I’ve been covering the Hawai’i International Film Festival (HIFF) for several years for The Nerds of Color, yet haven’t attended its festival in-person since 2019. When I obtained many ticket vouchers from serving on the screening committee for its 45th iteration, I realized before me I had a really good excuse to actually travel back to Honolulu this year to attend it. Little did I expect at the time of starting in the committee back in March that by the time I flew out to O’ahu, I would also be attending this year’s festival as a new filmmaker.
As of this writing, I am currently crowdfunding on Seed & Spark for an animated short film I wrote and am co-directing called Disarm. A martial arts-drama set in the aftermath of the Atlanta spa shootings from 2021, a multiracial Filipino American woman is dealing with identity issues both from the Asian American community and her white mom, when a hate crime unfolds on her train ride home, and she has to decide how to respond.
It is a new chapter in my writing journey, and despite not having a film featured at this year’s HIFF, having this campaign coincide with my attendance only added a level of depth to the latter.
In the past when covering HIFF, I’ve shined a light a lot on several of the feature films they’ve curated. This time around, I found myself drawn towards watching several of their short film programs: the Pacific Islander Showcase Shorts, the Indigenous Shorts, the Glimmer Shorts, and even a look at the short works of Hawaii filmmaker, George Tahara.
As it was mentioned at the top of nearly every single one of the programs, little often do festival attendees go out of their way to the shorts programs specifically. What I was reminded of, both from attending these shorts programs and when I was watching short films as part of the screening committee, is that short films really are treasure troves of stories that can be as equally engaging as their feature-length counterparts, if not even more so. Examples of stories I saw in these programs: two women hiding their love for each other on the brink of Hawaii’s statehood (Grace), a girl who learns to not to be afraid to laugh (Akababuru: Expression of Astonishment), two kung fu masters whose schools have a deeply ingrained rivalry go on a date with each other (Let’s Settle This!), and a profile on a once thriving community in a Hawaiian forest reserve (Maunalaha Hawaiian Settlement in Forest Reserve).
They all brought something a little different to the table, and they all set examples for what each of their storytellers are capable of. If anything, I may have seen a short film from a director, who maybe one day will return to HIFF, with a feature-length film to kick off festivities.
That was the case with the filmmaker behind the opening night film, Rental Family. Director and co-writer Hikari has a strong history with HIFF. Aside from them having also featured her first feature-length film, 37 Seconds, in 2019, but her first short film, Tsuyako, was curated in one of their shorts programs in 2011.
Getting to see the short films on the big screen, followed by watching the filmmakers speak about the making of their works afterwards, it felt like a preview for what will eventually be happening for me with Disarm. Heck, the fact that I watched Rental Family with one of the cast members of my film, Amy Hill, felt like a convergence of the present and the possible future.
It was quite a HIFF to remember, and the fact that this year’s iteration was pulled off without a grant from the NEA really shows the commitment the team behind the festival has to making it possible. Whether it be short or feature-length, always expect the best of the best of Asia-Pacific films from them.
Imagine what it would be like if Disarm played at the next one.
The Seed & Spark campaign for Disarm is going on until November 6. If you have the means to do so, please consider making a pledge, and share it with your networks.
Full disclaimer: Lauren served on the screening committee for this year’s Hawai’i International Film Festival, but had no say on the final decisions made for the program.
