The jurors were Samuel Jamier, president of the New York Asian Film Festival; Jesse Hawthorne Ficks, film critic and San Francisco Bay Guardian producer; and Mia Lee Vicino, film journalist and former West Coast editor of Letterboxd. They also handed an honorable mention to “The Seoul Guardians.”
The HIFF Best Short Film Award, presented by Hawaiian Airlines and Oscar-qualifying for international shorts, went to Fraser Pemberton and William Jaka’s Australian drama-thriller “Faceless.” It centers on a Warlpiri man living three parallel lives along the Birrarung-Ga (Yarra River) in Naarm (Melbourne).
“Every one of us arrived at the same word: wow. A unanimous wow,” the jury said. “It’s a film that keeps unfolding after it ends.” The panel included screenwriter and producer Philip W. Chung; Christine Yi, president of Gold House Studios and general manager of Gold House Labs; and Sarah Fang, manager of the Doris Duke Theatre and programmer at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
Zou Jing’s “A Girl Unknown” (China) took the Netpac/USA Award from a field of 12 nominees. HIFF is the sole U.S. festival permitted to hand out the Network for the Promotion of Asian-Pacific Cinema prize, which is also given at Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Rotterdam and Busan, among others. The jury called the film a “patient and carefully layered human story in which a young woman finds a way to survive oppression and seek her own future.”
“This year’s winners reflect the strength and diversity of cinematic storytelling today, here in Hawai’i and across the region,” said Jean H. Lee, the festival’s executive director. “We are thankful to our distinguished jurors for their careful consideration and proud of the quality of films in this year’s festival.”
Festival audiences voted Sung Kang’s “Drifter” favorite narrative feature, Frank W. Chen’s Taiwanese documentary “Beyond the Smiles: Yani Tseng” favorite documentary and Lauren Luke’s “Sons Are Not Earthbound” favorite short. The Audience Awards are presented by Hawai’i News Now.
Kang was also among the honorees feted at the HIFF Honoree Gala in the Halekulani Ballroom on Oct. 29, hosted by Sisa Grey (“Chief of War,” “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” “Fallout”). Best known as Han in “The Fast & the Furious” franchise, Kang received the Halekulani Maverick Award. He wrote, directed, produced and stars in “Drifter,” in which a loner working as a janitor finds his way back, and a community, through competitive drifting.
Ke Huy Quan received the Halekulani Golden Maile Career Achievement Award. Quan, who began his career as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “The Goonies,” stepped back from acting, taking stunt choreography and behind-the-scenes jobs, before his comeback in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which won him the Oscar for his turn as Waymond. He most recently voiced Gary De’Snake in Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” a role he will reprise in “Zootopia 3,” and published his memoir “Never Say Die” in September.
Master navigator Nainoa Thompson, CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, was given the Halekulani Legacy Award. In 1980, he guided a voyaging canoe from Hawai’i to Tahiti with no modern instruments, the first Native Hawaiian to do so in centuries.
Among those at the gala were Stephy Tang, this year’s Spotlight on Hong Kong artist, along with Josie Ho, Daniel Dae Kim and director Bao Nguyen.
HIFF46 opened Oct. 21 at the Hawaii Theatre. After Honolulu, the festival moves to Kapolei, Maui, Moloka’i, Hawai’i Island and Lāna’i for screenings running Nov. 3–15.
HIFF46 WINNERS
Pacific Award – Feature“The Navigator” (U.S.)Director: Jordan Manley
Pacific Award – Short“The Man and the Tree” (U.S.)Director: Justyn Ah Chong
HIFF Best Short Film Award“Faceless” (Australia)Directors: Fraser Pemberton, William Jaka
Netpac Award“A Girl Unknown” (China)Director: Zou Jing
Audience Award – Favorite Narrative Feature“Drifter” (U.S.)Director: Sung Kang
Audience Award – Favorite Documentary“Beyond the Smiles: Yani Tseng” (Taiwan)Director: Frank W. Chen
Audience Award – Favorite Short“Sons Are Not Earthbound” (U.S.)Director: Lauren Luke
Halekulani Golden Maile Career Achievement AwardKe Huy Quan
Halekulani Maverick AwardSung Kang
Halekulani Legacy AwardNainoa Thompson
Halekulani New Vanguard AwardLuciane Buchanan
Leanne K. Ferrer Trailblazer AwardBryson Chun
