On the Scene

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARADVERTISER.COM
FESTIVAL CELEBRATES BLACK FILMMAKERS | 1. Committee members John Henry Nichols, Faye Kennedy, left, Bettye Jo Harris, Sandra Simms and Daphne Barbee-Wooten surveyed the crowd at the opening-night reception for the Hono lulu African American Film Festival Feb. 25 at the Honolulu Museum of Art. The opening-night films were a superb double bill. First came "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," a 2012 Academy Awards finalist for best documentary short, and the feature "Brooklyn Boheme," a fascinating retrospective on the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARADVERTISER.COM
TWO THUMBS UP FOR 'JOHN CARTER' | 5. Sean Shodahl and Tina Ho were two of the guests at an invite-only preview screening of Disney's Digital 3-D action fantasy "John Carter" Wednesday at Consolidated Theatres Ward 16. Ho said it was "amazingly refreshing. I loved everything about it." Shodahl found it "worth seeing twice because of the production design and the originality -- how they designed the cities and the layout of Mars. It's superb." The film opens Friday.

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARADVERTISER.COM
3. HAAFF supporters Herman "Tommy" Yarbrough III and his wife, Sharon Yarbrough, founder and president of Sister 2 Sister Hawaii, had a table of their own at the reception.

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARADVERTISER.COM
RIVERS RETURNS FOR RIPA WEEK AT AULANI | 4. Disney exec Djuan Rivers, right, received a maile lei from John Michael White and Qi Marie before taping began for the first of three episodes of Kelly Ripa's "Live! With Kelly" show Feb. 20 at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa. Rivers, who oversaw Aulani's opening, took a week off from his current responsibilities as vice president of hotels and business solutions for Disneyland Paris to return to Aulani for "Ripa Week" and to reconnect with friends he made during his three years here.

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARADVERTISER.COM
2. Emcee Wally Amos talked with committee members Tadia Rice, left, and Faye Kennedy outside the theater. Amos added humorous touches to the program as he deftly skimmed through lengthy proclamations from absent politicians -- "That's the largest one I have ever seen," he said while holding up one of the documents for audience inspection. He also played a brief number on his kazoo.