This Thursday, I had the honor of receiving a full press pass to the Hawaii International Film Festival, and it was truly a memorable experience.
This was my first press conference and film festival I have ever intended, making my naive curiosity intrigued from the start. Once I completed one of the most important aspects- figuring out what to wear to my first press conference for the Hawaii International Film Festival– the next step was to get my equipment and show up!
The conference was held at the beautiful Halekulani hotel in Waikiki. When we arrived, we walked into the high ceilinged, wide-open courtyard. After admiring the setting momentarily, we headed up to the second floor and received the holy grail of the HIFF, our full press passes, giving us complete access. As soon as the conference began, there were so many camera’s flashing and audio devices recording, it felt incredible to be part of such an important and worldwide event.
With the different speakers, each gave a part of the festival the piqued my interest even further. At the end of the conference, my classmate and I had the privledge of interviewing Program Director, Anderson Le, Chief Officer, Georja Skinner, and Executive Director, Chuck Boller. I am going to post about each interview in a later post, because each had a myriad of important information.
The only downside to our interviews was that when we completed them, all the sandwiches that looked very delicious, were all gobbled up. I guess I’ll just have to wait until next years press conference for those sandwiches, but movie theater popcorn will have to satisfy me for now!
Just from the energy and enthusiasm felt at the opening press conference I attended today, I am extremely excited and eager to attend the films presented this year.
Some of the films I have on my list to definitely see are
Big Hero 6
The Imitation Game
Stations of the Cross
Kabukicho Love Hotel
Mary Kom
These are just a few that caught my eye, but the HIFF has a numerous amount of films available I will probably be interested in seeing. I think the best part about the varied list of films they are presenting is that it gives me an opportunity to see films I wouldn’t normally and get international perspectives. Overall, I think the energy of the HIFF’s opening press conference foreshadows the success of the rest of the festival to come!
