INDIGENOUS NAʻAU premiered at the Hawaʻi International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. “If we fail to remember where we come from, who we are, and the places that shape us, then we are already lost. But our kūpuna have always left breadcrumbs for us to pick up whenever we’re ready.” –Kuʻulei Kaili, Director of INDIGENOUS
SHAKTI premiered at the 45th Hawai’i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. In this video, HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE (HOCCI) mentee D’Elle Martin sits down and reviews SHAKTI, a Nepalese feature film from director Nani Sahra Walker. This film was also part of New American Perspectives, a program sponsored by the Vilcek Foundation. SHAKTI
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT premiered at the 45th Hawai’i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. A decade ago, the Iranian director Jafar Panahi converted a taxi cab into a portable movie studio, relying on a dashboard-mounted camera to clandestinely record his encounters with passengers while he passed as an ordinary driver in Tehran’s dense
FWENDS premiered at the 45th Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. In this short form video review, HOCCI mentee Curtis Wilmington III shares his thoughts on the Australian film, FWENDS. This feature film was one of three assigned screenings for the HOCCI cohort this year, which featured extended discussions with guest film critics and
HERO’S ISLAND premiered at the 45th Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. HERO’S ISLAND, directed by Keishi Ohtomo, is an action-packed historical drama taking place during the U.S. occupation of Okinawa. A mystery unraveling over twenty years, three friends attempt to locate their leader as the film unveils the harsh realities of post-war Okinawa.
THE ARRANGEMENTS had its world premiere at the 45th Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani as part of the Made in Hawai‘i Shorts. A conversation with director Sonny Ganaden about community, grief, childhood, and making magic with non-actors. THE ARRANGEMENTS (2025) It was during the Made in Hawai‘i Shorts at HIFF when I came
The HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE (HOCCI) program, powered by Critical Minded, supports sustainable film criticism in Hawai‘i through mentorship and paid career opportunities. The mission of HOCCI is to broaden diversity in film criticism across the Pacific region and use influencer branding strategies to spark career opportunities in Hawai’i, not be hampered by oceans, state borders and distance, because geography is no longer a barrier.
The 2024 HOCCI supports Hawai‘i-based AANHPI critics to be a HIFF44 press cohort to cover films, panels, or filmmakers at the 44th Annual Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. Film criticism will consists of four different focuses: writing, podcasting, video essays, and vlogs.
