The 46th Hawaiʻi International Film Festival wraps its Oʻahu run Nov. 5 and then moves to Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island from Nov. 6 to 15, carrying a lineup built around Pacific, Asian and Native Hawaiian storytelling.
According to HI Now, this year's festival includes 84 features and 86 shorts, with 34 world premieres. Aloha State Daily reported that the festival opened Oct. 21 at the Hawaii Theatre Center with the sold-out world premiere of The Navigator, directed by Jordan Manley, which follows Nainoa Thompson's voyage from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti.
Honorees, industry talks and island stories
The festival's "Voyagers & Visionaries" honoree gala, set for Oct. 29 at the Halekulani, named Thompson, Ke Huy Quan, Sung Kang, Luciane Buchanan and Bryson Chun as honorees. Its HIFilm Industry Conference at Chaminade University featured guests including Destin Daniel Cretton, Dana Ledoux Miller and Walter Hamada.
The Maui Arts & Cultural Center will host screenings Nov. 14-15. Its slate includes Ty Sanga's Lahaina: Voices of Change, the sovereignty documentary EA (Sovereign), Protecting Kahoʻolawe and Making the Line, a feature documentary about competitive hula. A Pacific shorts program, "Where We Belong," includes Lani, about the first LPGA golfer for Samoa, and the Marshallese story Iakwe: Hello, Goodbye.
The festival also has new leadership. Jean Lee became executive director Sept. 1, and Jordan Kandell was voted board president Sept. 9.
For Cup of Soul readers, HIFF is a reminder that Indigenous and Pacific Islander filmmakers are telling their own stories about land, sovereignty and recovery, including stories from Lahaina. Festival runs like this one are often the best chance for audiences to see them on a big screen.
No award winners had been announced as of Nov. 1.
