Tommorow is the last chance to take in this year’s Maui First Light Film Festival at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. The first showing is at 2:00 PM featuring the documentary “Born into Brothels.” The final two films are “Tell Them Who You Are” showing at 5:00 PM and “The Assasination of Richard Nixon” showing at 7:30 PM. The event which started on December 15th features 46 critically acclaimed domestic and foreign films many of which have yet to be released for general distribution.

I purchased a 4-Film VIP Fast Light Pass. The pass was well worth the fourty dollars to see great films in this beautiful facility. I saw the movies “Ray”, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, “Hotel Rwanda” and “the Motor Cycle Diaries”. I would recomend all four films. Ray featured an academy award worthy performance for Jamie Foxx not to mention the inspiring story and amazing music of Ray Charles. The Life Aquatic is another offbeat production by Wes Anderson. It kept me laughing consistently. Hotel Rwanda starring Don Cheadle presents the true life story of a Rwandan Hotel Manager who turned the nation’s only 4 star hotel into a refugee center during Rwanda’s horrible massacre. There were very few dry eyes in the audience at the end of the movie. The Motorcycle Diaries is based on the story of a young Che Guevara’s trip around South America. The coming of age trip helped shape Che’s revolutionary ideology. The acting, story and scenery are all fantastic. These are just some of the great films featured at First Light. I had a hard time not going to the MACC every night to take in a new movie.

The whole event is put on by Barry Rivers and the rest of the team behind the Maui Film Festival. Between Wednesday night movies at the MACC, First Light and the Maui Film Festival held every June, Barry does a great job bringing quality films to Maui.