Hawaiʻi International Film Festival
{{Short description|Annual film festival in Hawaii, U.S.}}
{{Copy edit|for=numerous film titles in this article are all-capped instead of title-cased|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox film festival
| name = Hawai'i International Film Festival
| logo = HIFF_Logo.jpg
| logo_size = 250px
| location = Hawaii, United States
| founded = 1981
| date = Every year, during Fall
| language = International
| number = 200
| website = {{URL|http://www.hiff.org}}
| chronology =
| main = Current: 45th Annual Hawai'i International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani
| previous =
| next =
|founders=Jeannette Paulson Hereniko|artistic_director=Anderson Le|directors=Beckie Stocchetti|first=1981}}
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers.{{cite web |title=ALOHAFEST COMES INTO ITS OWN |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals-and-awards/aloha-fest-comes-into-its-own |website=rogerebert.com |access-date=November 27, 2019}} HIFF's primary festival is held annually in Honolulu over November, with additional screenings and events held across the Hawaiian Islands of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi and Maui. The festival also holds a smaller Spring Showcase in March and runs education and industry events throughout the year.{{cite web |title=22nd Annual HIFF Spring Showcase |url=http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Calendar/index.php/name/22nd-Annual-HIFF-Spring-Showcase/event/12370/ |website=Honolulu Magazine |publisher=Aio Media Group |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-date=March 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305001144/http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Calendar/index.php/name/22nd-Annual-HIFF-Spring-Showcase/event/12370/ |url-status=dead }}
In 2018, HIFF welcomed over 44,000 attendees.{{cite web |title=HIFF Annual Report (2018) |url=https://hiff.org/about/2018-annual-report |website=hiff.org |publisher=Hawaiʻi International Film Festival |access-date=2020-02-05 |archive-date=2019-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109131114/https://hiff.org/about/2018-annual-report |url-status=dead }}
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) has earned the distinction of being the nation's preeminent source of discovery and exhibition of Native Hawaiian and Asian-Pacific cinema and new media. HIFF is the only statewide film festival in the United States, and the only Academy Award Qualifying film festival with a focus on Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander content. HIFF's mission is two-fold: to bring the best in international cinema to Hawai'i, and to advance the understanding and cultural exchange among the people of Asia, the Pacific, and North America through the medium of film. HIFF also presents educational content including panels and workshops in the fields of film, music, technology, and media.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-22 |title=Annual Report {{!}} Hawai'i International Film Festival |url=https://hiff.org/annual-report/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |language=en-US}}
History
File:HIFF_1983_Jury.jpeg, Nagisa Ōshima, Donald Richie, Roger Ebert, and Aruna Vasudev, join Jeannette Paulson at HIFF in 1983]]
HIFF was founded in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko as a project of the East-West Center located at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus in Honolulu.{{cite web |title=About HIFF |url=https://hiff.org/about/about-hiff |publisher=Hawaiʻi International Film Festival |access-date=October 18, 2019}} Due to this academic association, HIFF prominently featured academic seminars and discussions in its early years, and was delivered free to the public. The relationship between HIFF and the East-West Center ended in 1994.{{cite web |title=When Strangers Met: How the East-West Center Library Introduced International Film to Hawaii |url=http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jpytam/612%20EWC_HIFF.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922103535/http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jpytam/612%20EWC_HIFF.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 22, 2006 |access-date=November 27, 2019}} Film critics Donald Richie and Roger Ebert had close personal relationships with the festival and frequently attended before their deaths.{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=In memory of Donald Richie |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/in-memory-of-donald-richie |website=rogerebert.com |date=21 March 2013}}{{cite web |last1=Sartin |first1=Hank |title=Mahalo Roger!: The Hawaii International Film Festival pays tribute to Roger |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/mahalo-roger-the-hawaiian-international-film-festival-pays-tribute-to-roger |date=11 October 2013}}
The festival has premiered such movies as A Leading Man, Once Were Warriors, The Piano, Shine, Shall We Dance?, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?f943c058-5936-47dc-ab5c-91df436a68fb|author=Lincoln Jacobe|archive-url=https://archive.today/20090719132233/http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?f943c058-5936-47dc-ab5c-91df436a68fb|archive-date=July 19, 2009|title=Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival Announces 2008 Audience Winners}}
In 2018, HIFF launched its virtual reality program, with a focus on Asian-Pacific and environmental storytelling.
HIFF celebrated its 40th edition in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with a hybrid festival combining online video on demand streaming with drive-in theaters and a small number of conventional cinema screenings.{{Cite web|title=Download the HIFF40 Program Guide|url=https://hiff.org/hiff40-program-guide/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=HIFF|language=en|archive-date=2020-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123191524/https://hiff.org/hiff40-program-guide/|url-status=dead}}
In 2022, HIFF held its 42nd annual Fall Festival which drew in over 52,000 viewers to 276 films from 37 countries. Adding to the Festival's international prominence were 178 filmmakers, actors, critics, and film industry professionals from throughout the world. These delegates participated in post-screening discussions, special events, and free educational programs. Since its inception, HIFF has benefited more than 1.6 million people.
Sections
From its early history, HIFF has maintained a programming focus on films from the Asia-Pacific, with an emphasis on new and emerging filmmakers: Documentary Panorama, Eat. Drink. Film., Film For Thought, Filmmaker In Focus, Green Screen, HIFF Extreme, Indigenous Lens, Made in Hawai'i, New American Perspectives, Next Wave Asia, Opening Night Film, Pacific Showcase, Panorama, Spotlight on China, Spotlight on Hong Kong, Spotlight on Japan, Spotlight on Korea, Spotlight on Taiwan
- Made in Hawaiʻi: a showcase of local short and feature filmmaking from the state of Hawaiʻi.
- New American Perspectives: a program of films produced by immigrant filmmakers and artists, produced in partnership with The Vilcek Foundation.
- Pacific Showcase: a program of films from Pacific Islander filmmakers, produced in partnership with Pacific Islanders in Communication.*
- HIFF Virtual Reality: launched in 2018, features a public program of virtual reality and 360-degree video experiences, with a focus on Asian-Pacific content.
Awards
HIFF annually presents a series of prizes for established and emerging filmmakers, announced at its Awards Gala at Halekulani. In addition to its main competitions, the festival also honors filmmakers for special accomplishments and contributions to cinema culture.
=Honors=
HIFF annually honors filmmakers for outstanding contributions to world cinema and the arts. The Halekulani Career Achievement Award is given to filmmakers with an established body of work for significant contributions to the arts.{{cite book |title=2018 HIFF Program Guide |date=November 2018 |publisher=Hawaiʻi International Film Festival |location=Honolulu |page=3}} The Halekulani Maverick Award is given to accomplished artists and filmmakers with unconventional career trajectories, often to rising stars of the global film industry. The Pacific Islanders in Communications Trailblazer Award honors a cinema artist of Pacific Islander descent for producing award-winning work in independent and global cinema. In 2020, HIFF introduced the Halekulani Golden Maile for Career Achievement. The first recipient of the Golden Maile was Ann Hui.
Previous HIFF honorees include Awkwafina, Joan Chen, Sonny Chiba, Maggie Cheung, Destin Daniel Cretton, Dave Filoni, Stan Grant, Sterlin Harjo, Josie Ho, Samuel L. Jackson, Jung Woo-Sung, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Jason Scott Lee, Dana Ledoux Miller, Moon So-ri, Elisabeth Moss, Randall Park, Albert Pyun, Keala Settle, Taika Waititi, Ken Watanabe, Wong Kar-Wai, John Woo, Steven Yeun, and many other Hollywood luminaries.
In 2022, HIFF awarded festival founder, Jeannette Paulson Hereniko with the inaugural HIFF Legacy Award for her lifetime of dedication and contributions to film and cinema in Hawaiʻi and many film festivals around the world.
=Kau Ka Hōkū Award=
The Hawaiian Airlines Kau Ka Hōkū (Shooting Star) award is HIFF's main competitive prize and is awarded to emerging filmmakers for their first or second feature film by an international jury. Both fiction and non-fiction feature films are nominated by the festival programmers and adjudicated by an international jury.
=Made in Hawaiʻi Film Awards=
The Made in Hawaiʻi Film Awards is presented by the [https://manoa.hawaii.edu/cinema/staff-member/linda-robert-nichols/ Nichols Family Fund] and Hawaii Film Office for feature and short films produced by local filmmakers.
| class=wikitable |
| Year
!Film !Director |
|---|
| 1990
|My Aunt May |Roland Tharpe |
| 1991
|Hawaiʻi: Beyond the Feathered Gods |
| 1992
|Simple Courage |Stephanie Castillo |
| 1993
|From Hawaiʻi to the Holocaust |Judy Weightman / Ryan Sexton |
| 1994
|Ganbare |Robert Bates |
| 1995
|Words, Earth and Aloha |
| 1996
|Lemon Tree Billiards House |Tim Savage |
| 1997
|E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawaiʻi |Na Maka O Ka 'Aina |
| 1998
|David Kalama Jr |
| 1999
|Red Turtle Rising |Jay April |
| 2000
|Ka'ililauokekoa |Kala'iokona Ontai |
| 2001
|Aaron Yamasato |
| 2002
| | |
| 2003
|The Ride |Nathan Kurosawa |
| 2004
|Silent Years |James Sereno |
| 2005
|Fishbowl |
| 2006
|Na Kamalei: Men of Hula |Lisette Marie Flannery |
| 2018
|Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable |Aaron Lieber |Made in Hawaii Audience Award |
| 2018
|The Moon and The Night |Erin Lau |Made in Hawaii Best Short |
| 2019
|Moloka'i Bound |Alika Maikau |Made in Hawaii Best Short |
| 2019
|Down on the Sidewalk in Waikiki |Justyn Ah Chong |Made in Hawaii Best Short, Second Place |
| 2020
|Hawaiian Soul |'Āina Paikai |Best Short + Audience Award Short |
| 2020
|Waikiki |Chris Kahunahana |Best Feature + Best Cinematography |
| 2021
|River of Small Gods |Bradley Tangonan |Best Short |
| 2021
|Christopher Makoto Yogi |Best Feature |
| 2022{{Cite web |date=15 November 2022 |title=HIFF42 ANNOUNCES JURY AWARD WINNERS & HONOREES | Hawaiʻi International Film Festival |url=https://hiff.org/hiff42-announces-jury-award-winners-honorees/}}
|David L. Cunningham |Best Feature |
| 2022
|Inheritance |Erin Lau |Best Short |
| 2022
|Pōʻele Wai (Dark Water / As the Water Darkens) |Tiare Ribeaux |Honorable Mention (Short Film) |
| 2023
|HŌKŪLE'A: FINDING THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAVIGATOR |Ty Sanga |Best Feature |
| 2023
|AIKĀNE |Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson |Best Short |
| 2023
|MY PARTNER |Keli'i Grace |Honorable Mention (Feature) |
=Shorts Jury Awards=
Recipients of HIFF's Best Short Film Award and HIFF's Best Made in Hawai'i Short Film Award are eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film/Live Action Short Film category of the Academy AwardsⓇ in the concurrent season, without the standard theatrical run and provided the films comply with Academy rules.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-04 |title=HIFF NAMED OSCAR®-QUALIFYING FESTIVAL FOR SHORT FILMS {{!}} Hawai'i International Film Festival |url=https://hiff.org/hiff-named-oscar-qualifying-festival-for-short-films/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |language=en-US}}
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Film !Director !Award |
| 2022
|Cyrus Neshvad |HIFF Best Short Film Award{{Cite web |date=2022-11-15 |title=HIFF42 announces jury award winners & honorees {{!}} Hawai'i International Film Festival |url=https://hiff.org/hiff42-announces-jury-award-winners-honorees/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |language=en-US}} |
| 2022
|KUMU NIU |Alex Cantatore |
| 2023
|CLOSING DYNASTY |Lloyd Lee Choi |HIFF Best Short Film Award |
| 2023
|SPEAR, SPATULA, SUBMARINE: FLORIDIANS FIGHT TO TAKE BACK THEIR WATERS |Shannon Morrall |Deep Blue Environmental Shorts Award |
=NETPAC Award=
Since 2000, HIFF has partnered with the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema to deliver the NETPAC Award for outstanding filmmaking in Asia, and is the only film festival in the United States to present the award.{{cite web |title=HIFF 2019 Awards |url=https://hiff.org/en/festivals-and-events/hiff-2019-awards |publisher=Hawaiʻi International Film Festival |access-date=November 27, 2019}}
| class=wikitable |
| Year
!Film !Director !Country |
|---|
| 2000
|Breaking the Silence |China |
| 2001
|China |
| 2002
|China |
| 2003
| | | |
| 2004
|Japan |
| 2005
|China |
| 2006
|4:30 |Singapore |
| 2007
|Vietnam |
| 2008
|Philippines |
| 2009
|South Korea |
| 2010
|Taiwan ROC |
| 2011
|South Korea, Uzbekistan |
| 2012
|Aparisyon (Apparition) |Isabel Sandoval (credited as Vincent Sandoval) |Philippines |
| 2013
|India |
| 2014
|India |
| 2015
|Taiwan |
| 2016
|China |
| 2017
|New Zealand |
| 2018
|Hong Kong |
| 2019
|South Korea |
| 2021
|China |
| 2022
|Kāinga |Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, Nahyeon Lee, Angeline Loo, HASH (Hash Perambalam), Asuka Sylvie, Yamin Tun, Julie Zhu, Michelle Ang |Aotearoa New Zealand |
| 2023
|France, Mongolia |
= Pasifika Award =
In 2022, HIFF partnered with Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) to present the inaugural Pasifika Award for Best Feature Film. KĀINGA (New Zealand) directed by Michelle Ang, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, HASH, Nahyeon Lee, Angeline Loo, Asuka Sylvie, Yamin Tun, Julie Zhu also received a special mention.
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Film !Director !Country |
| 2022 |
| 2023
|NO MĀORI ALLOWED |Corinna Hunziker |
=New American Perspectives (NAP)=
From 2007 to 2015, HIFF partnered with the Vilcek Foundation to curate the New American Filmmakers (NAF) program to celebrate the work of foreign-born filmmakers and cinema artists currently contributing to American cinema.{{cite web|title=The Vilcek Foundation - New American Filmmakers - Hawaii International Film Festival|url=http://www.vilcek.org/gallery/past-exhibitions/new-american-filmmakers/index.html|website=Vilcek.org|access-date=May 22, 2018}} In 2019, this program was relaunched as the New American Perspectives (NAP).
| class=wikitable
!Year !Film !Delegate !Country of Birth |
| 2007
|Stephane Gauger (Director) |Vietnam |
| 2007
|Justin Lin (Director) |Taiwan |
| 2007
|Charlie Nguyen (Director) |Vietnam |
| 2007
|The GateKeeper of Enmyoin |Reiko Tahara (Director) |Japan |
| 2007
| |Max Uesugi (Director) |Japan |
| 2008
|''Chief '(Short Film) |Chief Sielu Avea (Actor) |Samoa |
| 2008
|Long Story Short |Christine Choy (Director) |China |
| 2008
|Vietnam Overtures |Stephane Gauger (Director) |Vietnam |
| 2008
|Sherwood Hu (Director) |China |
| 2008
|Someplace Else |Kai-Duc Luong (Director) |Cambodia |
| 2008
|Sarab Neelam (Director) |India |
| 2009
|A Village Called Versailles |S. Leo Chiang (Director) |Taiwan |
| 2009
|Prince of Broadway |Karren Karagulian (Actor) |Armenia |
| 2009
|Quentin Lee (Director) |Hong Kong |
| 2009
|Bombay Summer |Joseph Mathew-Varghese (Director) |India |
| 2009
|Hiroshi Watanabe (Actor) |Japan |
| 2010
|Dog Sweat |Hossein Keshavarz (Director) |Iran |
| 2010
|In-Ah Lee (Producer) |Germany |
| 2010
|Lisa Lu (Actress) |China |
| 2010
|Beijing Taxi |Miao Wang (Director) |China |
| 2011
|Mimi Chakarova (Director) |Bulgaria |
| 2011
|Living in Seduced Circumstances |Ian Gamazon (Director) |Philippines |
| 2011
|Skateistan: Four Wheels and a Board in Kabul |Nadia Hennirch (Screenwriter) |Germany |
| 2011
|Almost Perfect |Bertha Bay-Sa Pan (Director) |Taiwan |
| 2011
|Christopher Silber (Screenwriter) |Germany |
| 2012
|Nicholas Bruckman (Producer) |United Kingdom |
| 2012
|Indian Summer (Short Film) |Mridu Chandra (Director) |India |
| 2012
|Radium Cheung (Cinematographer) |Hong Kong |
| 2012
|Paraiso (Short Film) |Ronan Landa (Composer) |Israel |
| 2012
|Daylight Savings |Goh Nakamura (Actor) |Japan |
| 2012
|The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus |Alexandre O. Philippe (Director) |Switzerland |
| 2013
|Andrew Adamson (Director) |New Zealand |
| 2013
| |Harry Gregson-Williams (Composer) |England |
| 2013
|Escape from Tomorrow |Soojin Chung (Producer) |South Korea |
| 2013
|I Learn America |Jean-Michel Dissard (Director) |France |
| 2013
|Chad Hartigan (Director) |Cyprus |
| 2013
|Junya Sakino (Director) |Japan |
| 2014
|Antoine de Cazotte (Producer) |France |
| 2014
|A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night |Ana Lily Amirpour (Director) |United Kingdom |
| 2014
|Ayako Fujitani (Actress) |Japan |
| 2014
| Zeresenay Mehari (Director) |Ethiopia |
| 2014
|Minh Nguyen-Võ (Director) |Vietnam |
| 2014
|Ken Ochiai (Director) |Japan |
| 2014
|Mudbloods |Farzad Sangari (Director) |Iran |
| 2015
|Camino |Zoë Bell (Actress) |New Zealand |
| 2015
|Shonali Bose (Director) |India |
| 2015
|Yosemite |Gabrielle Demeestere (Director) |France |
| 2015
|Alfred Hitchcock (Director) |England |
| 2015
|Daniel Katz (Cinematographer) |Ireland |
| 2015
|Benson Lee (Director) |South Korea |
| 2015
|People are the Sky |Dai Sil Kim-Gibson (Director) |
| 2019
|Haifaa al-Mansour (Director) |
| 2019
|Asian in America |Jenny Dorsey (Chef) |
| 2019
|Go Back to China |Emily Ting (Director) |
| 2019
|Lingua Franca |Isabel Sandoval (Director and Actor) |
| 2019
|Hikari (Director) |
| 2020
|Roseanne Liang (Director) |
| 2020
|76 Days |Hao Wu (Director) |
| 2020
|Death of Nintendo |Valarie Castillo-Martinez (Screenwriter, Producer) |
| 2020
|First Vote |Yi Chen (Director) |
| 2020
|Bassam Tariq (Screenwriter, Director) |
| 2020
|Steven Yeun (Executive Producer, Special Guest) |
| 2021
|Roshan Sethi (Co-writer, Director), Karan Soni (Co-writer, Actor), Geraldine Viswanathan (Actor) |
| 2021
|Americanish |Aizzah Fatima (Co-writer, Actor) |
| 2021
|Red Rocket |Shih-Ching Tsou (Producer) |
| 2021
|Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched |Kier-La Janisse (Director) |
| 2021
|Users |Natalia Almada (Director) |
| 2022
|NAP Feature Filmmaker |Deborah Chow (Director) |
| 2022
|Finding Satoshi |Laurent Barthelemy (Writer, Director) |France |
| 2022
|Ellie Foumbi (Actor, Director) |
| 2022
|Land of Gold |Nardeep Khurmi (Writer, Actor, Director) |Switzerland |
| 2022
|Rena Owen (Actor) |
| 2023{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2023 |title=GEOFF MCFETRIDGE & IMMIGRANT ARTISTS TALK ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS |url=https://hiff.org/geoff-mcfetridge-immigrant-artists-talk-about-the-creative-process/}}
|The Accidental Getaway Driver |Sing J. Lee (Director) |
| 2023
|Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life |Geoff McFetridge (Subject) |
| 2023
|A Revolution on Canvas |Till Schauder & Sara Nodjoumi (Directors), Nicky Nodjoumi (Subject) |Iran & United Kingdom |
| 2023
|Skin of Glass |Denise Zmekhol (Director) |Brazil |
| 2023
|AUM: The Cult at the End of the World |Chiaki Yanagimoto |Japan |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.hiff.org/ Hawaii International Film Festival] website
Category:Asian-American film festivals
Category:Film festivals established in 1981
Category:1981 establishments in Hawaii