “We do music, comedy, romantic and have some really great films
that address the needs of the planet and humankind. Hopefully, we can
enlighten a few people along the way.”
But what’s missing is
drama. “This year,” Rivers smiles, “our overall theme is really from
the heart. It’s like ‘Life….No Drama.’”
Presumably, that means
little of the gratuitous violence and special effects that can be found
in the current Hollywood offerings at Maui multiplexes—Drag Me to Hell, Terminator Salvation, Angels and Demons, Monsters vs. Aliens. Sounds like a lot of archetypal good vs. evil plots, assuming there are indeed plots to be found.
Rivers
is as passionate about bringing people together as he is about movies.
“We all succeed or fail together as a community,” he says. Thus, he’s
taken some bold steps to “green” the festival this year. He is
offsetting the event’s power usage, thanks to a partnership with Rising
Sun Solar. And, for the first time, he has gone to an e-book format for
the festival program, saving 10,000 booklets from being printed,
distributed and eventually discarded. (You can find the festival e-book
at mauifilmfestival.com/program.)
For those who have less green
in their pockets, Rivers is determined to make the events easy and
affordable. The Celestial Cinema venue, with blankets and folding
chairs under the stars on the Wailea golf course lawn, is the “crown
jewel” of the festival. This year’s Celestial Cinema has four
triple-features and a double feature with HAPA also providing
entertainment—each for $20.
Now, for everyone who ever wrote a
high school book report after only reading the Cliff’s Notes, here are
this year’s eco-films that caught my eye (after reading reviews and
watching trailers):
One Peace at a Time
Writer/director Turk Pipkin is remembered for Nobelity,
his uplifting documentary featuring interviews of Nobel Prize winners.
His latest effort examines some of the world’s toughest humanitarian
issues, such as cluster bombs that are manufactured, exported and used
by the United States.
From the orphanages of India to digging a
well in Ethiopia, from fighting poverty in Bangladesh to passing out
condoms in Thailand to battle HIV/AIDS and soaring birth rates, the
film is a sobering dose of reality that’s refreshingly focused on
solutions. Maui’s beloved Willie Nelson makes a cameo in this world
premiere showing.
“There’s nothing magical about change,” the film proclaims. “It’s about getting up off your ass.”
Blue Gold: World Water Wars
Lester
Brown, founder of Worldwatch Institute and Earth Policy Institute, has
long warned that access to clean, fresh water is the planet’s most
vital environmental issue. The producers of The Corporation bring compelling awareness to the issues surrounding dwindling potable
water sources, privatization, desertification and even the
proliferation of plastic bottles.
International corporations,
including Coca-Cola, Bechtel, Nestle and Perrier are seizing control of
water resources on several continents, primarily for their own profit.
Clouds are being stolen in China. The Bush family is buying river land
in Paraguay.
Blue Gold also offers some solutions
to the crisis of the expanding “water cartel,” and shares some success
stories. Bolivian peasants, fired upon by their own army for gathering
rainwater, were able to drive Bechtel out.
The issues should
have special relevance here on Maui, where corporate plantation
agriculture maintains control over public trust water resources. On the
heels of Maui Tomorrow’s recent free screening of The Waterfront on Earth Day, Blue Gold is likely to educate and motivate.
“The
political will to change [this unjust system] is not going to come from
the top,” says one of the movie’s interviewees. “It’s going to come
from the bottom up.”
Cash Crop
In Maui’s
not-so-distant past, marijuana rivaled or surpassed sugar cane as
Maui’s number one cash crop, and contributed a significant boost to the
local economy. This was before federally funded helicopter eradication
funds became available for Project Greenharvest, during the George H.W.
Bush, “Just Say No” era.
“Cash Crop” examines regions where
marijuana is grown in abundance, legally and illegally, as part of an
estimated $35 billion dollar business. It focuses especially on
Northern California, where the lumber industry is facing diminishing
returns and residents say that medical marijuana laws have made it
possible for local economies to survive.
While many are calling
for a new, “green” economy, some may get squeamish when the thought of
growing marijuana is included in the discussion. But one Mendecino
County sheriff is tired of spending so much time enforcing existing
laws. “Let’s move on,” he says. “The fact of the matter is, Americans
like their marijuana.”
Dirt
The two-minute movie trailer for Dirt bowled me over—total chicken skin. The juxtaposition of devastation
(industrial agriculture and its worldwide impact) and inspiration
(soil’s life-giving properties and its intricate, complex network of
organisms) is powerful, to say the least.
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Like water, the ubiquitous nature of dirt has led us to take it for granted and to not adequately nurture and protect our soil. “We survive on the fertile power of fresh water and dirt,” the film proclaims. “All other measurements of wealth are illusions.”
Houston, We Have a Problem
We’ve all seen movies (think Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth) that bombard us with the severity of big problems but don’t offer enough tangible solutions. Houston, We Have a Problem seeks not just to demonize our dependence on oil, but to humanize the issue as well.
It examines past political decisions that have ultimately made us more petroleum-dependent. “We need to tear the oil industry out of yesterday,” says the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope, “and get them thinking about tomorrow.”
The film explores a potpourri of energy alternatives. While acknowledging that no single technology will replace cheap oil, it makes the case that a variety of different solutions could serve as “a box of silver bullets.” (No, I don’t think they mean a case of Coors, though the problem is daunting enough to drive one to drink.)
The Cove
Led by a dolphin-training authority who worked on the television program Flipper back in the 1960s, a covert group of activists, divers and filmmakers travels to a hidden cove in Japan. There, with action/adventure-paced excitement, a deadly secret is uncovered. And that’s merely the tip of the iceberg.
Tabbed an “eco-thriller” by Huffington Post, The Cove was also an Audience Award-winner at the Sundance Film Festival. Producer/director and part-time Maui resident Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon, et al) says the film “is a call to action that has the power to save dolphins, oceans and ourselves.”
Meanwhile, The Dolphin Project is an 8-minute short that examines these highly social and intelligent creatures. It screens as one of six films in the Explore Shorts Showcase, which also includes Rwanda Gorilla Special, and Artic: Change at the Top of the World.
Processed People
This documentary challenges Americans to look at their largely unconscious consumption of processed foods. Steeped in opinions from medical professionals, it reminds us that we’re much more accustomed to treating disease than promoting health.
The film also asks relevant questions (why not have subsidies for fruits and vegetables instead of rewarding those who produce crops that wind up as processed foods?). Like a good bop on the head (“I could have had a V-8!”), Processed People reminds us of things we might have known already, but tend to forget.
For more info visit mauifilmfestival.com