The Hawaiûi International Film Festival (HIFF) 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 Oûahu, Hawaiûi, Kauaûi 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 Hawaiûi 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 Hawaiûi, 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.
HIFF was founded in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko as a project of the East-West Center located at the University of Hawaiûi at MÃÂnoa 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.
From its early history, HIFF has maintained a programming focus on films from the Asia-Pacific, with an emphasis on new and emerging filmmakers.
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.
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 Hawaiûi and many film festivals around the world.
The Hawaiian Airlines Kau Ka Hà Âkà « (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.
The Made in Hawaiûi Film Awards is presented by the Nichols Family Fund and Hawaii Film Office for feature and short films produced by local filmmakers.
Recipients of HIFF's Best Short Film Award and HIFF's Best Made in Hawaiûi Short Film Award are eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film/Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awardsâ in the concurrent season, without the standard theatrical run and provided the films comply with Academy rules.
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.
In 2022, HIFF partnered with Pacific Islanders in Communications to present the inaugural Pasifika Award for Best Feature Film.
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.