On Wednesday, January 13, celebrate Korean American Day with the cast & crew of MINARI. This special virtual screening will be followed by a conversation moderated by Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh (KILLING EVE). Join us for this special advance screening and Q&A for MINARI, in this special return engagement after the Hawai‘i premiere as […]
Tuning in to Zoom calls of casually dressed film directors, sharing laughter and conversation with HIFF staff members portrayed these brilliant minds as human, just like us. The utilization of video-chat in bridging the gap between fiction, documentary, and life as we know it has been a gift in this year’s festival. The mosaic of
HIFF40 Recap: Film For Thought Read More »
The visual mediums of motion picture and animation betray an illusion of seamless, life-like fluidity presented through a director’s lens. Often overlooked is the functionality of the camera as a device capturing multiple frames per second, or the sheer number of drafts an animator puts into a single frame of a scene. Films and animation
HIFF40 Recap: Inspiring Students to "Talk Story" Through Films Read More »
Twenty-six karate students circle the lone man. Hands flared open as he adjusts his wide striking stance, his eyes dart from one opponent to the next, ready to react. Such is our mentally ingrained evocation of the late martial artist and film actor Bruce Jun-Fan Lee. Director Bao Nguyen’s documentary BE WATER , which world
Celebrate Bruce Lee's 80th birthday with BE WATER free screening + panel on November 27 Read More »
Join us for a reimagined HIFF Awards Gala! While we can’t safely gather at the red carpet this year to honor our filmmakers, HIFF board, honorees, juried film winners, and Hawai‘i’s finest, we invite you to join us for a virtual rendition of this celebration. Dress in your best and grab brunch (order through Bite
Save-the-Date: HIFF40 Awards Celebration & Brunch Pau Hana on November 29 Read More »
An ’80s classic with a Hawai’i twist: Five local high school students from Honolulu spend a Saturday in detention together to find out that they have more in common than they thought. In this special live streamed stage reading of the classic John Hughes coming-of-age film THE BREAKFAST CLUB*, this pidgin english rendering will be
Interview with Kimee Balmilero about DA BREAKFAST KINE CLUB Stage Reading Read More »
With the focus of Asia-Pacific Rim cinema at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani, Asian American films are an important component of our festival programming. The late and famed film critic Roger Ebert hailed HIFF as a destination for emerging Asian American filmmakers, and this year is no different. Therefore, here are five
HIFF40: 5 Asian American films to watch & 1 special birthday to celebrate Read More »
Filmmaker John Hsu, an avid gamer, turned this hobby with his penchant for black and slapstick comedy, into a foundation that would launch his career as one of the most exciting Taiwanese content creators working today. Therefore, HIFF40 is excited to host A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN HSU as part of HIFF XR and the SPOTLIGHT
Taiwan's John Hsu: From avid gamer to machinima maker and major film director Read More »
As part of this year’s HIFF XR, the Festival is honored to host a special live performance online mounted by the experimental opera STARCAST with VIBRATION GROUP. Visit the HIFF XR Spotlight to see the entire program. The VIBRATION GROUP is a spaceship-dwelling commune of migrants who have left Earth due to climate change, violence,
ʻUluʻulu is Hawaiʻi’s official state archive for moving images. Located on the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu campus, the archive is dedicated to the care, preservation, and digitization of film and videotape related to the history and culture of Hawaiʻi. The archive’s mission via preservation is to honor the past and ensure their availability
With aloha, HIFF acknowledges its occupation of ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Indigenous Hawaiian people, the Kānaka Maoli.
With gratitude, we honor the ʻāina itself and the generations who steward it.