In the small, rural village in Gaotai, two lonely, middle-aged people—Cao, a timid woman suffering from chronic illness and a disability, and Ma, an unassuming farmer with little to his name—are pushed into an arranged marriage by their respective families. Cast aside as burdens, Cao and Ma’s relationship is tepid at first but warms as …
Teruo is a stage lighting manager forced to give up his career as a dancer due to injury. Yo is a female taxi driver who loves her independent career. It’s July 26 (Teruo’s birthday) and these two lonely hearts are navigating a Tokyo changed by the pandemic. Told in reverse chronological order, JUST REMEMBERING visits …
From director Michihito Fujii comes one of the biggest Japanese box office hits of the year. The Sakura cherry blossom seasons mark each of the 10 years of life left to Matsuri (Nana Komatsu), a promising writer diagnosed at age 20 with an incurable lung disorder. She vows to live a stoically solo life, though …
It is often said that food and meals bring families together, but in TABLE FOR SIX it’s clear that not all family gatherings are a cause for celebration. In this melodramatic comedy, three brothers reside in a home that they inherited from their late parents. The eldest brother Steve (Dayo Wong), theoretically is the man …
This film contains graphic sexual content and is not advised for audiences under the age of 18. Under the stage name “Misa The Killer,” Misa struggles to break into the competitive world of Japanese idol performance, as her aggressive pro wrestling gimmick contrasts with her more popular feminine, demure counterparts. A talent scout takes a …
Sandra (Léa Seydoux) is a widowed young mother raising her daughter on her own, while also caring for her sick father (Pascal Greggory). She’s dealing with the loss of the relationship she once had with her father, while she and her mother and sister fight to get him the care he requires. At the same …
What’s 29-year-old virgin Hsiao Hung who still lives at home with his overbearing mom to do? How overbearing? Well, in addition to instructing him how to eat his dinner, she sets him up with dates and then calls in the middle to coach him along. His rascal cousin’s answer to bring him out of his …
EM AND TRINH (Em và Trinh) tells the life story of Trinh Cong Son (1939-2001), one of Vietnam’s greatest songwriters. Often dubbed as Vietnam’s Bob Dylan, Trinh lived a prolific career that stretched through the latter half of the 20th century, during which he composed hundreds of love songs, revered by generations of Vietnamese, as …
The ubiquitous Japanese convenience store – a subculture of its own (konbini) – becomes a portal to an alternate reality for Kato (Ryo Narita), a screenwriter running low on ideas and with an actress girlfriend Zigzag running out of patience with his lethargy. Kato is in the middle of a severe slump. He submits ideas …
Bride-to-be Yoon waits for her groom Tae-young on their wedding day but he doesn’t show up. Out of concern and anger, she searches for him all day and in the dead of night, she arrives at a strange place called ‘Café Midnight’, which opens from midnight until the sun rises. Upon entering Yoon finally finds …
With aloha, HIFF acknowledges its occupation of ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Native Hawaiian people, the Kānaka Maoli.
With gratitude, we honor the ʻāina itself and the generations who steward it.