Award-winning Maui filmmaker Kenneth Martinez Burgmaier is in the midst of completing his latest documentary “Aumakua: Hawaiian Spiritual Guardians.”

Known for his music and Hawaii-themed docs, many of his works are now available for viewing on Amazon Prime.

A prolific director/producer, he has released films on a variety of artists from blues icon B.B. King and soul queen Aretha Franklin to Hawaiian slack key guitar legend Keola Beamer.

The forthcoming documentary on Hawaiian guardian spirits features interviews with Clifford Nae’ole, cultural adviser at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua; Kahu Lyons Naone; Calvin Hoe; and Danny Kaniela Akaka.

“The very essence of aumakua is the backbone of each person,” notes Nae’ole in the trailer.

“It’s a short film that’s been accepted at the Los Angeles International Film Festival,” said Burgmaier. “No one has done a film on aumakua before. I’ve been working on it for three years.”

Burgmaier is also completing a documentary on Maui’s Zenshin Daiko drummers, who celebrated their 21st anniversary with a performance at the Ocean Vodka Farm in Kula during the “Sunset at The Point Music Series” in July, before the county’s rules limiting gatherings to 10 people went into effect.

The taiko drummers typically present an annual concert at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, which has halted performances during the pandemic.

“It shows their past history and one of the kids does a narration about the songs they are playing,” he explained. “I’ve been working with them for many years.”

Also in the works, he was invited by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz to film the 2019 International Guitar Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in December. Judges at the event included Pat Metheny, Stanley Jordan, John Scofield and Lee Ritenour. The film includes interviews with a number of jazz stars from Hancock, Jordan and Metheny, to Cassandra Wilson and Terence Blanchard.

“The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz hired me, and I flew over in December and filmed at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institute,” he reported. “We’re in post-production now.”

Living on Maui since the late 1990s, aside from filmmaking, over the years Burgmaier has presented a number of jazz and blues, slack key guitar and film festivals on Maui, Lanai and Hawaii island. His most recent production, the Ninth Annual Big Island Jazz & Blues Festival, was canceled because of COVID-19.

On Maui, films he has directed include “One Man, One Voice — Kris Kristofferson,” which tracked the legendary musician and actor over four decades. Kristofferson was filmed performing solo at the MACC and at his home in Hana, talking about his songs and career.

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 2001 and Best Documentary at the Temecula International Film Festival in 2002, Burgmaier’s film on slack key Hawaiian legend Keola Beamer — “Kiho’Alu (Loosen the Key) Keola Beamer” — included interviews with Aunty Nona Beamer, Cyril Pahinui, Led Kaapana, and country icon Willie Nelson, who noted, “there’s no better slack key player.”

Other Hawaii-based works he directed include “Raiatea Live!,” which won a Na Hoku Award for Music Video in 2010; “Aunty Nona Beamer — Malama Ko Aloha (Keep Your Love)”; “John Keawe — Music With The Island Touch”; “A Journey to Kalaupapa,” featuring Raiatea Helm visiting the leprosy settlement; “The Sarah Joe — Hana Remembers Her Sons”; “Kaho’olawe — An Island Healing” and “Massacre at Kaupoa Beach,” told through the eyes of a 9-year-old boy.

Nationally, Burgmaier was selected by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz to direct and produce a tribute to Franklin, with stars like Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Chaka Khan performing; and a tribute concert to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright — where she played drums on stage with trumpeter Chris Botti.

He also directed the 2008 “B.B. King: The Blues and Jazz” tribute, featuring Quincy Jones, U2’s Bono and the Edge, and Robert Cray.

“I have to shake my boogie a little bit,” says King in the film, sitting on stage next to Bono, before launching into “Let the Good Times Roll.”

“There are all these other great directors, and I’m amazed that I’ve been honored to be selected to do these events,” he said. “They are magical moments to share with the world and they keep coming.”

The founder of HawaiiOn TV.com and “Jazz Alley” TV, back in 1992, he decided to create a music television series that would focus on jazz and blues along with world music. Still broadcasting today, his “Jazz Alley” TV show can be seen Saturday nights on Hawaii’s KIKU, Channel 9.

“We’ve won Billboard Awards twice for a music series,” he noted. “We’re celebrating 28 years on broadcast TV.