Hawai'i International Film Festival

Location	Hawaii, United States
Founded	1981
Founded by	Jeannette Paulson Hereniko
Directors	Beckie Stocchetti
Artistic director	Anderson Le
No. of films	200
Festival date	Every year, during Fall
Language	International
Website	www.hiff.org
Current: 43rd Annual Hawai'i International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani
44th 42nd

The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.

HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers.^[1] HIFF's primary festival is held annually in Honolulu over 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.^[2]

In 2018, HIFF welcomed over 44,000 attendees.^[3]

The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) 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.^[4]

History

HIFF was founded in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko as a project of the East-West Center located at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus in Honolulu.^[5] Due to this academic association, HIFF prominently featured academic seminars and discussions in its early years, and was delivered free to the public.^[6] The relationship between HIFF and the East-West Center ended in 1994.^[7] Film critic Roger Ebert had a close personal relationship with the festival and frequently attended before his death.^[8]

The festival has premiered such movies as A Leading Man, Once Were Warriors, The Piano, Shine, Shall We Dance?, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.^[9]

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.^[10]

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.^[4]

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: Documentary Panorama, Eat. Drink. Film., Film For Thought, Filmmaker In Focus, Green Screen, HIFF Extreme, Indigenous Lens, Made in Hawai'i, New American Perspectives, Next Wave Asia, Opening Night Film, Pacific Showcase, Panorama, Spotlight on China, Spotlight on Hong Kong, Spotlight on Japan, Spotlight on Korea, Spotlight on Taiwan^[3]

• 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.^[11] The Halekulani Maverick Award is given to accomplished artists and filmmakers with unconventional career trajectories, often to rising stars of the global film industry.^[11] 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.^[11] 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 Taika Waititi, Maggie Cheung, Samuel L. Jackson, Sonny Chiba, Ken Watanabe, Joan Chen, Wong Kar-Wai, Awkwafina, Moon So-ri, Heperi Mita, Rachel Brosnahan, John Woo, Stan Grant, Steven Yeun, Randall Park, Elisabeth Moss, Keala Settle, Lana Condor, Jason Scott Lee, Destin Daniel Cretton, Sterlin Harjo, Dana Ledoux Miller, Albert Pyun, Dave Filoni, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Jung Woo-Sung, Josie Ho and Auliʻi Cravalho.

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 (Shooting Star) 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.

Made in Hawaiʻi Film Awards

The Made in Hawaiʻi Film Awards is presented by the Nichols Family Fund and Hawaii Film Office for feature and short films produced by local filmmakers.

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.^[16]

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.^[18]

Pasifika Award

In 2022, HIFF partnered with Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) to present the inaugural Pasifika Award for Best Feature Film.^[13] KĀINGA (New Zealand) directed by Michelle Ang, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, HASH, Nahyeon Lee, Angeline Loo, Asuka Sylvie, Yamin Tun, Julie Zhu also received a special mention.

New American Perspectives (NAP)

From 2007 to 2015, HIFF partnered with the Vilcek Foundation to curate the New American Filmmakers (NAF) program to celebrate the work of foreign-born filmmakers and cinema artists currently contributing to American cinema.^[19] In 2019, this program was relaunched as the New American Perspectives (NAP).