The Wailuku Film Festival encourages filmmakers from Maui to share their work in four categories — Hawaii, indigenous voices, watersports and student films.
Courtesy photo

With the Maui Film Festival having closed after 25 years, residents and visitors still have the Hawaii International Festival in late 2026 to look forward to, and the new Wailuku Film Festival will launch in June with screenings of new works at the Historic Iao Theater, the Naylor and the MACC’s Castle Theater.

With support from the county, festival director Brian Kohne is hoping the island’s new festival will encourage local filmmakers to share their work in four categories — Hawaii, indigenous voices, watersports and student films.

The Maui County Film Commissioner, who directed the Maui-based films “Get A Job” and “Kuleana,” Kohne explained: “Most of us indie people really benefit from participation in film festivals. It’s where we meet other makers and where we’re inspired to want to tell a story. Maui has never had that type of film festival, let alone the best kind, which is in a small, walkable town where relationships are formed and businesses benefit.”

Compared to the Maui Film Festival, the new event, he said, is “a filmmaker-centric film festival, devoted to the younger generation and connectivity. Our objectives are just very different. The Maui Film Festival was more of an audience festival, and to some degree, celebrity-driven.”

In recent years, both HFF on Maui and the Maui Film Festival have tended to focus on documentaries. Kohne hopes the new fest will encourage narrative filmmaking. “Hawaii filmmakers have for a long time been really good at creating documentaries. But in my view, the narratives are actually the types of works we can build an economy around. A documentary tends to be small team, grant-driven, whereas once you’re into a narrative, you’re employing actors and cameramen. To grow a vibrant, independent industry here that results in jobs, it’s about getting behind narrative work. Narrative works are what we’re really hoping to bring in.”

The paucity of films made on Maui in recent years has meant that we have lost talent which has had to seek work on the Mainland. “I know of 10 people in the last 10 years who have gone to film school on the Mainland, kids from Maui, who don’t come home,” said Kohne. “Maui’s never created an environment or a reason for them to come home and share their work and connect with us. The Wailuku Film Festival seeks to do that.”

Currently accepting submissions, the fest is open to both Hawaii-based and international filmmakers. “Our indigenous voices category could include films and filmmakers from anywhere in the world,” he explained. “Not only would that be inclusive of Native Hawaiian filmmakers or films that we’d like to see more of, but if we can bring in some top indigenous filmmakers from New Zealand and other regions that have gone mainstream, we can inspire our makers.”

Regarding the water sports section, “It’s pretty obvious that we’ve got some of the top talent in the world,” he noted. “People like Kai Lenny are filmmakers creating their own content. So we want the Wailuku Film Festival to become the premier watersports festival in the Pacific, if not beyond, over time, because we have the talent.”

With the Hawaii category, Khone

explained, “That could be made in Hawaii, it could be about Hawaii, it could be a filmmaker from Hawaii. We’re seeking our people who are out in the world working and bring them home, give them a reason to bring their art home, to inspire us, to reconnect with us. We want them to know that there’s always a home for them here, to return, to screen, to collaborate, and to connect.”

The final student category is “near and dear to my heart,” said Khone. “I run the Academy for Creative Media at UH Hawaii Maui College, and we’ve got students receiving education here elsewhere in the state, and once they graduate, there’s nowhere for them to work. I also see high school students who are really interested in filmmaking. The student category includes high school and higher education.”

The Wailuku Film Festival will run from June 18 through 21, closing with screenings in the MACC’s Castle Theater. Submissions close on April 1. For festival updates and submission guidelines, visit wailukufilm.com.