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Features

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

Female-led Stories Shine at HIFF44

The 2024 Festival showcases another banner line-up of films by women and female driven stories. Particularly films that illustrate depth, nuance, and complexity in the depiction of female characters and storylines. Check out this exciting line-up of narrative features from rising female directors. All of these women present their first or second features at HIFF […]

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Spotlight on Queer Voices and Perspectives at HIFF44

Next week, HIFF44 kicks off at the start of October, just in time for Honolulu Pride, which takes place at the end of the month. 2024 has been an incredible year for queer cinema, as Hollywood, popular culture, and the film industry have been increasingly recognizing the value and importance of LGBTQIA+ filmmakers, characters, and

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HOMEGROWN Shorts Program: Negotiating Identities in US Territories

The subtitle of HIFF’s HOMEGROWN shorts program is a very telling one: “A Part Of/Apart From.” Chloe Walters-Wallace, director of regional initiatives for Firelight Media, who produced this program, said “In commissioning these eight documentary short films for the collection, … we hope to shed light on the perspectives and experiences of the residents and

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TINĀ (HIFF44 Opening Night Film): Interview with Director Miki Magasiva

We are just one week away from the kickoff of the 44th annual Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani (HIFF44) with the Opening Night world premiere of TINĀ, the feature film directorial debut of Kiwi-based Samoan filmmaker Miki Magasiva. Tickets are still available – but going fast – for Opening Night, which is screening

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INTERIOR CHINATOWN screening with Charles Yu & cast-Jimmy O. Yang, Chloe Bennet & Ronny Chieng-in attendance

The Halekulani Maverick Award is given to an international cinema artist who has a unique and eclectic career trajectory, contributing to international cinema arts in an innovative way. This maverick does things on their own terms, creating work that can have a rabid following to a mass appreciation in today’s pop culture. Like a trendsetter

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From EVERY FRAME A PAINTING to THE SECOND: Q&A with Taylor Ramos & Tony Zhou

Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, the duo behind popular video essay series EVERY FRAME A PAINTING, were early pioneers of the film analysis/video essay genre on YouTube. In 2014, they published their first video about Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER and the use of telephoto profile shots. With Tony responsible for principal research, writing, and editing, and

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HIFF44 Centerpiece Film MOLOKA‘I BOUND with Filmmaker Alika Tengan

For Alika Tengan, it’s an honor to bring home a film about the people and culture of these islands to an eager audience that will attend his screenings at this year’s Hawai‘i International Film Festival. The Centerpiece film MOLOKA‘I BOUND will make its local debut on O‘ahu at the Consolidated Theatres at Ward, then travel

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Pinoy Films at HIFF44-From the Pink Revolution to E-Sports to Revisiting Lino Brocka

The HIFF44 SPOTLIGHT ON THE PHILIPPINES is a broad cross-section of Pinoy cinema. From thrillers starring one of the biggest Pinay stars, Marian Rivera, to the latest from wunderkind director Mikhail Red with an esports drama, to the chronicling of the ‘Pink Revolution’ during the Presidential elections of 2022, and a newly digitally restored seminal

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