Hawaii International Film Festival

The Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks. It also features two smaller festivals, a one week festival in the Spring known as the "Spring Showcase" or the "Spring Fling" and a three day Korean Film Festival in August called "K-Fest." HIFF is the premier international film event in the Pacific and has won the praise of governments, filmmakers, scholars, educators, programmers and film industry leaders throughout the world. For the discovery and exhibition of Asian and Pacific features, documentaries and short films in the nation, it is a primary source. The festival has premiered such movies as Once Were Warriors, The Piano, Shine, Shall We Dance, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.[1] The Hawaii International Film Festival is the only film festival that screens films across an entire state, with screenings in Honolulu, Waikiki, and Kaneohe. The festival also has encore screenings of films on the islands of Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.

The HIFF states that it "is dedicated to the advancement of understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and North America through the medium of film." It is the largest such "East meets West" film festival in the United States.

The festival receives sponsorship from numerous corporations every year, with the largest contributor being Louis Vuitton. The festival is also known as the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival.[2]

Each year, renowned film critic Roger Ebert picks one film to be shown at HIFF and he sometimes travels to Hawaii in order to introduce it to the audience. The Festival gives out several awards: the top prize is named the Golden Maile and is also known as the First Hawaiian Bank Golden Maile Award. In 2004 an award for achievement in acting was given to Maggie Cheung, a second was awarded to Samuel L. Jackson in 2005. Sonny Chiba received Maverick Award in 2005. Ken Watanabe received honors in 2006.

Contents

Awards

Best Feature

Year Film Director Country
1983 Muddy River Kohei Oguri Japan
1984 River without Buoys Wu Tianming China
1985 The Yellow Earth Chen Kaige China
1986 Butterfly & Flower Euthana Mukdasnit Thailand
1987 Spices Ketan Mehta India
1988 Illustrious Energy Leon Narbey New Zealand
1989 The Birth Shaji Karun India
1990 Untama Giru Go Takamine Japan
1991 The Cyclist Moshen Makhmalbaf Iran
1992 Our Twisted Hero Park Chong-Won South Korea
1993 The Blue Kite Tian Zhuangzhuang China
1994 Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker He Ping China
1995 Good Men, Good Women Hou Hsiao-Hsien Taiwan / Japan
1996 A Hot Roof Lee Min-Yong South Korea
1997 12 Storeys Eric Khoo Singapore
1998 Spring in my Hometown Lee Kwang-Mo South Korea
1999 Siam Sunset John Polson Australia
2000 Chunhyang Im Kwon-Taek South Korea
2001 Firefly Dreams John Williams Japan
2002 Mr and Mrs. Iyer Aparna Sen India
2003 The Twilight Samurai Yoji Yamada Japan
2004 Taste of Tea Katsuhito Ishii Japan
2005 Cavite Ian Gamazon / Neill Dela Llana Philippines / United States
2006 Love for Share Nia Dinata Indonesia
2007 The Home Song Stories Tony Ayres Australia
2008 Cape No. 7 Wei Te-Sheng Taiwan
2009 Empire of Silver Yao Shuhua

Best Documentary

Year Film Director Country
1988 Who Killed Vincent Chin? Christine Choy / Renee Tajima United States
1989 None
1990 Man Without Pigs Chris Owen Australia
1991 The Inland Sea Lucile Carra United States
1992 Black Harvest Robin Anderson / Bob Connolly Australia
1993 Will My Mother Go Back To Berlin? Micha Peled United States
1994 Boatman Gianfranco Rosi United States
1995 Mother Dao the Turtlelike Vincent Monnikendam Netherlands
1996 Six O'Clock News Ross McElwee United States
1997 Homesick Eyes Hsu Hsiao-Ming Taiwan
1998 Nadya's Village Motahashi Seeichi Japan
1999 Surfing For Life David Brown United States
2000 The Diplomat Tom Zubrycki Australia
2001 The Endurance George Butler United States
2002 Spellbound Jeffrey Blitz United States
2003 Refugee Spencer Nakasako United States
2004 Mr. Patterns Catriona McKenzie Australia
2005 Sisters in Law Kim Longinotto Cameroon / United Kingdom
2006 Time and Tide Julie Bayer / Josh Salzman Tuvalu / United States
2007 Beautiful Son Don King / Julianne King United States
2008 Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai'i Anne Keala Kelly United States
2009 Petition Zhao Liang

Cinematography

Year Cinematographer
1983 The Ballad of Narayama (Masao Toshizawa)
1984 Hiro Narita
1985 Zhang Yimou
1986 Dennis O'Rouke
1987 Jing Il-Sung
1988 Leon Narbey
1989 Shaji Karun
1990 Gu Changwei
1991 Huang Ming-Chuan
1992 Subrata Mitra
1993 Kazuo Miyagawa
1994 Ed Lachman
1995 Gu Changwei
1996 Frederick Elmes
1997 John Seale
1998 Laszio Kovacs
1999 Christopher Doyle
2000 Roger Deakins
2001 Caleb Deschanel
2002
2003 Dean Semler
2004
2005 Russell Boyd
2006 Matthew Libatique
2007
2008

Vision in Film

Year Award Recipient
1991 Kawakita Memorial Film Institute
1992 American Film Institute
1995 Zhang Yimou
1997 Ang Lee

Hawai'i Filmmaker

Year Film Director
1990 My Aunt May Roland Tharpe
1991 Hawai'i: Beyond the Feathered Gods Paul Atkins
1992 Simple Courage Stephanie Castillo
1993 From Hawai'i 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 Hawai'i 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 Flanery
2007
2008

External links

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?f943c058-5936-47dc-ab5c-91df436a68fb
  2. ^ http://hawaii.bside.com/2008/