A little something for everyone at the annual Hana Film Festival.The fifth annual Hana Film Festival featured more than just movies. With a lineup of award-winning performers, Hana Town was treated to a free night of music—sprinkled with hula and a bit of comedy—before settling in for some really great films.
The mood was jovial as families gathered at Hana Bay on Saturday, Nov. 3, for the Hana Film Festival, put on by MauiFEST Hawai‘i. The occasional sprinkle-turned-downpour did not discourage the patrons who settled in for a night of Grammy Award-winning music, Emmy Award-winning films and fabulous food, the first two being free of charge.
Maui filmmaker Ken Martinez Burgmaier was inspired to start the festival five years ago in Hana. “I’m a paddler for the Hana Canoe Club and involved in the community down there,” Burgmaier said. “I realized how special it would be to bring this to Hana. I wanted to provide a place for local filmmakers to screen their films.” With the help of Uncle Boy Kanae of KPOA, he started MauiFEST Hawai‘i to make that happen.
Uncle Boy kicked off the night with a few jokes before turning over the stage to Moloka‘i’s own Lono, the Hawai‘i Music Award-winning musician. It took all of a minute for him to draw the crowd in with his melodic voice.
Lono was followed by an equally talented string of musical masters. George and Keoki Kahumoku graced the stage together, and Braddah Francis belted out Elvis as hula dancers swayed to the tunes.
In the distance, ‘Ohana Makamae, Hana Youth Center) and Hale Hulu Mamo, Hana’s senior center, were hard at work bringing food to hungry concertgoers. All proceeds went back to them. Along with pork teriyaki and shoyu chicken, the most popular dish was the seared ahi—sliced atop garlic bread, it seemed to occupy the lap of anyone eating anything.
The air was electrified as the headliners; the Charmaine Neville Band, took the stage. Charmaine Neville, daughter of Charles from the Neville Brothers, clutched the mic and peered out into the audience with an intense gaze. She had a message to share tonight, delivered through her velvety singing voice coupled with some engaging storytelling.
Neville came to Hawai‘i from her home in New Orleans, where she rode out Hurricane Katrina. “I was stuck on the roof of my house for seven days,” she said. She came here to raise awareness about the state of the Gulf Coast today, where her home in the Lower Ninth Ward still does not have reliable electricity, and her neighborhood gets by without the aid of a school or grocery store. The police and fire crews operate from trailers and are forced to live outside of the city. “You have to drive miles and miles to get whatever you need,” she said.
Her set began in earnest and built in intensity. Commentary gave way to song and then back again. Gerald French beat out a rhythm on drums, while Amasa Miller alternated between accordion and keyboard.
Neville continued to lead the audience through her harrowing tale of Katrina. She performed a song she later explained had no name. “How long can you tread that water?” she sang. “People are floating past me on trees. I just watched my house float by. I just watched my neighbor die. The sky is black with helicopters, but none of them are stopping…”
Sweat beaded on her face, and it was easy to tell she was reliving the experience. “That song?” she said later. “It’s different every time. It evolves. I never wrote it down.”
After she shared her story, she opened the door to her home. “If any of you all get down to New Orleans, I am inviting you to my house for a fish fry. I love feeding people!” She and her band left the stage to cheers that reverberated through the bay and quite possibly all over Hana Town that evening.
For more than an hour afterwards, Neville sat on the sidelines as one after another came to praise her performance. She gave them hugs and graciously signed CDs. Proceeds from the sales go back to her hometown and its rebuilding efforts.
Later, the attendees snuggled in for a lineup of movie shorts, including Heart of a Soul Surfer: The Bethany Hamilton Story and the Hawai‘i world premiere of the New Zealand film A Meaningful Life. The food booth put popcorn in many hands, and children dozed off in the balmy air as parents enjoyed the films. The Hana Film Festival had done it again.
Mira Allen is the editor-in-chief of Ho‘oulu, the newspaper of Maui Community College, and an intern for Maui Today.tv, leading sponsor of the Hana Film Festival.