HIFF winners announced

The 28th annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) presented its 2008 awards today during a luncheon at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel and Resort. They are:

• The Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Narrative Feature was awarded to “Cape No. 7,” directed by Wei Te-Sheng.
• The Halekulani Golde Orched Award for Documentary Feature was presented to “Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii,” directed by Anne Keala Kelly.
• The Film In Hawaii award, presented by the State of Hawaii, went to Joan Lander and Puhipau for their significant contributions to promoting the local film industry.
• The Honolulu Magazine Award for Best Short Film was awarded to “Coffee and Allah,” directed by Sima Urale, for its excellence in short film cinema. Honorable mention went to “Texas Girl,” directed by Hyung Hyup Kim.
• The NETPAC Award was awarded to “Brutus – The Adventure,” directed by Tara Illenberger, which was a participant in LVHIFF’s Green Screen showcase. Honorable mention for NETPAC went to “The Little Heart,” directed by Thanh Van Nguyen.
• The Video-On-Demand Viewers Choice Award, presented by Oceanic Time Warner Cable, went to “The Hollow,” A University of Hawaii, Academy For Creative Media submission from director Dana Ledoux Miller.

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 have been distributed for the first screening in Honolulu of every eligible film during the festival.

Three more awards will be handed out on Saturday, October 18, at the festival’s closing day press conference at 10 a.m. at the Halekulani in Waikiki. Jung Woo-sung, star of “The Good, The Bad, The Weird,” will receive HIFF’s Achievement in Acting Award and the film’s director, Kim Jee-woon, will be given the Maverick Award.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann will also be on-hand to present the ‘City and County of Honolulu Vision in Film’ Award to the Vice President of the Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group (SMEG) Yang Qixiang.

HIFF film jurors this year represented various careers and talent within the film industry. Jurors for the narrative competition were: executive director of The VILCEK Foundation Rick Kinsel; producer Roy Lee (“The Ring,” “The Departed”); and chief officer for Creative Industries Division, Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, Georja Skinner.

Jurors for the documentary competition were: actor Cliff Curtis (“Whale Rider, “Sunshine,” “Die Hard”); director Don King (“Beautiful Son”); and KGMB 9 Morning News anchor Grace Lee. Jurors in the shorts competition were: director Gerard Elmore (“All For Melissa”); Honolulu Advertiser Features Editor Elizabeth Kieszkowski; and SMART Magazine publisher Molly Watanabe.

Established in 1981, the Hawaii International Film Festival is dedicated to the advancement of understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and North America through the medium of film. HIFF is the premier international film event in the Pacific and has won the praise of governments, filmmakers, scholars, educators, programmers and film industry leaders throughout the world. For the discovery and exhibition of Asian and Pacific features, documentaries and short films in the nation, it is a primary source.

The festival has premiered such movies as “Once Were Warriors,” “The Piano,” “Shine,” “Shall We Dance,” “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”