Features

Featured articles, opinion pieces and reviews by select HIFF staff, interns and content providers.

HIFF’S SPRING ‘ŌPIO FEST COMING APRIL 8 – 13

Aloha HIFF ʻOhana, As we enter our 45th year and reflect on the legacy and bright future ahead for HIFF, it is my honor to announce the next exciting evolution of the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival: HIFF ‘Ōpio Fest presented by Halekulani. This rebrand of our signature spring event will maintain all the acclaim of […]

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IN-YOUR-FACE: Exploring the Chaotic Inspirations & The Spiritual Realm of MANIFESTO [FOR CONCRETE POETRY]

If you want to watch a short film that is blunt, in-your-face, and smacks you out of nowhere, look no further than the short MANIFESTO [FOR CONCRETE POETRY], directed by Richard Hamasaki, Jody Stillwater & Sebastian Galasso. The imagery, editing combined with the avant-garde archival use of texture and imagery, bring to life the poem

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HIFF44 Vlog

In this vlog, join HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE (HOCCI) mentee Elise Hatsuko at the 44th annual Hawai’i International Film Festival. This vlog covers the Opening Night Gala at the Halekulani, the Meet the Filmmakers event at SHADE, the centerpiece film screening and cast panel for MOLOKA’I BOUND, and the Closing Ceremony at Romer

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HIFF44 Post-Mortem: Programming Teams’ Picks

As the dust settles from the just concluded 44th Hawai‘I International Film Festival presented by Halekulani (HIFF44), the festival staff is currently going through wrap-up reports, crunching numbers, and analyzing data. On the programming side, it’s several post-mortems as we reflect on some of our personal film favorites, in the hopes that we can amplify

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HIFF44 Audience Award Winners Announcement

The votes have been tabulated and the audience has spoken. Here are the 44th Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani (HIFF44) Audience Award winners presented by Hawaii News Now. HIFF44 Audience Award for Narrative Feature: ABOUT FAMILY (South Korea) Director: YANG Woo-suk HIFF44 Audience Award for Documentary Feature: SHAKA, A STORY OF ALOHA (Hawai‘i,

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HIFF44 Jury Award Winners & Honorees

The 44th edition of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival (HIFF44) presented by Halekulani announced its jury winners and celebrated its Awards Gala Honorees at a private event held at the Halekulani Hotel. In its 2024 iteration, the organization awarded $25,000 in cash prizes to filmmakers across respective categories. KAU KA HŌKŪ AWARD  The Kau Ka

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HIFF44 on the West side w/ MOLOKA‘I BOUND screening newly added

Here is the HIFF44 West side schedule, which starts today! Unless noted, all screenings are at Consolidated Kapolei.  All screenings will have after-film Q&As with the filmmakers. By popular demand, the Festival has added MOLOKA‘I BOUND, the Kau Ka Hōkū and Made in Hawai‘i Grand Jury Award winner. Tuesday, October 15 7:00pm MADE IN HAWAII

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BMW STUDENT FILMMAKER AWARD ALEXANDER CLEARY

HIFF44 x BMW Driven Student Filmmaker Award & Scholarship

The HIFF44 UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE, a selection of the best original shorts made by student filmmakers from post-secondary schools across Hawai’i, premiered earlier this week on Tuesday, October 8th, with 11 outstanding shorts from Leeward Community College, Hawai’i Community College, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, University of Hawai’i West O’ahu, and Hawai’i Pacific University.  The following

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HIFF44 Must-sees at Kahala Closing Weekend

As we go into our closing weekend at the Consolidated Kahala Theaters, here are some absolute ‘MUST-SEE’ films and events with many of them attached to filmmakers in attendance. First off, tickets are going fast with our added screenings of TINĀ (Opening Night) and MOLOKA‘I BOUND (Centerpiece), as well as more tickets released for HAKKENDEN:

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