The Maui Goodness

The 2010 Maui Film Festival was incredible with big stars, great movies, and fun parties.

This year’s Maui Film Festival had the regular parties with many new faces.  The Starry Night Moondance party hosted by Tommy Bahama’s Wailea was a hit!  The dance floor was moving like never before.  Most of the photos on this page were taken at this event.

Another great night event was the Taste of Chocolate at the Four Seasons next to Duo.  Here guests enjoyed countless chocolate treats while sipping drinks and mingling.

The Taste of Wailea was held again above the Celestial Cinema on the golf course.  All of the best Maui restaurants showed up to make their signature dishes.  Southern also provided excellent wines for pairing.

A new event this year was held at the Wailea Resort (formerly known as Diamonds.)  This involved a pool side fashion show with club music and great drinks.  We hope this is offered again next year.

Celebrities such as Zac Efron, and the beautiful Malin Akerman (pictured below at the taste of Wailea) enjoyed the parties and promoted their movies.

Local celebrities also found their way to the parties such as Sherri Van and Lucas Woodford causing a veritable frenzy among young Maui fans.

As always, the events surrounding the Maui Film Festival are only secondary to how great the movie experience is.  Watching films under the stars on a Maui golf course with friends and family can not be compared to any screening at any other film festival.

Thanks for joining us!  We’ll post again about the events next year!

Aloha!

Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Cafe in Wailea, South Maui, threw one of the best parties of the year to start off the Maui Film Festival. On Wednesday the 17th of June, 2009, this notoriously fun party attracted all kinds of celebrities, vacationers, and local Maui residents.

Some of the celebrities that enjoyed the warm night were Eddie Murphy, Justin Chambers of Grey’s Anatomy, and the director of Cash Crop, Adam Ross.

With a full bar (including an Ice Bar) and some delicious Pupus (appetizers) all at the low price of $50 for admission, it’s easy to see why this event was so popular.  Some of the delicious Pupus included crab claws, jumbo shrimp, mussels, chili orange chicken, Thai peanut beef, rosemary lamb chops, and caviar on toast.

Plenty of specialty cocktails were made with Tommy Bahama’s signature rums being poured through the ice sculpture. Stella Artois sponsored the event with tasty beer flowing from multiple taps around the restaurant.  Along with great drinks, we enjoyed some incredible live music on the patio.

Adding to the romance and excitement we’re a couple of Cirque du Soleil style performers on stilts walking around with masks and wings.Overall this was the best value and the most fun of the many parties surrounding the events at the Maui Film Festival in 2009.  We’ll be here again next year to share more pictures and news.

Thank you Natalie Brown for allowing us to use your photos.  See more of these photos at Tommy Bahama Maui. Mahalo!

On Friday June 20th, 2009, Willie Nelson received the Maverick Award Tribute at the Celestial Cinema in Makena during the Maui Film Festival.  He sang a few songs and played the guitar (shown in this video) between movies.  His music and good spirit were welcomed under the stars by thousands of Maui locals and visitors. 
The first film to be shown was Splinterheads about a young man in a small town that falls in love with a beautiful Carnie.  The second film as One Peace At A Time (world premiere), a touching film about what we can do for our world in crisis.  In this film, Willie Nelson, among notable others, has a short insightful interview.  The last film was also a world premiere of Cash Crop.  This film explored the many defining characteristics of a booming marijuana economy in Northern California. The Maui Film Festival is an incredible event to experience.

Every year, local Maui residents anticipate the fun and excitement of the festival.  Those visitors lucky enough to be here for it all claim that Maui has the best film festival in the world.  Enjoying warm weather under the stars with a sunset over the ocean, then watching great movies with friends in the grass can’t be beaten. (One warning though:  If you plan on watching more than the first film, we suggest bringing a jacket and/or blanket.  It can get a bit chilly later on.)

Willie Nelson was awarded this tribute for “courage in his convictions, the ability and willingness to stand the heat, and protect our collective constitutional rights to artistic and political freedom of expression.”