Hawaii International Film Festival
 | |
| Location | Hawaii, United States |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| No. of films | 200 |
| Festival date | November 4 - November 28, 2021 |
| Language | International |
| Website | www |
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.[1] HIFF’s primary festival is held annually in Honolulu over November, with additional screenings and events held across the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu, Hawai'i, Kaua’i and Maui. The festival also holds a smaller Spring Showcase in March, and runs education and industry events throughout the year.[2]
In 2018, HIFF welcomed over 44,000 attendees.[3]
History[]
HIFF was founded in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko as a project of the East-West Center located at the University of Hawai'i Manoa campus in Honolulu.[4] Due to this academic association, HIFF prominently featured academic seminars and discussions in its early years, and was delivered free to the public.[5] The relationship between HIFF and the East-West Center ended in 1994.[6] Film critic Roger Ebert had a close personal relationship with the festival and frequently attended prior to his death.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
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.
- HIFF Extreme: a program of genre, horror and midnight movies run over the festival.
- 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.
- Made in Hawai’i: a showcase of local short and feature filmmaking from the state of Hawai’i.
- 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 .* Spotlight on China
- Southeast Asian Showcase
- Spotlight on Hong Kong: this section often features prominent auteurs and figures from Hong Kong, with honorees such as Wong Kar-wai and John Woo.
- Spotlight on India
- Spotlight on Japan: HIFF’s largest program section, with 17 feature films in 2019 ranging from arthouse to mainstream releases.
- Spotlight on Korea
- Spotlight on Taiwan
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.[10] The Halekulani Maverick Award is given to accomplished artists and filmmakers with unconventional career trajectories, often to rising stars of the global film industry.[10] 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.[10] In 2020, HIFF introduced the Halekulani Golden Maile for Career Achievement. The first recipient of the Golden Maile was Ann Hui. Previous HIFF honourees include Taika Waititi, Maggie Cheung, Samuel L. Jackson, Sonny Chiba, Ken Watanabe, Wong Kar-Wai, Awkwafina, John Woo, Stan Grant, Steven Yeun, Keala Settle, Destin Daniel Cretton, Sterlin Harjo, and Albert Pyun.
Kau Ka Hōkū Award[]
The Hawaiian Airlines Kau Ka Hōkū award is HIFF’s main competitive prize, and is awarded to emerging filmmakers for their first or second feature film by an international jury.
| Year | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Hao Wu | |
| 2019 | 37 SECONDS | |
| 2021[11] | DARK RED FOREST | Jin Huaqing |
Made in Hawai’i Film Awards[]
The Made in Hawai’i Film Awards is presented by the Hawaii Film Office for feature and short films produced by local filmmakers.
| Year | Film | Director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | My Aunt May | Roland Tharpe | |
| 1991 | Hawai'i: Beyond the Feathered Gods | Paul Atkins | |
| 1992 | Simple Courage | Stephanie Castillo | |
| 1993 | From Hawai'i to the Holocaust | Judy Weightman / Ryan Sexton | |
| 1994 | Ganbare | Robert Bates | |
| 1995 | Words, Earth and Aloha | Eddie Kamae | |
| 1996 | Lemon Tree Billiards House | Tim Savage | |
| 1997 | E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawai'i | Na Maka O Ka 'Aina | |
| 1998 | Kaho'olawe | David Kalama, Jr | |
| 1999 | Red Turtle Rising | Jay April | |
| 2000 | Ka'ililauokekoa | Kala'iokona Ontai | |
| 2001 | Blood of the Samurai | Aaron Yamasato | |
| 2002 | |||
| 2003 | The Ride | Nathan Kurosawa | |
| 2004 | Silent Years | James Sereno | |
| 2005 | Fishbowl | Kayo Hatta | |
| 2006 | Na Kamalei: Men of Hula | Lisette Marie Flannery | |
| 2018 | 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[12] | River of Small Gods | Bradley Tangonan | Best Short |
| 2021[13] | I Was a Simple Man | Christopher Makoto Yogi | Best Feature |
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.[14]
| Year | Film | Director | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Breaking the Silence | China | |
| 2001 | Devils on the Doorstep | Jiang Wen | China |
| 2002 | Guan Hu | China | |
| 2003 | |||
| 2004 | Yutaka Tsuchiya | Japan | |
| 2005 | China | ||
| 2006 | 4:30 | Royston Tan | Singapore |
| 2007 | Owl and the Sparrow | Stephane Gauger | Vietnam |
| 2008 | Philippines | ||
| 2009 | Castaway on the Moon' | Lee Hae-jun | South Korea |
| 2010 | Monga | Doze Chen-Zer Niu | Taiwan ROC |
| 2011 | South Korea, Uzbekistan | ||
| 2012 | Aparisyon (Apparition) | Isabel Sandoval (credited as Vincent Sandoval) | Philippines |
| 2013 | Monsoon Shootout | Amit Kumar | India |
| 2014 | Titli | Kanu Behl | India |
| 2015 | The Kids | Taiwan | |
| 2016 | China | ||
| 2017 | One Thousand Ropes | Tusi Tamasese | New Zealand |
| 2018 | Still Human | Hong Kong | |
| 2019 | Another Child | South Korea | |
| 2021[15] | Anima | China |
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.[16] In 2019, this program was relaunched as the New American Perspectives (NAP).
| Year | Film | Delegate | Country of Birth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Owl and the Sparrow | Stephane Gauger (Director) | Vietnam |
| 2007 | Finishing the Game | Justin Lin (Director) | Taiwan |
| 2007 | The Rebel | 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 | Prince of the Himalayas | Sherwood Hu (Director) | China |
| 2008 | Someplace Else | Kai-Duc Luong (Director) | Cambodia |
| 2008 | Ocean of Pearls | Sarab Neelam (Director) | India |
| 2009 | A Village Called Versailles | S. Leo Chiang (Director) | Taiwan |
| 2009 | Prince of Broadway | Karren Karagulian (Actor) | Armenia |
| 2009 | The People I've Slept With | Quentin Lee (Director) | Hong Kong |
| 2009 | Bombay Summer | Joseph Mathew-Varghese (Director) | India |
| 2009 | White on Rice | Hiroshi Watanabe (Actor) | Japan |
| 2010 | Dog Sweat | Hossein Keshavarz (Director) | Iran |
| 2010 | Au Revoir Taipei | In-Ah Lee (Producer) | Germany |
| 2010 | Apart Together | Lisa Lu (Actress) | Chinese-American |
| 2010 | Beijing Taxi | Miao Wang (Director) | China |
| 2011 | The Price of Sex | Mimi Chakarova (Director) | Bulgarian-American |
| 2011 | Living in Seduced Circumstances | Ian Gamazon (Director) | Filipino-American |
| 2011 | Skateistan: Four Wheels and a Board in Kabul | Nadia Hennirch (Screenwriter) | Germany |
| 2011 | Almost Perfect | Bertha Bay-Sa Pan (Director) | Taiwanese-American |
| 2011 | My Last Day Without You | Christopher Silber (Screenwriter) | Germany |
| 2012 | Valley of Saints | Nicholas Bruckman (Producer) | England |
| 2012 | Indian Summer (Short Film) | Mridu Chandra (Director) | Indian-American |
| 2012 | Starlet | Radium Cheung (Cinematographer) | Hong Kong |
| 2012 | Paraiso (Short Film) | Ronan Landa (Composer) | Israeli-American |
| 2012 | Daylight Savings | Goh Nakamura (Actor) | Japanese-American |
| 2012 | The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus | Alexandre O. Philippe (Director) | Switzerland |
| 2013 | Mr. Pip | 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 | This is Martin Bonner | Chad Hartigan (Director) | Cyprus |
| 2013 | Sake-Bomb | Junya Sakino (Director) | Japan |
| 2014 | The Artist | Antoine de Cazotte (Producer) | France |
| 2014 | A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night | Ana Lily Amirpour (Director) | Iranian-American |
| 2014 | Man from Reno | Ayako Fujitani (Actress) | Japan |
| 2014 | Difret | Zeresenay Mehari (Director) | Ethiopia |
| 2014 | Nuoc 2030 | Minh Nguyen-Võ (Director) | Vietnam |
| 2014 | Uzumasa Limelight | Ken Ochiai (Director) | Japan |
| 2014 | Mudbloods | Farzad Sangari (Director) | Iran |
| 2015 | Camino | Zoë Bell (Actress) | New Zealand |
| 2015 | Margarita, with a Straw | Shonali Bose (Director) | India |
| 2015 | Yosemite | Gabrielle Demeestere (Director) | France |
| 2015 | Spellbound | Alfred Hitchcock (Director) | England |
| 2015 | Seoul Searching | Daniel Katz (Cinematographer) | Ireland |
| 2015 | Seoul Searching | Benson Lee (Director) | Korean-American |
| 2015 | People are the Sky | Dai Sil Kim-Gibson (Director) | North Korea |
| 2019 | The Perfect Candidate | Haifaa al-Mansour (Director) | Saudi Arabia |
| 2019 | Asian in America | Jenny Dorsey (Chef) | China |
| 2019 | Go Back to China | Emily Ting (Director) | Taiwan |
| 2019 | Lingua Franca | Isabel Sandoval (Director and Actor) | Philippines |
| 2019 | 37 Seconds | Hikari (Director) | Japan |
| 2020 | Shadow in the Cloud | Roseanne Liang (Director) | New Zealand |
| 2020 | 76 Days | Hao Wu (Director) | China |
| 2020 | Death of Nintendo | Valarie Castillo-Martinez (Screenwriter, Producer) | Philippines |
| 2020 | First Vote | Yi Chen (Director) | China |
| 2020 | Mogul Mowgli | Bassam Tariq (Screenwriter, Director) | Pakistan |
| 2021 | 7 DAYS | (Co-writer, Director) | Canada |
| 2021 | 7 DAYS | Karan Soni (Co-writer, Actor) | India |
| 2021 | 7 DAYS | Geraldine Viswanathan (Actor) | Australia |
| 2021 | AMERICANISH | (Co-writer, Actor) | Saudi Arabia |
| 2021 | RED ROCKET | Shih-Ching Tsou (Producer) | Taiwan |
| 2021 | WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED | Kier-La Janisse (Director) | Canada |
| 2021 | USERS | Natalia Almada (Director) | Mexico |
See also[]
- East-West Center
- Palace Theater
- List of film festivals
- Film festivals in North and Central America
- Shanghai International Film Festival
References[]
- ^ "ALOHAFEST COMES INTO ITS OWN". rogerebert.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- ^ "22nd Annual HIFF Spring Showcase". Honolulu Magazine. Aio Media Group. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ "HIFF Annual Report (2018)". hiff.org. Hawai'i International Film Festival.
- ^ "About HIFF". Hawai'i International Film Festival. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ "When Strangers Met: How the East-West Center Library Introduced International Film to Hawaii".
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "When Strangers Met: How the East-West Center Library Introduced International Film to Hawaii" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 22, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- ^ "MAHALO, ROGER!: THE HAWAIIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO ROGER".
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Lincoln Jacobe. "Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival Announces 2008 Audience Winners". Archived from the original on July 19, 2009.
- ^ "Download the HIFF40 Program Guide". HIFF. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ a b c 2018 HIFF Program Guide. Honolulu: Hawai'i International Film Festival. November 2018. p. 3.
- ^ https://hiff.org/hiff41-announces-festival-award-winners/
- ^ https://hiff.org/hiff41-announces-festival-award-winners/
- ^ https://hiff.org/hiff41-announces-festival-award-winners/
- ^ "HIFF 2019 Awards". Hawai'i International Film Festival. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- ^ https://hiff.org/hiff41-announces-festival-award-winners/
- ^ "The Vilcek Foundation - New American Filmmakers - Hawaii International Film Festival". Vilcek.org. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
External links[]
- Asian-American film festivals
- Film festivals established in 1981
- 1981 establishments in Hawaii
- Annual events in Hawaii
- Film festivals in Hawaii