The Hawaii International Film Festival kicks off on Nov. 3. 

What You Need To Know

  • The 42nd Hawaii International Film Festival will include in-theater screenings and streaming options

  • Movie screenings will be at Consolidated Kahala, Ward and Kapolei, HoMA’s Doris Duke Theater, the Bishop Museum's Great Lawn, and at theaters on Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Island

  • An award ceremony will take place on Nov. 13 at the Halekulani Ballroom

  • For a complete lineup of films, please visit HIFF.org

Films will be screened in theaters on Oahu from Nov. 3-13 and on neighbor islands from Nov. 17-20. 

Digital screenings will be streaming across the state, with select availability across the U.S., from Nov. 3-27. 

An award ceremony will take place on Nov. 13 at the Halekulani Ballroom.

This is the 42nd edition of HIFF, and the lineup includes 102 features, 124 shorts and seven nominated film programs. 

“HIFF is back in a big way!” says HIFF executive director Beckie Stocchetti. “We are incredibly excited to welcome our guests and audiences back to theaters across Oahu and the state, with screenings at Consolidated Kahala, Ward and Kapolei; and additional screenings at HoMA’s Doris Duke Theater, in theaters on Kauai, Maui,and Hawaii Island, and outdoors on the gorgeous Great Lawn at the Bishop Museum.”

“The Wind and The Reckoning,” a film made in Hawaii, will kick off HIFF when it is screened outside on Nov. 3 at the Bishop Museum’s Great Lawn. The movie is directed by Big Island-based director David L. Cunningham and it is about the real life Hawaiian cowboy Koolau, who is played by Jason Scott Lee. It is the first major feature film that is predominately in the Hawaiian language. 

The following day, “The Story of Everything,” another film made in Hawaii, will be screened at the Great Lawn. 

Before both Bishop Museum screenings, there will be Hawaiian music from musician Makana and poet laureate Kealoha. For dining options, food trucks will be on site. 

For a complete lineup of films, please visit HIFF.org.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.