Wailuku Film Festival Expands for Year Two with Six New Categories
News related to:Wailuku Film Festival · 2 min read
The Wailuku Film Festival, returning for its second year, has expanded its vision to become a premier hub for cinema in the heart of the Pacific. The festival, which will take place in mid-June 2027, is inviting filmmakers from Hawaiʻi, across the Pacific, Indigenous communities, and around the world to submit their work. Early bird submissions opened on October 8, 2026, and will run through January 1, 2027.
Festival Director Brian Kohne, also Maui's Film Commissioner and an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, expressed excitement about the festival's growth.
The festival will showcase six categories: Hawaiʻi, Indigenous Voices, Watersports, Student Films, Animation, and Ocean Conservation. The Watersports category, which remains a signature of the festival, will welcome surf films, ocean adventures, athlete profiles, and stories exploring the communities, traditions, and lifestyles shaped by the sea. The new Animation category will feature imaginative visual storytelling and creative experimentation, while the Ocean Conservation category will invite cinematic perspectives on marine ecosystems, environmental stewardship, and humanity's relationship with the sea.
The inaugural festival in 2026 drew more than 5,300 attendees across historic Wailuku Town and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. The program presented more than 100 films, including over 55 Hawaiʻi-produced films and more than 30 student films, representing 15 countries and Indigenous Nations. Multiple screenings at the historic ʻĪao Theater sold out, and the festival generated more than 12.5 million media impressions with high praise from filmmakers and attendees alike.
Kohne emphasized the festival's commitment to developing Hawaiʻi's creative industry.
The festival will take place in mid-June 2027 in historic Wailuku Town, Maui, Hawaiʻi. Filmmakers are invited to submit through FilmFreeway beginning October 8, 2026, with discounted Early Bird submissions available through January 1, 2027. The festival website is available at https://www.wailukufilm.com/.
The festival is an initiative of the Maui Film Office supported by the County of Maui. It aims to celebrate independent cinema, elevate Hawaiʻi and Indigenous voices, cultivate emerging filmmakers, and connect local and international creative communities through screenings, educational programs, industry engagement, and cultural exchange. The festival is rooted in Hawaiian values of aloha (love and compassion), kuleana (responsibility), and mālama (care for people and place), celebrating cinema's power to preserve cultural knowledge, inspire understanding, and connect people across generations, cultures, and oceans.