Features | HIFF | Hawai'i International Film Festival

HOMEGROWN Shorts Program: Negotiating Identities in US Territories

Features, HIFF44, Programming Updates / By HIFF Programming

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

Features, HIFF44, Interview / By HIFF Programming

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

Features, HIFF44, In Theaters, Programming Updates / By HIFF Programming

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

Features, HIFF44, HIFILM, Interview / By HIFF Programming

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

Features, Hawai‘i Films, HIFF44, Interview / By HIFF Programming

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

Features, HIFF44 / By HIFF Programming

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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HIFF’s Halloween Horror Lineup with Honolulu Horror Nights

Features, HIFF44, Sponsors / By Guest Author

The Story of Honolulu Horror Nights Honolulu Horror Nights, a local non-profit organization on O’ahu, has quickly become a must-attend event for horror fans in Hawai’i. What started as a passion project by Steven Hobaica, a horror fanatic since childhood, has grown into a vibrant, inclusive community celebrating all things weird and macabre. Steven, a

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Happy 20th Anniversary to LOST: A Look Back

Features, Film Festival News, HIFF44, HIFILM / By HIFF Programming

September 22, 2004 was the day when the ABC Network aired the pilot episode of LOST. Two decades since the groundbreaking series first captivated audiences with its blend of mystery, sci-fi, and human drama, LOST redefined television storytelling with its nonlinear narrative, deeply developed characters, and intricate plot twists. Set on a mysterious island after

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Banner Year for Indian Films at HIFF44

Features, Film Festival News, HIFF44 / By HIFF Programming

The HIFF44 programming team is very excited to present four stellar films from India that represent a truly banner year for one of the largest film industries in the world. Best known for Bollywood—bombastic song and dance extravaganzas about star-crossed, yet chaste, lovers-to-be—this year’s crop of Indian films present a more dramatic, elegiac tone that

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International Feature Film Oscar Nominee Hopefuls Showing at HIFF

Features, HIFF44 / By HIFF Programming

When international films get chosen to be featured at festivals like HIFF worldwide, it starts them on a journey in hopes of gaining wider accolades, and few match the prestige of winning an Oscar. Our festival has been fortunate enough in years past to screen foreign films that later went on win such a coveted

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