The festival
Founded in 1981 as a project of the East-West Center, HIFF is one of the oldest and most established film festivals in the United States focused on Asian and Pacific cinema. It presents a broad program of features, documentaries and shorts each fall, primarily in Honolulu.
Worth knowing
HIFF has long served as a meeting point for Asian, Pacific Islander and Western filmmaking traditions, reflecting Hawai'i's position between the U.S. mainland and Asia. Its programming regularly includes new work from across Asia alongside Asian American and Native Hawaiian filmmakers.
How to attend
The public buys tickets and passes through the festival's website, with screenings held at Honolulu theaters and additional dates on neighbor islands.
Awards & submissions
HIFF’s headline honors are the Halekulani Golden Orchid Awards, juried prizes for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature presented by the festival’s title sponsor. The festival is also an Academy Award–qualifying event in the short-film categories, meaning winners of its top short and Made in Hawai‘i short awards become eligible for Oscar consideration. Programming spans features, documentaries and shorts with a distinct Asian-Pacific focus, including Pacific Islander and Made in Hawai‘i showcases and the New American Perspectives strand for emerging U.S. filmmakers. The main festival runs each autumn in Honolulu, followed by neighbor-island screenings on Kaua‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i and Hawai‘i Island. Filmmakers submit through FilmFreeway during the annual open call, with categories and deadlines posted on the hiff.org website; the public buys tickets and passes through the same site.
Official site →Dates and programs change year to year — check the official site for the current edition.