Hawaiʻi International Film Festival
The Hawai'i International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF focuses on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and showcasing the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF's main festival takes place annually in Honolulu in October and November, with additional screenings and events held across the Hawaiian Islands of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi and Maui. The festival also holds a smaller Spring Showcase in March and runs education and industry events throughout the year.
In 2018, HIFF welcomed over 44,000 attendees.
The Hawai'i International Film Festival has earned the distinction of being the nation's preeminent source of discovery and exhibition of Native Hawaiian and Asian-Pacific cinema and new media. HIFF is the only statewide film festival in the United States and the only Academy Award-qualifying film festival with a focus on Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander content. HIFF's mission is two-fold: to bring the best in international cinema to Hawai'i, and to advance the understanding and cultural exchange among the people of Asia, the Pacific, and North America through the medium of film. HIFF also presents educational content including panels and workshops in the fields of film, music, technology, and media.
History
HIFF was founded in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko as a project of the East-West Center located at the Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus in Honolulu. Due to this academic association, HIFF prominently featured academic seminars and discussions in its early years, and was delivered free to the public. The relationship between HIFF and the East-West Center ended in 1994. Film critics Donald Richie and Roger Ebert had close personal relationships with the festival and frequently attended before their deaths.The festival has premiered popular movies such as A Leading Man, Once Were Warriors, The Piano, Shine, Shall We Dance?, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
In 2018, HIFF launched its virtual reality program, with a focus on Asian-Pacific and environmental storytelling.
HIFF celebrated its 40th edition in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with a hybrid festival combining online video on demand streaming with drive-in theaters and a small number of conventional cinema screenings.
In 2022, HIFF held its 42nd annual Fall Festival which drew in over 52,000 viewers to 276 films from 37 countries. Adding to the Festival's international prominence were 178 filmmakers, actors, critics, and film industry professionals from throughout the world. These delegates participated in post-screening discussions, special events, and free educational programs. Since its inception, HIFF has benefited more than 1.6 million people.
Sections
From its early history, HIFF has maintained a programming focus on films from the Asia-Pacific, with an emphasis on new and emerging filmmakers.- Made in Hawaiʻi: a showcase of local short and feature filmmaking from the state of Hawaiʻi.
- New American Perspectives: a program of films produced by immigrant filmmakers and artists, produced in partnership with The Vilcek Foundation.
- Pacific Showcase: a program of films from Pacific Islander filmmakers, produced in partnership with Pacific Islanders in Communication.
- HIFF Virtual Reality: launched in 2018, features a public program of virtual reality and 360-degree video experiences, with a focus on Asian-Pacific content.
Awards
HIFF annually presents a series of prizes for established and emerging filmmakers, announced at its Awards Gala at Halekulani. In addition to its main competitions, the festival also honors filmmakers for special accomplishments and contributions to cinema culture.Honors
HIFF annually honors filmmakers for outstanding contributions to world cinema and the arts. The Halekulani Career Achievement Award is given to filmmakers with an established body of work for significant contributions to the arts. The Halekulani Maverick Award is given to accomplished artists and filmmakers with unconventional career trajectories, often to rising stars of the global film industry. The Pacific Islanders in Communications Trailblazer Award honors a cinema artist of Pacific Islander descent for producing award-winning work in independent and global cinema. In 2020, HIFF introduced the Halekulani Golden Maile for Career Achievement. The first recipient of the Golden Maile was Ann Hui.Previous HIFF honorees include Awkwafina, Joan Chen, Sonny Chiba, Maggie Cheung, Destin Daniel Cretton, Dave Filoni, Stan Grant, Sterlin Harjo, Josie Ho, Samuel L. Jackson, Jung Woo-Sung, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Jason Scott Lee, Dana Ledoux Miller, Moon So-ri, Elisabeth Moss, Randall Park, Albert Pyun, Keala Settle, Taika Waititi, Ken Watanabe, Wong Kar-Wai, John Woo, Steven Yeun, and many other Hollywood luminaries.
In 2022, HIFF awarded festival founder, Jeannette Paulson Hereniko with the inaugural HIFF Legacy Award for her lifetime of dedication and contributions to film and cinema in Hawaiʻi and many film festivals around the world.
Kau Ka Hōkū Award
The Hawaiian Airlines Kau Ka Hōkū award is HIFF's main competitive prize and is awarded to emerging filmmakers for their first or second feature film by an international jury. Both fiction and non-fiction feature films are nominated by the festival programmers and adjudicated by an international jury.| Year | Film | Director |
| 2018 | People's Republic of Desire | Hao Wu |
| 2019 | 37 Seconds | HIKARI |
| 2021 | Dark Red Forest | Jin Huaqing |
| 2022 | Bad Axe | David Siev |
| 2023 | Asog | Seán Devlin |
| 2024 | Moloka'i Bound | Alika Tengan |
Made in Hawaiʻi Film Awards
The Made in Hawaiʻi Film Awards is presented by the and Hawaii Film Office for feature and short films produced by local filmmakers.| Year | Film | Director | - |
| 1990 | My Aunt May | Roland Tharpe | - |
| 1991 | Hawaiʻi: Beyond the Feathered Gods | Paul Atkins | - |
| 1992 | Simple Courage | Stephanie Castillo | - |
| 1993 | From Hawaiʻi to the Holocaust | Judy Weightman / Ryan Sexton | - |
| 1994 | Ganbare | Robert Bates | - |
| 1995 | Words, Earth and Aloha | Eddie Kamae | - |
| 1996 | Lemon Tree Billiards House | Tim Savage | - |
| 1997 | E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawaiʻi | Na Maka O Ka 'Aina | - |
| 1998 | Kaho'olawe | David Kalama Jr | - |
| 1999 | Red Turtle Rising | Jay April | - |
| 2000 | Ka'ililauokekoa | Kala'iokona Ontai | - |
| 2001 | Blood of the Samurai | Aaron Yamasato | - |
| 2002 | - | ||
| 2003 | The Ride | Nathan Kurosawa | - |
| 2004 | Silent Years | James Sereno | - |
| 2005 | Fishbowl | Kayo Hatta | - |
| 2006 | Na Kamalei: Men of Hula | Lisette Marie Flannery | - |
| 2018 | Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable | Aaron Lieber | Made in Hawaii Audience Award |
| 2018 | The Moon and The Night | Erin Lau | Made in Hawaii Best Short |
| 2019 | Moloka'i Bound | Alika Maikau | Made in Hawaii Best Short |
| 2019 | Down on the Sidewalk in Waikiki | Justyn Ah Chong | Made in Hawaii Best Short, Second Place |
| 2020 | Hawaiian Soul | 'Āina Paikai | Best Short + Audience Award Short |
| 2020 | Waikiki | Chris Kahunahana | Best Feature + Best Cinematography |
| 2021 | River of Small Gods | Bradley Tangonan | Best Short |
| 2021 | I Was a Simple Man | Christopher Makoto Yogi | Best Feature |
| 2022 | The Wind & the Reckoning | David L. Cunningham | Best Feature |
| 2022 | Inheritance | Erin Lau | Best Short |
| 2022 | Pōʻele Wai | Tiare Ribeaux | Honorable Mention |
| 2023 | Hōkūleʻa: Finding the Language of the Navigator | Ty Sanga | Best Feature |
| 2023 | Aikāne | Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson | Best Short |
| 2023 | My Partner | Keli'i Grace | Honorable Mention |
| 2024 | Moloka'i Bound | Alika Tengan | Best Narrative Feature |
| 2024 | Standing Above the Clouds | Jalena Keane-Lee | Best Documentary Feature |
| 2024 | The Queen's Flowers | Ciara Lacy | Best Short Film |
Shorts Jury Awards
Recipients of HIFF's Best Short Film Award and HIFF's Best Made in Hawai'i Short Film Award are eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film/Live Action Short Film category of the Academy AwardsⓇ in the concurrent season, without the standard theatrical run and provided the films comply with Academy rules.| Year | Film | Director | Award |
| 2022 | The Red Suitcase | Cyrus Neshvad | HIFF Best Short Film Award |
| 2022 | Kumu Niu | Alex Cantatore | Deep Blue Environmental Shorts Award |
| 2023 | Closing Dynasty | Lloyd Lee Choi | HIFF Best Short Film Award |
| 2023 | Spear, Spatula, Submarine: Floridians Fight to Take Back Their Waters | Shannon Morrall | Deep Blue Environmental Shorts Award |
| 2024 | Chamoru: A Lost Language | Brian Muna | HIFF Best Short Film Award |
| 2024 | Talk To Me | Jimmy Ming Shum | Honorable Mention |
NETPAC Award
Since 2000, HIFF has partnered with the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema to deliver the NETPAC Award for outstanding filmmaking in Asia and is the only film festival in the United States to present the award.| Year | Film | Director | Country |
| 2000 | Breaking the Silence | Sun Zhou | China |
| 2001 | Devils on the Doorstep | Jiang Wen | China |
| 2002 | Eyes of a Beauty | Guan Hu | China |
| 2003 | |||
| 2004 | Peep "TV" Show | Yutaka Tsuchiya | Japan |
| 2005 | Season of the Horse | Ning Cai | China |
| 2006 | 4:30 | Royston Tan | Singapore |
| 2007 | Owl and the Sparrow | Stephane Gauger | Vietnam |
| 2008 | Brutus - The Adventure | Tara Illenberger | Philippines |
| 2009 | Castaway on the Moon' | Lee Hae-jun | South Korea |
| 2010 | Monga | Doze Chen-Zer Niu | Taiwan ROC |
| 2011 | Hanaan | Ruslan Pak | South Korea, Uzbekistan |
| 2012 | Aparisyon | Isabel Sandoval | Philippines |
| 2013 | Monsoon Shootout | Amit Kumar | India |
| 2014 | Titli | Kanu Behl | India |
| 2015 | The Kids | Sunny Yu | Taiwan |
| 2016 | Knife in the Clear Water | Wan Xuebo | China |
| 2017 | One Thousand Ropes | Tusi Tamasese | New Zealand |
| 2018 | Still Human | Oliver Chan | Hong Kong |
| 2019 | Another Child | Yoon-Seok Kim | South Korea |
| 2021 | Anima | Cao Jinling | China |
| 2022 | Kāinga | Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, Nahyeon Lee, Angeline Loo, HASH, Asuka Sylvie, Yamin Tun, Julie Zhu, Michelle Ang | Aotearoa New Zealand |
| 2023 | If Only I Could Hibernate | Zoljargal Purevdashi | France, Mongolia |
| 2024 | Sister Midnight | Karan Kandahari |
Pasifika Award
In 2022, HIFF partnered with Pacific Islanders in Communications to present the inaugural Pasifika Award for Best Feature Film.| Year | Film | Director | Country |
| 2022 | Whina | Paula Whetu Jones and James Napier Robertson | Aotearoa (New Zealand) |
| 2023 | No Māori Allowed | Corinna Hunziker | Aotearoa |
| 2024 | We Were Dangerous | Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu | Aoteroa |
New American Perspectives
From 2007 to 2015, HIFF partnered with the Vilcek Foundation to curate the New American Filmmakers program to celebrate the work of foreign-born filmmakers and cinema artists currently contributing to American cinema. In 2019, this program was relaunched as the New American Perspectives.| Year | Film | Delegate | Country of Birth |
| 2007 | Owl and the Sparrow | Stephane Gauger | Vietnam |
| 2007 | Finishing the Game | Justin Lin | Taiwan |
| 2007 | The Rebel | Charlie Nguyen | Vietnam |
| 2007 | The GateKeeper of Enmyoin | Reiko Tahara | Japan |
| 2007 | Max Uesugi | Japan | |
| 2008 | Chief | Chief Sielu Avea | Samoa |
| 2008 | Long Story Short | Christine Choy | China |
| 2008 | Vietnam Overtures | Stephane Gauger | Vietnam |
| 2008 | Prince of the Himalayas | Sherwood Hu | China |
| 2008 | Someplace Else | Kai-Duc Luong | Cambodia |
| 2008 | Ocean of Pearls | Sarab Neelam | India |
| 2009 | A Village Called Versailles | S. Leo Chiang | Taiwan |
| 2009 | Prince of Broadway | Karren Karagulian | Armenia |
| 2009 | The People I've Slept With | Quentin Lee | Hong Kong |
| 2009 | Bombay Summer | Joseph Mathew-Varghese | India |
| 2009 | White on Rice | Hiroshi Watanabe | Japan |
| 2010 | Dog Sweat | Hossein Keshavarz | Iran |
| 2010 | Au Revoir Taipei | In-Ah Lee | Germany |
| 2010 | Apart Together | Lisa Lu | China |
| 2010 | Beijing Taxi | Miao Wang | China |
| 2011 | The Price of Sex | Mimi Chakarova | Bulgaria |
| 2011 | Living in Seduced Circumstances | Ian Gamazon | Philippines |
| 2011 | Skateistan: Four Wheels and a Board in Kabul | Nadia Hennirch | Germany |
| 2011 | Almost Perfect | Bertha Bay-Sa Pan | Taiwan |
| 2011 | My Last Day Without You | Christopher Silber | Germany |
| 2012 | Valley of Saints | Nicholas Bruckman | United Kingdom |
| 2012 | Indian Summer | Mridu Chandra | India |
| 2012 | Starlet | Radium Cheung | Hong Kong |
| 2012 | Paraiso | Ronan Landa | Israel |
| 2012 | Daylight Savings | Goh Nakamura | Japan |
| 2012 | The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus | Alexandre O. Philippe | Switzerland |
| 2013 | Mr. Pip | Andrew Adamson | New Zealand |
| 2013 | Harry Gregson-Williams | England | |
| 2013 | Escape from Tomorrow | Soojin Chung | South Korea |
| 2013 | I Learn America | Jean-Michel Dissard | France |
| 2013 | This is Martin Bonner | Chad Hartigan | Cyprus |
| 2013 | Sake-Bomb | Junya Sakino | Japan |
| 2014 | The Artist | Antoine de Cazotte | France |
| 2014 | A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night | Ana Lily Amirpour | United Kingdom |
| 2014 | Man from Reno | Ayako Fujitani | Japan |
| 2014 | Difret | Zeresenay Mehari | Ethiopia |
| 2014 | Nuoc 2030 | Minh Nguyen-Võ | Vietnam |
| 2014 | Uzumasa Limelight | Ken Ochiai | Japan |
| 2014 | Mudbloods | Farzad Sangari | Iran |
| 2015 | Camino | Zoë Bell | New Zealand |
| 2015 | Margarita, with a Straw | Shonali Bose | India |
| 2015 | Yosemite | Gabrielle Demeestere | France |
| 2015 | Spellbound | Alfred Hitchcock | England |
| 2015 | Seoul Searching | Daniel Katz | Ireland |
| 2015 | Seoul Searching | Benson Lee | South Korea |
| 2015 | People are the Sky | Dai Sil Kim-Gibson | North Korea |
| 2019 | The Perfect Candidate | Haifaa al-Mansour | Saudi Arabia |
| 2019 | Asian in America | Jenny Dorsey | China |
| 2019 | Go Back to China | Emily Ting | Taiwan |
| 2019 | Lingua Franca | Isabel Sandoval | Philippines |
| 2019 | 37 Seconds | Hikari | Japan |
| 2020 | Shadow in the Cloud | Roseanne Liang | New Zealand |
| 2020 | 76 Days | Hao Wu | China |
| 2020 | Death of Nintendo | Valarie Castillo-Martinez | Philippines |
| 2020 | First Vote | Yi Chen | China |
| 2020 | Mogul Mowgli | Bassam Tariq | Pakistan |
| 2020 | Minari | Steven Yeun | South Korea |
| 2021 | 7 Days | Roshan Sethi, Karan Soni, Geraldine Viswanathan | Canada |
| 2021 | Americanish | Aizzah Fatima | Saudi Arabia |
| 2021 | Red Rocket | Shih-Ching Tsou | Taiwan |
| 2021 | Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched | Kier-La Janisse | Canada |
| 2021 | Users | Natalia Almada | Mexico |
| 2022 | NAP Feature Filmmaker | Deborah Chow | Canada |
| 2022 | Finding Satoshi | Laurent Barthelemy | France |
| 2022 | Our Father, the Devil | Ellie Foumbi | Cameroon |
| 2022 | Land of Gold | Nardeep Khurmi | Switzerland |
| 2022 | Whina | Rena Owen | Aotearoa |
| 2023 | The Accidental Getaway Driver | Sing J. Lee | United Kingdom |
| 2023 | Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life | Geoff McFetridge | Canada |
| 2023 | A Revolution on Canvas | Till Schauder & Sara Nodjoumi, Nicky Nodjoumi | Iran & United Kingdom |
| 2023 | Skin of Glass | Denise Zmekhol | Brazil |
| 2023 | AUM: The Cult at the End of the World | Chiaki Yanagimoto | Japan |