Hawaii International Film Festival Awards

The 27th Annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), the premier international film event in the Pacific, presented its 2007 awards today during a luncheon at the Royal Hawaiian.

Awards and recipients are as follows:

• HALEKULANI GOLDEN ORCHID AWARD for Narrative Feature was awarded to THE HOME SONG STORIES, directed by Tony Ayres. Joan Chen, who starred in the film, also received HIFF’s ACHIEVMENT IN ACTING award earlier in the week before the screening of the film at The Hawaii Theater.

• Also the HALEKULANI GOLDEN ORCHID AWARD for Documentary Feature was presented to BEAUTIFUL SON, directed by Don and Julianne King, with honorable mention to KALAUPAPA HEAVEN, directed by Paul Cox. Both HALEKULANI GOLDEN ORCHID AWARDS for Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature winners were chosen for best expressing artistic and technical excellence and for promoting cross-cultural understanding.
• NETPAC AWARD was awarded to OWL AND THE SPARROW, directed by Stephane Gauger, who was a participant in HIFF’s American Immigrant Filmmakers on Profile program. The prestigious NETPAC AWARD is given at select international film festivals to promote Asian cinema by spotlighting exceptional works and discovering new talent.
• FILM IN HAWAII AWARD was presented by the State of Hawaii to the Hawaii International Film Association for its significant contribution to promoting the local film industry.
• CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU VISION IN FILM AWARD was presented to the Hawaii State Legislature by The Honorable Mufi Hannemann, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu to honor its long-term support of the film industry in Hawaii.
• CAUSE AND F(X) DREAM DIGITAL AWARD was given to Pacific Islander short film, BROTHER, directed by Miki Magasiva, for its excellence in Pacific cinema.
• HONOLULU MAGAZINE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM was awarded to PRETEND, directed by Debbie Fomorso, for its excellence in short film cinema. Honorable mention for animation went to I MET THE WALRUS, directed by Josh Raskin.
• VOD VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD POWERED BY OCEANIC TIME WARNER CABLE went to THE MONKEYBOY FEVER directed by Dane Neves, University of Hawaii-Manoa Academy for Creative Media student. More than 7,000 Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital subscribers voted after viewing it and other Hawaii short films featured on Oceanic Time Warner Cable.
• PACIFIC PANORAMA AWARD, sponsored by Pacific Islanders In Communications, was given to LAHAINA: WAVES OF CHANGE, directed by Eddie Kamae, for telling this epic story of change in an intimate and highly personal style.

HIFF honored South Korean director Kyung-Taek Kwak with the organization’s first-ever ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING AWARD earlier this week before the screening of his film, A LOVE at The Hawaii Theater. Also earlier this week, South Korean actor Lee Jun-ki was presented with HIFF’s first-ever RISING STAR AWARD before the screening of his film, MAY 18 at The Hawaii Theater. Fans of both Kyung-Taek Kwak and Lee Jun-ki attended the events from around the world, including fans from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the US Mainland.

At the end of the festival this year the AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD will be given to the film that audience members voted as their favorite film. Ballots are being distributed for the first screening in Honolulu of every eligible film during the festival.


HIFF film jurors this year represented various careers and talent within the film industry. Jurors for the narrative competition were: producer and writer Timothy Bui (THREE SEASONS, GREEN DRAGON, OWL AND THE SPARROW, and POWDER BLUE, starring Forrest Whitaker and Jessica Biel); Hollywood correspondent Philip Berk; and producer Janet Yang (JOY LUCK CLUB, HEAVEN AND EARTH, YEAR OF THE FISH, and DARK MATTER).

Jurors for the documentary competition were: LOST actor Daniel Dae Kim; Ted Kim, executive vice president and head of CJ Entertainment America; and Hawaii-born artist and filmmaker Edgy Lee (STORY OF HAWAIIAN LAND, PANIOLO O HAWAII – COWBOYS OF THE FAR WEST, WAIKIKI – IN THE WAKE OF DREAMS, and THE HAWAIIANS – REFLECTING SPIRIT).

Jurors in the shorts competition were: Gina Caruso, curator in Film and Media Arts at the Honolulu Academy of Arts; co-founder of the Hawaii Cultural Foundation, Janu Cassidy; and KITV anchor and ten-time Emmy Award winner, Pamela Young.

Other special guests that were in attendance included the Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii; actor Daniel Wu, actor Ju Jin-Mo, director Paul Cox, director Alison Eastwood, and others.
Festival Information
Filled with insight and discovery, HIFF is dedicated to advancing understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and North America since 1981. Each year, more than 70,000 attendees throughout Hawaii viscerally experience the sounds and images of filmmaking from around the world.