In 1989, twelve women sailed in the face of rampant sexism and inspired the world. The new documentary MAIDEN, from director Alex Holmes, chronicles the harrowing and inspiring voyage of the first all-female crew to ever compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race. The film centers around Tracy Edwards, the extraordinary woman whose experiences with sexism in the sailing community inspired her to form the crew of the Maiden and compete in the Whitbread.

Both Holmes and Edwards, who received a standing ovation upon entering the theater, spoke at our sister location, Angelika New York. Holmes recalled meeting Edwards five years ago and described her as a “charismatic and powerful individual” and immediately wanted to make a film about her and the Maiden. Edwards and her crew members decided they wanted to be “completely honest” about their experiences leading up to and during the race. Edwards discussed how young women face unrealistic expectations of perfection, when in reality women are “messy, mucky, [and] all over the place.” Edwards wanted MAIDEN to reflect that reality and show young girls how strong and capable women are. Edwards is immensely grateful for MAIDEN which gave the crew the ability to express pride over their accomplishment after “not really talking about it” for many years.

Holmes expertly weaves interviews with Maiden’s crew and heart-stopping footage from the race together to create a captivating narrative. MAIDEN is a testament to the indomitable human spirit and the power of a determined woman.

Visit our YouTube channel to see the full Q&A!

MAIDEN opens Friday 7/12 at Kahala Theatres.

Miss this special screening of CLUELESS? As if! Let Consolidated Theatres’ Cult Classics series transport you back to 1995 with this era-defining comedy.

CLUELESS, an update of Jane Austen’s EMMA, follows Cher, the spoiled but well-meaning teen, as she meddles in the lives of everyone around her. She is totally confident that she knows how to run her friends’ lives. While trying to manage everyone else, Cher quickly learns that she’s, well, clueless, especially when it comes to her heart.

CLUELESS is a classic film worthy of its source material. Just like any Jane Austen novel, it has a complex and endearing heroine you root for from the start, incisive satire, and a leading man worth falling for. The film crackles with wit and is steeped in the mid-1990s. From Cher’s iconic yellow plaid ensemble to referring to men as Baldwins or Barneys and a musical interlude from a ska band, every moment of CLUELESS is highly stylized and full of references that make it a perfect encapsulation of 90s culture.

Don’t miss the opportunity to experience CLUELESS (and to marvel that Paul Rudd truly hasn’t aged a day since 1995) on the big screen at Kaahumanu Theatres!

The new film WILD ROSE features a star-making performance from Jessie Buckley that demands to be seen in theaters. Buckley portrays Rose-Lynn Harlan, an extraordinary talent whose hope of becoming a country music star is at odds with the realities of her life in Glasgow. WILD ROSE highlights the sacrifices Rose-Lynn must make in pursuit of her dreams and forces her to question if Nashville is worth the price of admission.

Buckley and Mary Steenburgen, the co-writer of the film’s original song Glasgow (No Place Like Home), stopped by Angelika New York to discuss WILD ROSE. Buckley described her approach to the brash yet deeply sensitive Rose-Lynn. Through her performance, Buckley hoped to express “all of the different possible colors” of the character. Buckley had “lost [her] nerve with singing” until she was offered the role of Rose-Lynn. This performance reflects her regained confidence. Buckley commands every scene she’s in and owns every stage she’s on with the presence and vocals of a country legend. Buckley’s star power is especially evident in the film’s climactic scene aided by Steenburgen’s powerful and personal songwriting.

Steenburgen’s acting background gave her the ability to embody and empathize with a character. Steenburgen emphasized how impactful it was to hear Buckley’s “moving” and “beautiful” voice singing her words.

After the Q&A, audience members heard just how beautiful Buckley’s voice is first-hand when she sang Glasgow in a performance fit for the Ryman Auditorium.

Visit our YouTube channel for more exclusive content! 

Don’t miss this film at Kahala Theatres – opening 7/12.

ECHO IN THE CANYON feels as breezy and warm as the Los Angeles that The Mamas and The Papas fantasized about in their iconic song California Dreamin. The documentary transports viewers back to the So-Cal of the 1960s through sun-soaked shots of Laurel Canyon, interviews with folk legends, and a steady stream of folk-rock standards. First-time director Andrew Slater explores how the Canyon became the epicenter of creativity that changed the folk sound and the music industry.

Slater and executive producer/star Jakob Dylan (yes, that Dylan!) stopped by the Angelika New York to discuss how their lifelong passion for folk music brought them together and inspired them to make ECHO IN THE CANYON. While interviewing musicians, Slater discovered how the bands influenced one another in a “communal and organic” way. He found this collaboration and community much more compelling than his original plans to make a documentary about “the electrification of folk music,” and ECHO IN THE CANYON was born.

The documentary highlights the transition from the bright optimism of The Beatles to the psychedelic introspection of the singer-songwriter era in the 1970s. ECHO IN THE CANYON features extensive interviews with folk music icons like Roger McGuinn and David Crosby (The Byrds), along with Tom Petty’s last recorded interview and a particularly revealing talk with Michelle Phillips (The Mamas and the Papas). ECHO IN THE CANYON is a loving tribute to the musicians who transformed the industry with their timeless harmonies and 12-string guitars.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A with Andrew Slater & Jakob Dylan! 

ECHO IN THE CANYON opens Friday 6/28 at Kahala Theatres.

John Chester, and his wife Molly, had a dream to create an idyllic farm, and decided to document their journey. Through countless obstacles, and eight years of daunting work, their farm ultimately develops into something more remarkable than they ever imagined.

Critics are raving about their stunning documentary, stating, “Mother Nature has never been more inspiring.” After its initial film festival screenings at Toronto, Telluride, Sundance and more, it became clear that this little farm would provide huge inspiration to all its viewers.

The Chesters’ farm was created to let nature be itself – the ultimate eco-conscious paradise. Here, Chester discusses his take on conscious farming:

“Its definitely aged me, the whole process,” Chester states, but its “made me appreciate life so much more… I wouldn’t trade the sleepless feelings I have right now for anything.” Chester approaches farming the same way he does filmmaking – let it develop as it goes along – and keep it as ‘organic’ a process as possible – truly allowing the farm (or the film) to be a journey.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A!

About the film:

A testament to the immense complexity of nature, THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM follows two dreamers and a dog on an odyssey to bring harmony to both their lives and the land. John and Molly Chester make a choice that takes them out of the city and onto 200 acres in the foothills of Ventura County, naively endeavoring to build one of the most diverse farms of its kind in complete coexistence with nature. The land they’ve chosen, however, is utterly depleted of nutrients and suffering from a brutal drought. The film chronicles eight years of daunting work and outsize idealism as they attempt to create the utopia they seek, planting 10,000 orchard trees and over 200 different crops, and bringing in animals of every kind. When the farm’s ecosystem finally begins to reawaken, so does the Chesters’ hope – but as their plan to create perfect harmony takes a series of wild turns, they realize that to survive they will have to reach a far greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature, and of life itself.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM is now playing at Kahala Theatres.

“A master at finding the poetry in the ordinary rhythms of life.”

Director Ritesh Batra (THE LUNCHBOX, OUR SOULS AT NIGHT) stopped by our sister theater, the Angelika New York, to discuss his newest work, PHOTOGRAPH, which the LA Times calls “a lovely, charming and gently transporting journey.”

The film walks a delicate balance, wherein its central two characters remain the viewer’s sole focus. Batra discusses that despite there being 52 speaking roles in the film, he wanted to keep as many of them off camera as possible, so as not to draw attention away from the leads. In alignment with that, there was a huge focus on sound design – the filmmakers actually spend more time on sound design than on editing – to maintain that delicacy that the film holds, and “get into the characters’ heads” through the music and sound within the film.

Batra actually wrote the film’s final scene first, in which he established the film’s premise, and then let the characters lead him, so to speak, towards writing the rest. “You start feeling [the characters],” Batra states, as his process is to let each step in the filmmaking process deepen and develop the script-writing, allowing the characters to grow and change.

View the full Q&A here:

About the film:

From director Ritesh Batra (LUNCHBOX), Sundance Film Festival Official Selection PHOTOGRAPH is being praised by critics as “a film that will warm your heart.” It centers on a struggling street photographer in Mumbai, pressured to marry by his grandmother, who convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways they could not expect.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

PHOTOGRAPH opens tomorrow, 5/24, at Kahala Theatres.

Prolific Director and Producer Ed Zwick (GLORY, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, LAST SAMURAI) stopped by our sister theater, the Angelika, to discuss about his new film TRIAL BY FIRE.

Based on a true story of Cameron Todd Willingham, played by Jeremy Davies, the film centers on a poor, uneducated man from a small Texas town who is convicted of a triple homicide in 1992. Sitting on death row for 12 years, his life is changed when he meets Elizabeth Gilbert, brilliantly portrayed by actress Laura Dern.

Zwick discusses how he discovered the story by journalist David Grann, and the tireless amount of research that went into creating and accurate portrayal of this harrowing story of this haunting injustice. Using unprecedented access to the real people involved in the story, Zwick was able to craft a film that feels authentic and shows how one person, one voice, can truly make a difference.

View the full Q&A here: 

TRIAL BY FIRE is now playing at Kahala Theatres.

Celebrate the iconic stars of Film Noir with our new series this May! This 1940s genre, featuring high-contrast cinematography, mysterious murders and lots of smoke, pushed the boundaries of film and storytelling. In addition, this ground-breaking genre introduced a new type of female character: The Femme Fatale. This mysterious enchantress seduces the male hero into never suspecting she was involved in the crime, while secretly pushing her own ambitious agenda for power.

Although the femme fatale is still limiting, and is now seen as a bit of a cliché, this character type was shocking to post-war audiences because it showed strong, smart females fighting for something other than love and marriage. This innovative character type became the predecessor of the modern leading lady, and paved the way for new types of roles for women on screen.

The Origin of the Femme Fatale: Mary Astor in THE MALTESE FALCON and Barbara Stanwyck in DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Mary Astor portrays an early version of the Femme Fatale in 1941 through her role of Miss Wonderly, also known as Brigid O’Shaughnessy in THE MALTESE FALCON. Introduced as a timid damsel in distress, Miss Wonderly encapsulates Humphrey Bogart’s interest, which pulls him into her web of lies. Creating the iconic female silhouette in the frosted glass trope, Mary Astor creates the quintessential femme fatale, dressed in 1940s high-fashion, appearing breathless and helpless in every scene and oozing with sex-appeal, which is tantalized further when she enters wearing only her robe, a shocking, provocative outfit at the time. Miss Wonderly is not only beautiful; she is smart and ambitious, which allows her to challenge the masculinity of the men around her, and become the ultimate antagonist in this film noir classic.

Barbara Stanwyck continued this character archetype in 1944 through her cunning portrayal of the most iconic femme fatales of all time: Phyllis Dietrichson in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. A seemingly devoted wife, Phyllis Dietrichson has a not-so-secret agenda, matched with the grit to convince salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) into making a malicious deal. Double Indemnity pushes the femme fatale archetype further through a more open display of power and seduction. Instead of a bathrobe, Stanwyck enters in her bath towel and slippers, further allowing MacMurray (and audiences) to fall under her spell.  As the highest paying actress in Hollywood at the time, Stanwyck was hesitant about taking on this immoral role. However, this glamorous star took on the challenge, and unraveled into a seductress who switches between a warm and alluring enchantress to an icy, conniving viper, entangling the hero salesman and creating one of the most popular renditions of the femme fatale.

Pushing Further: Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE, Rita Hayworth in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI and Peggy Cummings in GUN CRAZY

As the Femme Fatale grew in popularity, the archetype began to become too predictable for this genre of mystery and plot twists. Film makers began exploring other paths for their female leads. This is especially present in the 1945 film noir classic, MILDRED PIERCE.  Joan Crawford portrays the cunningly ambitious mother who will do anything for her daughter, including eliminating cheating husbands snaring men into murderous situations, and scrounging for money through any means. This portrayal seems to paint Mildred Piece as the stereotypical femme fatale, begging for an ending where Mildred reveals her malicious intentions before being dragged off to jail. However, MILDRED PIERCE takes a turn, creating a new female archetype: The Femme Modern.

Unlike the Femme Fatale, whose archetype centers around women seeking power through sex appeal, the Femme Modern is often portrayed as a hard-working strong female with good intentions that she achieves through more masculine means rather than sex-appeal, an archetype that was very relevant in World War II when women entered the workforce.  While MILDRED PIERCE defines a new archetype, it still stays true to the Film Noir genre, involving an unexpected femme fatale twist, making it a film noir masterpiece.

Orson Welles pushed Film Noir in a different direction through his dramatic 1947 film, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Starring Rita Hayworth in the Femme Fatale role of Elsa Bannister, Orson Welles follows the femme fatale archetype, while giving his then wife a more realistic motive. Instead of seeking power and money through sex, Hayworth explores Elsa’s need for justice and brokenness from her abusive past. Unlike the classic femme fatale, Hayworth does not create a guise of fragility and morality, but is openly cold and impassive throughout the entire movie. Her unraveling does not come from the male sleuth’s discovery of her scheme, but from her own self-discovery of how her need for retribution has changed her.

The Femme Fatale archetype continued to evolve in films throughout the 1940s and 50s, including in the 1950’s film, GUN CRAZY. Peggy Cummings portrays a less conventional femme fatale, Annie, a pants-wearing, dead shot searching for a companion for a Bonnie and Clyde-like adventure. The film follows the femme fatale archetype, showing the growing deadly attraction between Annie and the newly reformed Bard (Russ Tamblyn) while pushing the boundaries of gender at the time through Annie’s traditionally masculine attributes.

Celebrate these ground breaking femme fatale characters in the exciting cinematic genre of film noir! Watch the progression of the femme fatale and the foundation of fearless female roles in films throughout all these films in our special curated series playing every Wednesday in May at Kahala Theatres.

Seven-time Oscar nominated director Mike Leigh’s films (ANOTHER YEAR, SECRETS & LIES, VERA DRAKE) are known for being character-driven. With PETERLOO, he aimed to do the same. Instead on focusing the cerebral, statistical facts of this devastating massacre, he instead chose to focus on its central characters, giving audiences a much more personal, emotional viewing experience.

The Wall Street Journal raves, “This is historical re-creation on an epic scale. Yet it’s a down-to-earth epic, with a density of detail that’s stirring in its humanity and frightening in its clarity about miscalculations on both sides.”

Through the 6-month rehearsal period, he took the time to sit with each actor in this massive ensemble cast and work with them on their role. Here, he describes the film’s rehearsals:

Leigh believes in portraying real people, in the most authentic way, and people “are both comic and tragic,” he states. Here, he elaborates on comedy and irony used in the film:

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A!

About the film:

Internationally acclaimed and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Leigh portrays one of the bloodiest episodes in British history, the infamous Peterloo Massacre of 1819, where government-backed cavalry charged into a peaceful crowd of 80,000 that gathered in Manchester, England to demand democratic reform.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

PETERLOO opens Friday 4/19 at Kahala Theatres.

Director Claire Denis (LET THE SUNSHINE IN, CHOCOLAT) made her English-language feature debut with the mysterious, wonderful sci-fi adventure HIGH LIFE. She also made her Angelika debut when she joined our sister theatre for a Q&A to discuss the film, alongside its star Robert Pattinson (GOOD TIME, REMEMBER ME, TWILIGHT).

Pattinson was originally drawn to the film due to Denis herself as the director, and when he heard the film described, he was hooked. Denis describes film in itself as “like songs.. made to describe feelings, moments..” and that is how she comes to her work.

Though Denis doesn’t like to refer to HIGH LIFE as “science fiction,” she did meet an astro-physicist to help consult on the project and help explain the scientific concepts within it. Another concept that required some consultation was the design of the spaceship. Here, Denis describes that design process:

Pattinson describes, “one of the high points of [his] career,” as working with Andre 3000. In this clip, he describes his starstruck encounter:

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A!

About the film:

Beyond the solar system in a future that seems like the present, a group of criminals accept a mission in space to become the subjects of a human reproduction experiment. They find themselves in the most unimaginable situation after a storm of cosmic rays hit the ship.

View the trailer:

Where to see it: 

HIGH LIFE opens Friday 4/19 at Kahala Theatres.