HIFF is privileged once again this year to have a group of distinguished jurors who will choose the winners in the several categories in competition. Let’s meet three of them.
A juror for the category of Best Short Film Award presented by Hawaiian Airlines, Jason Ishikawa comes back to his island home to help single out the best from out of a rich variety of international offerings. “Going to the Hawai’i International Film Festival in high school was such a formative experience for me,” he said. “It’s exciting to return to see some of the programming, particularly from emerging filmmakers from Hawai’i, alongside the great global programming the festival does every year.”
A 2005 graduate of Punahou School, Ishikawa graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and holds a B.A. in Cinema Studies. Since 2015, he’s the senior executive and co-head of sales at Cinetic Media, where he oversees worldwide distribution strategies for the company. Recent films Ishikawa has been involved with include HIT MAN, LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, and SUMMER OF SOUL.
NETPAC Award juror Jeannette Paulson Hereniko is no stranger to the festival – in fact, she’s HIFF’s founding director, a position she held from 1981 to 1996. Since then, she’s produced her fair share of films, including the Fiji award-winning 2004 feature THE LAND HAS EYES, and is currently the president/producer of Te Maka Productions.
“One of the great joys of my life has been watching for over 44 years the steady development of Asia and Pacific Island filmmaking,” Hereniko said. “As a NETPAC jury member charged with awarding the best film made by an emerging director from Asia and the Pacific, I have the privilege to continue this journey.
“I’ll be looking for how the filmmaker uses visual language and story in a way that provides insight into her unique world point of view. I want the filmmaker to take me on an emotional journey through a story told with originality and excellence – a film that leaves me with a ‘Wow!’ feeling.
“I am excited to identify a film made stronger because of a confident direction style that leaves me wanting to see more from the film’s director,” said Hereniko.
That sentiment is echoed by New Zealand-Tongan actor Luciane Buchanan, who will be a member of the Pasifika jury, a category presented by the Pacific Islanders in Communication group. Acting since she was a teen, 2022 was a breakout year internationally for Buchanan when she was cast in THE NIGHT AGENT, playing the lead role of Rose in Netflix’s political conspiracy thriller, which became one of the streaming platform’s most watched series of 2023.
Her latest lead role will be her portrayal of Queen Ka‘ahumanu in the Apple TV+ series CHIEF OF WAR, set to release sometime next year.
She said “I am so delighted to be a part of this jury as so many of these films have been on my watch list for a while.”
“I am particularly excited to see WE WERE DANGEROUS. I heard really good things from the screenings at the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival (which I missed!) and it’s so awesome to see wahine director Josephine Te Whiu take a leap into the feature world after making such beautiful stand out shorts in previous years, as well as pairing up with a wahine director of photography, Maria Ines Manchego, who also worked on our short film LEA TUPU’ANGA/MOTHER TONGUE. She’s amazing at what she does, so no doubt the visuals will be killer.”
“THE MOUNTAIN is also on the list, as director Rachel House has been an idol for so many of us actors in Aotearoa,” said Buchanan. “She has such extensive experience working with young actors on Aotearoa’s biggest films, and again, it is so cool to see her debut film (finally!) and to see tamariki (children) leading the story. I can tell it will be special.
“And I am not trying to be biased as these are all films from home, but the Samoan feature in this category, TINĀ, directed by Miki Magasiva, looks like a heartfelt watch. Anapela Polataiva leads this film as Tinā, and I just think everything this wahine puts her name to is magic. Her performance in Zia Mandviwalla’s short film NIGHTSHIFT (2012) is etched into my brain and I look forward to anything she’s a part of,” said Buchanan.
