HIFILM Industry Hub, Indigenous Lens, Pacific Showcase, Shorts Program
This program comprises of eight documentary short films made by emerging BIPOC filmmakers living in the U.S. territories, Hawai‘i and their diasporic communities, focusing on stories grappling with issues of…
Pacific Showcase
Michael Jonathan’s debut feature is an action-filled account of the 1864 battle of Ōrākau where a small group of disparate Māori, vastly outnumbered by British soldiers, went to war to…
Pacific Showcase
This urgent documentary takes us into the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea and one indigenous woman’s fight against the insidious influence of sanguma – sorcery violence. Enter a cinematic…
Centerpiece Presentation, Kau Ka Hōkū Award Nominee, Made In Hawaii, Pacific Showcase
After years of incarceration, Kainoa De Silva, a wayward Hawaiian man, is paroled. Fully committed to reconnecting with his family, most important is rebuilding a relationship with his son, Jonathan.…
Pacific Showcase
We’ve all seen her, the hula girl swinging from the dashboard, the sultry South Seas siren smiling languidly in postcards, and the alluring topless native belle telling you to come…
Pacific Showcase, Special Screening
Amidst the mean streets of Auckland, Beth Heke (Rena Owen) lives with her husband Jake (Temuera Morrison) and their three children in a tenement house for native Maori. Jake’s battle…
''Pacific Showcase Shorts 2: Dance, (R)Evolution'', Dance, Pacific Showcase
Renowned choreographer-director couple Keone & Mari Madrid unveil their latest artistic endeavor in the form of a compelling feature film that delves into the intricate nuances of grief through the…
Film For Thought, Kau Ka Hōkū Award Nominee, Made In Hawaii, Pacific Showcase, YES
Standing Above the Clouds highlights the movement to protect Mauna Kea through the intergenerational stories of women in three Native Hawaiian families as they stand for the sacred mountain. The…
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…
Pacific Showcase
In early 2023, a national vote in Australia to enshrine indigenous people's voice in the constitution is slated for later that year. A dynamic Indigenous youth group drawn from across…
Pacific Showcase
In this affecting drama set in 1954 New Zealand, Nellie and Daisy attempt to escape a reform school for delinquent girls that has been relocated to a facility on a…