Spotlight on Japan
At the end of the Edo period in Kyoto, a samurai prepares to fight a ronin when a flash of lightning hits him. Waking up, he learns he’s been transported…
Spotlight on Korea
Middle-aged and surly, Mu-ok (Kim Yeon-sook) runs a tight ship at his traditional restaurant famous for its mandoo. All he really wants are heirs but, alas, his only son leaves…
Made In Hawaii
Misha Miyamoto, 29, lives alone in the house her grandmother left her, has held the same job since high school, and likes her life as is: simple. Unfortunately, her satisfaction…
Spotlight on Taiwan
Being dead isn’t easy. Spirits must prove themselves worthy of becoming ghosts through a rigorous selection process of auditions and contests, and avoid being condemned to eternal damnation. For a…
Kau Ka Hōkū Award Nominee, Southeast Asian Showcase
Set in the early 2000s, in an urban town near Hanoi, DON’T CRY, BUTTERFLY revolves around Tam, a middle-aged housewife, who discovers that her husband is having an affair. Devastated…
Spotlight on Japan
This animated feature is based on a manga about a strong-willed girl who finds herself spending the summer alone in a rural village, where she meets a cheeky, rude-but-loveable man-sized…
Panorama
Her life may be a mess, but Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook of SUCCESSION fame) does derive pleasure from three things: her snail collection, romance novels and her guinea pigs. As…
Made In Hawaii
In this Maui-set mockumentary, Big Island content creator Alex Farnham plays the Guy, a houseless buffoon with a heart of gold. He chases chickens and sells coconuts in his happy-go-lucky…
Special Screening, Spotlight on Hong Kong
One fateful night in 1937, amidst the bombings of Shanghai, Tung (Kenny Bee), a young soldier, and Shu (Sylvia Chang) find solace under the bridge. In the semi-darkness, though unable…
Made In Hawaii
It’s the first alien monster movie independently made on Maui! And, of course, the frenzied action happens during Halloween!! Dave (Big Island based YouTube creator Alex Farnham) is a teacher…
New American Perspectives
An imaginative telling of the story of a Vietnamese American mother-daughter duo who, in their attempt to heal the rift between them, reenact and satirize scenes from celebrated Vietnam War…
Pacific Showcase, YES
A lively and inspirational coming-of-age tale from Rachel House as three kids–a cancer patient, a friendless boy honoring the memory of his mother, and a self-appointed “guardian of Mother Earth”--go…
Opening Night Film, Pacific Showcase
HIFF is honored to kick off the 2024 festival with the world premiere of TINĀ. It''s an inspiring drama, a light-hearted, rhythmic tear-jerker, and the story of Samoan teacher Mareta…
Kau Ka Hōkū Award Nominee, Panorama
A gently absurdist comedy from writer-director Matthew Rankin that was an unexpected hit at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. In a mysterious and surreal interzone somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg,…