Laura Dern to Receive Maui Film Festival’s Rainmaker Award

Laura Dern. Photo credit Yu Tsai.

By Maui Now Staff

Two-time Academy Award nominee Laura Dern will be this year’s Maui Film Festival Rainmaker Award recipient, said Barry Rivers, founder and director of the festival.

The 2015 Maui Film Festival–the 16th annual event–is scheduled for June 3 through 7 at the Wailea Resort.

The Rainmaker Award honors a film artist for having “the mysteriously magical ability to profoundly and positively impact the creative dynamics of every project they are involved in both on the set and on the screen,” said Rivers.

The award will be presented at the Celestial Cinema located at the Wailea Gold & Emerald Golf Course on Sunday, June 7.

Tickets and passes are available online.

“From the first time I experienced a Laura Dern performance in the film ‘Smooth Talk’ at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival, through the 40-plus films that have followed, Laura’s grace, humanity and on-screen luminosity have enthralled me, enlightened me and found me coming back for more of her special magic,” said Rivers. “In short, she is one of a kind and I am thrilled to honor her with the 2015 Maui Film Festival Rainmaker Award.”

Earlier this year, Dern earned her second Academy Award nomination for her performance in “Wild.” In 2014, she was also seen in “The Fault in our Stars,” starring with Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff.

In 2013, Dern received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance the HBO original series “Enlightened,” in which she co-created with Mike White Dern. She also received the 2012 Golden Globe Award for her performance in the series.

In 2008, HBO’s “Recount” revisited the controversial 2000 presidential election in Florida. For her performance as Katherine Harris, Dern earned a 2008 Golden Globe award and was nominated for an Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.

Dern received an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination in 1992 for her performance as Rose in “Rambling Rose,” directed by Martha Coolidge and co-starring her mother, Diane Ladd.

Her other film credits include “Jurassic Park,” “Citizen Ruth,” “Blue Velvet,” “Wild at Heart,” “Inland Empire,” “October Sky,” “Mask,” “Happy Endings,” “I Am Sam,” “Focus,” “Jurassic Park III” “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “The Master,” “Year of the Dog,” “Dr. T and the Women,” “Little Fockers,” “Lonely Hearts,” “Everything Must Go,” “Foxes” and “Smooth Talk,” among others.

In 1997, Dern was nominated for an Emmy Award her guest-starring role on “Ellen.” She received a 1998 Golden Globe nomination for her role in “The Baby Dance.” Dern received the Golden Globe Award for “Best Actress,” as well as Emmy and Cable ACE nominations for her starring role in the 1992 telefilm “Afterburn.” Her other work on television includes “Fallen Angels,” for which she received an Emmy nomination, and “Down Came a Blackbird,” which she also produced.

Dern can be seen this September in Ramin Bahrani‘s “99 Homes” opposite Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon.

For additional information, call the Maui Film Festival Headquarters at (808) 579-9244 or go online.