Absurd and thoroughly enjoyable, it is only fitting to feature Amartya Bhattacharyya’s ADIEU GODARD as our October HIFF SELECTS film in honor of the French auteur’s recent passing. Back to absurdity, here is the premise for the film: An old porn-addict accidentally brings home a DVD of a Godard film, and falls in love with …
ADIEU GODARD // Why We Love This Film // HIFF Selects Read More »
A New York Times “Noteworthy Film of the Summer,” September’s HIFF SELECTS is for all the dog lovers out there in an incredible true story of resilience, determination and lots of elbow grease. FREE PUPPIES! Chronicles this incredible story–When Hurricane Katrina left more than 250,000 pets stranded, the infrastructure of modern pet transport for a …
FREE PUPPIES! // Why We Love This Film // HIFF Selects Read More »
Panah Panahi, son of the great Iranian director Jafar Panahi, forever embattled with the government and currently under house arrest, makes a striking feature debut with this charming and deeply moving road movie. HIT THE ROAD expands on the genre, following a family of four–two middle-aged parents and their sons, one a taciturn adult, the …
HIT THE ROAD | Why We Love This Film // HIFF Selects Read More »
A visual and aural feast, NEPTUNE FROST is an Afro-Futurist musical that is a cry for liberation through technology. The best science fiction is allegorical to the societal climate of its times, but it is also done so through a white male gaze. From EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE to the exemplary works of Octavia …
NEPTUNE FROST | Why We Love This Film // HIFF Selects Read More »
DONBASS, an absurd, political satire that takes place during the wake of Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Eastern European region actually was released stateside in 2019 (after its debut at Cannes 2018). Watching it now as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unspooling on our TV screens on a daily basis, lends an unnerving, heightened resonance …
DONBASS (2018): WHY WE LIKE THIS FILM // HIFF Selects Read More »
WATCH A TALE OF LOVE AND DESIRE ON HIFF SELECTS DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH Lust is always a major factor in the typical coming-of-age story. It’s a tired trope that always falls into the usual cliches. Been there, done that. But rarely are they outlined with the same sincerity and sweetness as in …
WATCH ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU ON HIFF SELECTS DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY Anderson Le /// February 1, 2022 When cineastes discuss South Korean cinema, especially in the context of hallyu (Korean wave), auteur names like Bong Joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon and Park Chan-wook are ubiquitously brought up. In 2021, Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of SQUID GAME …
Sign up for HIFF Selects, a monthly curated streaming club Love in All Its Awkwardness Aspiring jazz singer Bertie is effortlessly beautiful in her voice and demeanor. As a New Orleans native living in the South of France, you hardly ever get the impression that she’s out of place. Lane is a slightly different story. …
Sign up for HIFF Selects, a monthly curated streaming club A riveting mix of suspense and social commentary, the debut film from director Sam Quah crackles with an intense energy in a pot-boiler with a sinister performance by the stalwart and legendary Chinese American actress Joan Chen as a corrupt police chief. Set in a …
It is only apropos to celebrate the Tokyo Olympics with a new documentary that celebrates the game changing feats of Olympians that competed in the last Tokyo Games. As visually stylish as it is overall captivating, THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT takes a solidly crafted look at a fascinating chapter of Olympic history with …
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.