On October 24th, 2017, I attended the 37th Annual Hawaii International Film Festival. Also known as HIFF, this festival started on November 2nd and ended on November 12th. After the showing of all the films on Oahu, they moved HIFF over to the Big Island and Kauai from the 16th-19th. An impressive amount of over 100 films were screened this year, such as the opening film, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower.” This press conference was a chance for the press to get the inside scoop of the film festival, and filled us in on who will be attending the event and what kinds of films were going to be shown. I have never been to a press conference before until this one, and I was really impressed to see how professional it was and it was an amazing experience.
At the press conference, HIFF explained that they wanted to focus on showing films that are locally produced, and were bringing back huge anime films that were a big hit last year. This was a huge deal to them, and it made the audience very excited. They went onto list a variety of films that they were proud to showcase during the festival, and that a lot of people were excited about.
The Executor Director, Beckie Stocchetti, talked about the HIFF37 Honorees who received awards during the HIFF Awards Gala on November 1oth. Bill Pullman received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Masato Harada received the Career Achievement Award, Simon Baker won the Maverick Award, and finally Taika Waititi won the Trailblazer Award. These are all very respected actors/directors that deserve these awards for their amazing work.
I was very excited that I got to meet the man who is the main focus in the film called “Ottomaticake.” His name is Otto, and his film was his journey of making different cheesecakes and how he got to where he is today. I was able to introduce myself and tell him I was from HPU reporting for Hawaii Pacific News and ask him a couple of questions. It was amazing to meet someone who was featured in one of the films that was featured this year!
For more information about HIFF, visit https://www.hiff.org/
Aloha Audrey! It’s awesome that you were able to attend the press conference this year! It’s fascinating that you wrote that about bringing back anime films! I had no idea they were still so popular and clearly successful! “Ottimaticake” is also such a creative name! Thanks for sharing!