{"id":28221,"date":"2025-10-16T09:42:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T19:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/?p=28221"},"modified":"2025-10-16T09:42:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T19:42:45","slug":"reasons-to-participate-in-the-hawaii-international-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/16\/reasons-to-participate-in-the-hawaii-international-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Reasons to Participate in the Hawai\u2019i International Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Brooke Beltran | Staff Writer<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

Are you interested in getting into the filmmaking industry but don\u2019t know where to start? If you live in the Asia-Pacific Region, the Hawai\u02bbi International Film Festival is for you. Established in 1981, HIFF has been a safe space to showcase your talent through the big screen, making HIFF the only local place for an awards ceremony for filmmakers in Hawai\u2018i.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if you aren’t a filmmaker, Hawai\u2019i International Film Festival offers an incredible experience for anyone who loves cinema. HIFF welcomes all who love not only creating and showcasing their passion but also ones who enjoy other people’s hard work and dedication towards their craft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

The HIFF45 Opening Reception at Capitol Modern (Photo by Brooke Beltran)<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are the five reasons you should go to<\/span> HIFF<\/span><\/a>, which holds its main annual festival\u2019s opening ceremony on Oct. 15 and will showcase films at K\u0101hala theaters till Oct. 26. They will also hold showcases at the Olino (West O\u02bbahu) Theater from Oct. <\/span>28-30. You can experience the hard work that these young, aspiring filmmakers have to offer.<\/p>\n

Showcase your work<\/b>
\n<\/b>Each year, HIFF provides an opportunity for local and international filmmakers to submit their work to be featured in the festival. While submissions for this year’s annual showcase have closed, filmmakers typically have until mid-summer to submit for the next season. Festivals such as the main annual festival happening now, the<\/span> Spring Showcase<\/span><\/a>, and the<\/span> \u02bb\u014cpio Fest<\/span><\/a> allow aspiring local and international filmmakers to gain recognition and share their work with a larger audience, including friends, family, and industry professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Network opportunities<\/b>
\n<\/b>HIFF offers Q&A panels for aspiring artists to attend. Cast and crew members from films being showcased could possibly be attending their own screening for the night. Some panels that are open for Q&A sessions at this year’s annual festival are the New American Perspectives Panel and a conversation with the author Jeff Chang, who wrote the book “Water Mirror Echo.” These panels are the perfect opportunities to meet screenwriters, producers, directors and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch movie premieres before they go global<\/b>
\n<\/b>Go see creative films, regional premieres, and potential award winning contenders before they hit mainstream theaters or streaming platforms. Some films that’s premiering at HIFF are “Christy,” directed by David Mich\u00f4d, and “No Other Choice,” directed by Park Chan-wook, who is widely touted as one of the best filmmakers in South Korea and is best known for “Old Boy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Educate yourself at HIFF<\/b>
\n<\/b>Film screenings at HIFF offer the opportunities to learn more about others backgrounds and upbringings. A popular program for schools around the islands of Hawai\u2019i named Youth Education Screenings<\/a> (YES Program) showcases a select screening of a film along with a Q&A session with the film\u2019s director\/cast\/crew. This program provides free screenings for grades K-12. Many young aspiring artists appreciate the art of these filmmakers that come and share their process of working their way up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Volunteer with HIFF<\/b>
\n<\/b>Volunteers are always a must have in festivals like HIFF. With thousands of tickets being sold each year, it takes a lot of hands to put it all together to ensure everything runs smoothly. By volunteering, you can gain valuable experience within the industry, network with filmmakers, industry professionals, and fellow volunteers. You will also receive festival tickets, merchandise and access to other screenings and events. <\/span>Whether you are a long time volunteer or joining HIFF for the first time, HIFF is always welcoming new people to the \u2018ohana. <\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t worry if you missed this year, there will always be more opportunities for the other festivals to come.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brooke Beltran | Staff Writer Are you interested in getting into the filmmaking industry but don\u2019t know where to start? If you live in the Asia-Pacific Region, the Hawai\u02bbi International Film Festival is for you. Established in 1981, HIFF has been a safe space to showcase your talent through the big screen, making HIFF […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":28243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}