Maui Film Festival goes Wilde for Olivia
Actor-director to be honored for the second time at Wailea venue
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WAILEA -- It will be an encore appearance for Olivia Wilde when she accepts the 2019 Maui Film Festival Lights! Camera! Passion! Award on June 16 at the Celestial Cinema on the Wailea Gold & Emerald Golf Course.
She's come a long way since she accepted the festival's Shining Star Award in the same setting in 2011.
At that time, she was an almond-eyed ingenue making the leap from some memorable TV series roles to co-starring with film legends in large-scale adventures on the big screen.
Not quite a decade later, she's not only an accomplished actress, but a director, producer and activist. Her big-screen directorial debut, the teen comedy "Booksmart," was hailed by critics and is currently riding the box office charts.
The award was announced today by Barry Rivers, founder and director of the festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary season from June 12-16 at the Wailea Resort and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
"We knew when we honored her with the Shining Star Award in 2011 that Olivia Wilde was heading for a stratospheric career," said Rivers. "Eight years later, we're over the moon to have her back to honor her with the Lights! Camera! Passion! Award for her blossoming career behind the camera. Her trajectory knows no bounds and we all look forward to many more years of fantastic movies with Olivia at the helm."
The wording on the award "honors a director for their heartfelt personal and professional commitment to the triumph of the human spirit in movies that matter." Previous recipients are Louie Psihoyos and Rob Reiner. She will accept the plaque in a tribute on Father's Day at the festival's signature open-air venue.
"Wilde has had a bustling few years on the motion picture side," according to a festival release. "She most recently premiered her directorial debut 'Booksmart,' which has been beloved by critics and audiences alike and is quickly on the road to becoming a generational anthem."
"Booksmart" pulls a gender switch on the R-rated "Superbad" formula about horny high school students and the hilarious lengths they'll go to to lose their innocence in a hurry. It stars Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein as academically successful friends on their way to college who try to cram the four years of wild high school antics they missed into a single night.
"Critics praised Wilde for her originality and masterful directing and have celebrated the film, deeming it 'revolutionary, a masterpiece and an instant classic.' " according to a festival release. Wilde was recently named one of Variety's 10 directors to watch, and the film won the Audience Award at the San Francisco Film Festival.
In "A Vigilante," which she also produced, Wilde plays a secretive figure who rids victims of their domestic abusers. She co-stared with Luke Wilson in the emotionally charged drama "Meadowland" about a couple grappling with the loss of their son. Other film credits include the Oscar-winning "Her," the Golden Globe-nominated "Rush" and the indie comedy "Drinking Buddies," which she executive produced.
Among her television series credits are HBO's rock 'n' roll drama "Vinyl" from creators Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terrence Winter, and her portrayal of Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley in Fox's hit medical drama "House" early in her career.
Wilde was born in New York City, grew up in Georgetown, Washington, D.C, spent her summers in Ireland and comes from a family of celebrated journalists. When she was honored at the Maui Film Festival in 2011, she talked about her recent work aiding rebuilding efforts in Haiti, which had been ravaged by a disastrous earthquake the year before.
She is a board member of the organization Artists for Peace and Justice, "which supports communities in Haiti through programs in education, health care, and dignity through the performing arts," according to the Internet Movie Database. She was executive producer on several documentary short films, including "Sun City Picture House," about a Haitian community that rallies to build a movie theater following the natural disaster, and the award-winning "Baseball in the Time of Cholera," telling of a young boy's love of baseball, set against Haiti's 2011 cholera epidemic.
Wilde's other recent executive producer credits include the short "Fear Us Women" and the Academy Award-nominated short "Body Team 12."
"Wilde co-founded the philanthropic company Conscious Commerce, with the mission to create a guide for conscious living by promoting the causes, brands, people and lifestyles that are forging a new paragon of living," according to a festival release.
For more details on the upcoming Maui Film Festival, including the complete schedule, visit www.mauifilmfestival.com.
* Freelance writer Rick Chatenever can be reached at rickchatenever@gmail.com.