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FirstLight celebrates two decades of bringing Oscar-worthy films to Maui

“ROMA,” Images courtesy Maui Film Festival

In the days before the world went digital, light was essential in bringing the magic of movies to the big screen, passing through film to ultimately project the images captured by the camera.

When Maui Film Festival Director Barry Rivers decided to bring a film festival to the island, it was the dawning of an event that provided Maui audiences access to movies that might not have made it here otherwise. In essence, he was shedding the “first light” on Oscar-bound films.

Twenty years later, Maui Film Festival: FirstLight is an anticipated event that screens a selection of films earmarked by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members, many of whom spend the holidays on island, as potential Oscar contenders.

For 2018, Rivers has culled a diverse roster of films that promise to make the viewer feel, think and explore other cultures and sub- cultures — the driving force behind FirstLight.

“My goal is to bring great films that stay with you long after the lights dim, and make a difference in how we view other cultures and the world,” he says.

“WEED THE PEOPLE”

FirstLight films screen Friday and Saturday in the Castle Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului. The schedule as of press time is as follows:

“WEED THE PEOPLE”

Friday, 3 p.m.

This look beyond pot-activist propaganda and politics will challenge everything you thought you knew about medical marijuana. Filmmakers Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein reveal the stories of ordinary people who are caught up in the controversy. There is little more inspiring than seeing stories of these child patients whose symptoms have improved through herbal medicine that their parents illegally obtained. It will give anyone, of whatever age, hope for the benefits that pairing chemotherapy treatments with doses of cannabis oil, can dramatically, in many people, shrink their tumors and increase their odds of survival. NR. 97 min. Directed by Abby Epstein. Courtesy of Mangurama Consciousness Films.

“ROMA”

“AT ETERNITY’S GATE”

Friday, 5 p.m.

Yaritza Aparicio stars in the newest feature, from Academy Award-winning (“Gravity”) director and writer Alfonso Cuaron, who also directed “Gravity,” “Children of Men” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” It follows Cleo, a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City. Delivering an artful love letter to the women who raised him, Cuaron draws on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst political turmoil of the 1970s. His first project since the groundbreaking “Gravity” in 2013, it is enthralling for Cuaron’s command of his visual craft. Every frame of this masterwork is nothing less than picture perfect. R. 135 minutes. Written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Courtesy of Netflix.

“FREE SOLO”

Friday, 7:30 p.m.

From award-winning documentary filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi (“Meru”) and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin comes this stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock … the 3,000 foot high El Capitan in Yosemite National Park … without a rope. Celebrated as one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, it is both an edge-of-your seat thriller and an inspiring portrait of the triumph of the human spirit. It’s not an understatement to note that this majestic movie was made to be seen on the 40 foot-wide big screen at the Castle Theater, Maui’s movie palace. PG-13. 100 minutes. Courtesy of National Geographic Films.

“VOX LUX”

“AT ETERNITY’S GATE”

Saturday, 2 p.m.

Academy Award nominees Julian Schnabel directs and Willem DaFoe — named Best Actor at the 2018 Venice Film Festival and more recently nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama — stars in this journey inside the world and mind of world renowned painter Vincent van Gogh who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world’s most beloved and stunning works of art. This is not a forensic biography, but rather scenes based on Vincent van Gogh’s (Dafoe) letters, common agreement about events in his life that present as facts, hearsay, and moments that are just plain invented. R. 111 minutes. Directed by Julian Schnabel. Courtesy of CBS Films.

“SHE IS THE OCEAN”

Saturday, 4 p.m.

“MOMENTUM GENERATION”

You will be enthralled by this magical film. Nine Women. Nine Spirits. Nine Heroes. These six words are director’s Inna Blokhina’s shorthand for the essence of her full-length documentary about great women from all four corners of the globe and who share one love — their deep love for the ocean. They include big wave surfers Keala Kennelly and Andrea Moller, pro surfer Coco Ho, surfing prodigy Cinta Hansel, marine biologist Ocean Ramsey, high diver Anna Bader, free diver Rose Molina, soul surfer Jeannie Chesser and oceanographer Sylvia Earle. A perfect film for anyone to enjoy. NR. 101 minutes. Directed by Inna Blokhina. Courtesy of InWave Production.

“MOMENTUM GENERATION”

Saturday, 6 p.m.

Executive produced by Robert Redford, rarely and never before seen archival footage and contemporary interviews with this legendary crew of many of the best surfers on Earth — including surfers Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Kalani Robb, Taylor Steele and Pat O’Connell — are featured in this heart-pounding, heartwarming story made for best viewing on the 50 foot-wide big screen at the Castle Thearer. It transports audiences to the moment when this microcosm of a sport catalyzed a seismic shift — the moment when a group of guys, fueled in equal measure by camaraderie and competition, broke records, won world titles and redefined a sport forever and beyond. NR. 103 minutes. Written and Directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist. Courtesy of HBO Sports.

“VOX LUXE”

“FREE SOLO”

Saturday, 8 p.m.

Natalie Portman, in one of the most mesmerizing performances of her career (in a movie noteworthy for including six songs penned by SIA) stars alongside Jude Law, Raffey Cassidy and Stacy Martin, in this 21st century portrait of a young singer who delivers a life-changing performance under trying circumstances, that takes her, initially in her teenage years, on what becomes a lifelong journey as a burgeoning pop star whose meteoric rise to fame dovetails with a personal and national loss of innocence. Told with sharp intelligence and visual style, this young powerhouse rises to a new kind of celebrity: American icon, secular deity, global superstar and, years later, a pop savior navigating the challenges of monolithic fame. R. 112 minutes. Directed by Brady Corbet. Courtesy of Neon.

*****

Essential info

Tickets are $14 for single films or $48 for a four-film VIP FastPass, which can be shared with family and friends. Tickets are available from the MACC box office, by calling 242-7469 or online at www.mauiarts.org (plus applicable fees when purchased online or by phone).

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