Featured articles, opinion pieces and reviews by select HIFF staff, interns and content providers.
JOIN OR DIE traces social scientist Robert D. Putnam’s life work in studying the decline of civic engagement in the United States over the last half-century. The film offers Putnam an opportunity to reflect on two of his highly influential works, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000) and Making Democracy Work: […]
Film For Thought: JOIN OR DIE (HIFF43) Read More »
For Indigenous people living under settler colonialism, the themes of NO MĀORI ALLOWED (2022) and STILL WE RISE (2022) feel more than familiar. In the former, director Corinna Hunziker (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) interviews Māori elders and community members to confront—some for the first time publicly—the acute racial segregation that pervaded Pukekohe, a small township in
Film For Thought: NO MĀORI ALLOWED + STILL WE RISE (HIFF43) Read More »
A feature debut and homage to coming-of-age films, nineties nostalgia, and awkward teenage transitions, MUSTACHE, written and directed by Imran J. Khan, won the Audience Award at SXSW and poses to be a new classic. The film begins with 13-year-old Ilyas’s (Atharv Verma) voiceover, as he contemplates the multiverse and whether there’s a place for
Film For Thought: MUSTACHE (HIFF43) Read More »
Film Festivals are more than just a curated collection of film screenings. Over the years, HIFF has also expanded its panels, talk stories and education initiatives, as the Festival invests in the cultural and economical pathways to independent cinema and content creation in Hawai‘i. The goal, since HIFF’s inception in 1981, is to be a
HIFILM: The hub for Hawai’i’s industry professionals, creatives, and film fans Read More »
HIFF43 Opening Night to highlight Taika Waititi’s NEXT GOAL WINS & Hayao Miyazaki’s THE BOY AND THE HERON for Closing Night; Co-Centerpieces are NYAD from FREE SOLO directors and South Korean disaster epic CONCRETE UTOPIA starring Lee Byung-hun & Park Seo-joon. HIFF43 reveals full lineup of feature film selections and programming HIFF43 presented by Halekulani
HIFF43 PRESENTS: FULL PROGRAMMING LINEUP Read More »
HIFF offers a community-based internship program to college students, during the summer and fall terms, with partnerships through Kamehameha School’s Kāpili ’Oihana and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Through 1-to-1 mentorship from HIFF staff, interns experience a unique opportunity to learn the mechanics of a film festival production and to make career connections in
Meet HIFF’s Summer Intern Read More »
STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH BOJACK HORSEMAN SQUID GAME I-INTRO HIFILM, HIFF’s new Industry Hub of masterclasses, workshops, and panels will provide career development, networking, and pipelines programs for Hawaii’s creative content industry. The mandate for HIFILM is to explore pathways for fulfilling work in the industry and doing so from the Hawaiian Islands either
HIFF43 Presents: HIFILM Industry Panel Series Read More »
The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival is wrapping up this weekend and the HIFF programmers—Artistic Director, Anderson Le and Director of Programming, Anna Page—are wrapping up their annual programming trip. With numerous screenings and meetings with distributors and sales agents, it was a whirlwind ten days to seek out and secure the best in world cinema for the upcoming HIFF43 this coming
HIFF Programming Team Report From Cannes Film Festival Read More »
HIFF is thrilled to kick off the year with our 26th HIFF Spring Showcase presented by Halekulani with 20 feature films and 5 short films, all in-person at the Consolidated Kahala Theatres from March 31 through April 6. We are thrilled to open the Spring Showcase with the ‘hometown premiere’ of Justin Chon’s JAMOJAYA starring
HIFF SPRING SHOWCASE returns to 100% in-person | Gala Films: JAMOJAYA and SUZUME Read More »
Filled with insight and discovery, the Hawaii International Film Festival is dedicated to advancing understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and North America by presenting films from around the world. We hold two film festivals on the island of O‘ahu every year, with our HIFF Spring Showcase serving as a
2023 Spring Showcase Program Announced Read More »