E&FA to Present Filmmaker Vendetti & Jazz Quartet

Tom Vendetti. Photo provided by E&FA.

Ebb & Flow Arts will feature the Maui Jazz Quartet and a 3D film preview of Emmy Award-winning Filmmaker Dr. Tom Vendetti’s latest work in progress, The Tibetan Illusion Destroyer, at ʻĪao Theater in Wailuku on Saturday, May 21, 2016, at  7:30 p.m.

“We are thrilled to present a wide-ranging multimedia show with 3D film, plus our finest jazz musicians,” said E&FA Executive Director Robert Pollock.

The events are free.

The filmmaker will be present to introduce his work. His new film documents the final six days of the Mani Rimdu ceremony in Nepal, which features the destruction of a large sand mandala that had been in the making for several days. The gathered sand is delivered to a nearby river, and then washes out to sea.

“Mani Rimdu is a 19-day sequence of sacred ceremonies and empowerments culminating in a public festival lasting four days,” Vendetti said. “It is a recreation of legendary events and the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet.

A purpose of the ceremony is to destroy illusion that leads to human suffering and promote empowerment for prosperity, happiness, and a long life.”

Vendetti’s focuses on producing documentary programs that preserve the environment/culture and promoting happiness. He films ancient practices still in action in the remotest parts of the world. By preserving the ancient practices, Vendetti’s mission is to save humanity from its own destruction. For, “if we lose our indigenous, ancient cultural heritage, the human species is doomed.”

Vendetti combines his work as a psychologist with over 30 years working in the mental health field and his passion as a filmmaker to direct/produce documentary features that have been viewed around the world.

He began making documentaries over 20 years ago, pointing his camera at a variety of peoples, places and cultures in order to gain a deeper understanding, appreciation and celebration of their lives, customs and beliefs through the medium of digital cinema.

Vendetti’s award-winning films include When the Mountain Calls: Nepal, Tibet & Bhutan (2011), Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path To Happiness (2007), Mount Kailash: Return to Tibet (2001), The Quietest Place on Earth (2012) and many others. Several have aired on PBS nationwide.

The Maui Jazz Quartet, and three selections from E&FA’s video/electronic music series, will also be featured on May 21.

E&FA’s “Music of the Spheres” programs at the state’s planetaria feature visuals and avant-garde electronic music. MOTS works performed on May 21 will include Moe‘uhane by Composer/Videographer Peter Swanzy of Maui; Visual Artist Tomas Belsky of Hawai‘i Island; Moonflight by Otto Luening; and “Studies in Microscopy” by Gary Greenberg.

Greenberg will be accompanied by live improvisation from the Maui Jazz Quartet.

The Maui Jazz Quartet features three of the four original Maui Jazz Quartet members—Danny M on bass, Brian Cuomo on piano and Paul Marchetti on drums. Special guest, John Zangrando, will perform on saxophone and flute.

Maui Jazz Quartet’s CD is available online.

ʻĪao Theater is located at 68 N. Market St.

For more information, go online or call (808) 876-1854.

Mani Rimdu photo by Tom Vendetti.

Mani Rimdu photo by Tom Vendetti.

Mani Rimdu photo by Tom Vendetti.