Festivals: Hawaii IFF

It seems like election conflicts are the norm right now, or perhaps it’s always been this way, and we just notice it more in the age of constant social media and news. Kip Oebanda’s (Abandoned, Liway) latest film, Balota, addresses...

I saw Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s (Pulse, Cure) latest film, Cloud, at the 44th annual Hawaii International Film Festival, and man, am I perplexed. I love Pulse (Kairo) and I wanted to love Cloud, but I can’t even figure out what the...

Sister Midnight from Karan Kandhari (Bye Bye Miss Goodnight) is a hard film to review and classify, but I’m going to try after seeing the film at the 44th annual Hawaii International Film Festival. Funded in part by the British...

Having played TIFF and Fantastic Fest, Dead Talents Society is the latest from director John Hsu, and I’ve just seen his rad Taiwanese ghost horror comedy at Hawaii International Film Festival. Hsu’s last feature was the great 2019 period horror...

What do Karyn Kusama, Stephen King, Patton Oswalt, and Takashi Miike have in common? They all speak of their experiences on a certain film that influenced them in one way or another in Alexandre O. Philippe’s (Lynch/Oz, 78/52, Memory: The...

[Still from Olga's Eyes] Having been a shorts filmmaker for most of my filmmaking life, I know exactly how difficult it is to get coverage at festivals for short films. When I’m able, I like to return the favor. While...

Uchida Kenji's Key Of Life is the sort of film that rarely makes its way to international audiences outside of the festival circuit and that, friends, is nothing short of a tragedy. Because as much as the typical distribution argument...

Note to self: The weather in Hawaii is significantly better than in Toronto. Come here more often. The Hawaii International Film Festival kicked off two nights ago with a typically excellent lineup focused on Pacific Rim film. I'm here...