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Special Events

Pick the winners of the Academy Awards and win a dinner for two at Halekulani!

Posted January 25, 2012 - 10:13am by chris

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards were announced yesterday. As part of the excitement leading up to HIFF's Oscar Night America gala on February 26th, we're holding a "Pick the Winners" contest that's open to everyone, 18 and older. The prize is a dinner for two at the Halekulani Hotel's Orchids restaurant (up to a $200 value). Entries for the contest start today and conclude the day before the Academy Awards are hosted.

Enter HIFF's "Pick the Winners" Contest today!

Fiji Water presents An Evening at Sam Choy's

Posted October 23, 2011 - 10:42am by toby

Sam Choy's Restaurant hosted the final event of the Film Festival on Saturday night. It was probably the last time that the HIFF community for this years event would gather together. Once again it was attended by film delegates, sponsors and other special guests of the festival. It was a great way to say goodbye to all the friends I made during the last 10 days.

The event was sponsored by Fiji Water and featured a wine and beer (sponsored by our festival friends at Stella Artois) station. The food was amazing and included Sam Choy's special recipe fried poke and a shortrib luau with chili pepper Fiji Water. While it is sad to say goodbye to many new friends (although thanks to Facebook we can stay connnected), I am grateful that the Hawaii International Film Festival has connected me with many amazing filmmakers, crew and actors.

Now on to closing night with the Descendants and a private reception party after the movie.

The HIFF Awards and Governors Reception

Posted October 23, 2011 - 10:19am by toby

One of the most lavish events of the Hawaii International Film Festival is the HIFF awards and Governor's Reception at Washington Place. The festival gives out a variety of awards decided by guest jurors (both local and international). Washington Place used to be the home of the governors in Hawaii, but recently has been mainly used for special events.

Guests were treated to a catered event with Chinese cuisine, fresh fruit and vegetables. There was also a wine and beer station. Many directors, crew and stars from the movies at the festival attended this event.

 

HIFF 31 Award Winners

Posted October 19, 2011 - 2:39pm by chris

Last night at the Governor's Reception, the festival awards were presented to these filmmakers. First, the NETPAC Award was given to HANAAN, directed by Ruslan Pak. The NETPAC Award is presented to an Asian director for their first or second feature film.

The Halekulani Golden Orchid for Best Documentary was given to SPLINTERS, directed by Adam Pesce. Finally, the Halekulani Golden Orchid for Best Feature was given to PATANG, directed by Prashant Bhargava. A new screening of PATANG was added on Sunday, October 23rd at 8:45 PM.

The Audience Choice Awards presented by Hawaii News Now will be announced on Monday, October 24th.

Upcoming screenings for award winning films

HANAAN - Fri, Oct 21 - 3:45 PM
SPLINTERS - Thu, Oct 20 - 4:00 PM
PATANG - Sun, Oct 23 - 8:45 PM *New Screening*

Euro Cinema Hawaii Awards Gala & Meet the Jurors Reception

Posted October 16, 2011 - 8:06am by toby

Saturday, October 15 was one of the biggest nights of the festival. In addition to all the movies playing at Regal Dole Cannery Theaters, there were three major events. First there was the Meet the Jurors Reception at Hotel Renew, then it was the Eurocinema Hawaii Black Tie Awards Gala at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. Also going on was Sunset on the Beach screening for the film festival, but I never made it there. Too many amazing nightlife parties going on.

Membership Appreciation Screening at Dole Cannery - August 31

Posted August 17, 2011 - 5:22pm by chris

HIFF is planning a membership appreciation screening at Regal Dole Cannery on Wednesday, August 31 at 6:30pm. It will be free for all current members (as of Fall 2010), and anyone who signs up for a membership will be admitted. In addition, anyone purchasing or renewing a membership in person at the event will receive a 15% discount. Get a 10% discount for all HIFF memberships purchased online by entering RENEW in the discount code field, from now until the end of August.

THE LOST TRIVIA OF INDIANA JONES

Posted July 22, 2011 - 8:01am by matt

Tonight is CULTURE + ARTS @ KO OLINA – an outdoor film screening festival for the entire family – screening Steven Spielberg's 1981 baby RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. It's a total classic and if you haven't seen it then I'm sorry you weren't hugged as a child.

But here's your chance...! Your chance to see Harrison Ford in all his bomber jacket glory and wonder what ever happened to Karen Allen she was kinda cool.

Now calm down, I got some Indiana Jones trivia after the jump...

Hero Complex Film Festival

Posted June 14, 2011 - 1:31pm by anderson

If you didn't know, the geeks have inherited the Earth. Catering to geek culture is a Hollywood mantra now, with superhero movies coming out of the yin yang for summer blockbuster season, graphic novels and other comic properties being picked up and adapted for big screen annihilation and Comic Con becoming the Mecca of Geekdom every year, where every studio will head south to San Diego and evangelize and cock tease the masses in the hallowed Hall H.

But, with news today of several studios opting out of Comic Con presentations this year, because of hype in a vacuum, we may have crossed a tipping point with geek and fanboy-dom. But, that's not going to happen anytime soon and thank the Maker, because the 2nd annual Hero Complex Film Festival presented by the Los Angeles Times was held this past weekend, and it was hella fun. This film festival was created by LA Times reporter Geoff Boucher, who also runs the Hero Complex blog, a news site on all things geek (movies, TV, comics, multimedia).

Read more about the Hero Complex Film Festival below...

Anderson's report from the 64th Cannes Film Festival

Posted May 23, 2011 - 2:44am by anderson

The 64th Festival de Cannes wrapped up this weekend and I have to say, it was a stellar year. A festival with multiple strands, ranging from the official selection (Competition and Out of Competition screenings), the Un Certain Regard, Critics Week and Director's Fortnight sidebars, and the Marche du Film (a film convention with over a thousand film screenings from film companies of all shapes and sizes from around the world), it's a virtual cinema bazaar of some of the best (and worst) cinema. But it was a good, maybe even great, selection of films including and all the award winners, which were announced this weekend, were all worthy of their accolades.

Read more below for Anderson's views on this year's Cannes Film Festival titles, including film trailers. If you're interested, also check out his report from 2010 Cannes.

I <3 Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy)

Posted May 10, 2011 - 10:19am by anderson

I had the great pleasure to attend the Far East Film Festival, located in a small mountain town called Udine, which is about 90 minutes from Venice. Why have an Asian film festival in the middle of nowhere Italy? Well, why not? The inception of the festival began in 1999, when a retrospective of Hong Kong cinema was presented to local cineastes. It was wildly successful and from then on, the Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche, a presenting organization of film events around Udine, started the Far East Film Festival. Now in its 13th year, it is considered a true destination point for Asian film aficionados and has launched international spotlights on Asian auteurs like Johnnie To, Quark Henares and Feng Xiaogang, just to name a few.

Read more below (full size photos included).