Filmmakers hoping to screen their work in historic Wailuku Town now have a window to submit at a discount. Early-bird submissions for the second Wailuku Film Festival opened Oct. 8, with the festival itself set to return to Wailuku Town in mid-June 2027, according to a festival news release.
The 2027 edition is scheduled for June 10 to 20 in Wailuku, Maui, according to FilmFreeway, which lists this year's theme as “Wailuku: Where Stories Gather.” Filmmakers are invited to submit their work through FilmFreeway, with early-bird entries available at a discounted rate through Jan. 1, 2027, per the same listing. As Maui Now reports, the festival is an initiative of the Maui Film Office and is supported by the County of Maui.
After the early-bird window closes, regular submissions begin Jan. 1, 2027, followed by a late-submission period running March 1 through April 1. The final general submission deadline lands April 1, 2027, while student filmmakers have until May 1 to enter — an extended deadline the festival offers specifically to high school and college filmmakers. Films submitted must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2025, per FilmFreeway's IMDb-based eligibility rule.
Two New Categories Join the Lineup
The festival is expanding its programming for year two. It retains its four cornerstone categories — Hawaiʻi, Indigenous Voices, Watersports and Student Films — while adding Animation and Ocean Conservation. The Watersports category accepts surf films, ocean adventures, athlete profiles and stories about communities shaped by the sea.
The new Animation category welcomes imaginative visual storytelling and creative experimentation, according to an EIN Presswire release. Ocean Conservation, meanwhile, invites cinematic perspectives on marine ecosystems, environmental stewardship and humanity's relationship with the sea, the release states. Narrative, documentary, feature-length and short-form films will all compete for juried and audience awards.
A Strong Debut in Wailuku Town
The inaugural, five-day festival took place in 2026 and drew a significant crowd, though exact figures vary by source. FilmFreeway describes the first edition as welcoming more than 5,000 audience members and more than 100 films from 17 countries and Indigenous Nations. The EIN Presswire release instead puts attendance at more than 5,300 and says the festival represented 15 countries and Indigenous Nations, including more than 55 Hawaiʻi-produced films and more than 30 student films.
Several screenings at the historic ʻĪao Theater sold out, according to festival organizers cited by Maui Now. The same release notes the festival generated more than 12.5 million media impressions, though that figure comes from a low-confidence snippet and should be treated as an organizer claim rather than independently verified data.
Building an Industry Rooted in Hawaiʻi
Festival director Brian Kohne, who also serves as Maui Film Commissioner and as an assistant professor at University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, framed the festival and the college's Creative Media program as connected pieces of a larger goal. He said the two represent a vital piece of infrastructure in the build of an independent film industry rooted in Hawaiʻi, per the EIN Presswire release.
Kohne also said residents and visitors who attended the first festival helped small businesses in town, and that the student category supports island creatives moving from education into industry, according to the same release. Organizers describe the festival as grounded in the Hawaiian values of aloha, kuleana and mālama, part of what they call an ambition to establish Wailuku Town as one of the Pacific's most compelling destinations for independent cinema.
