The Hawaiʻi International Film Festival announced the short and feature films in the running for its Made in Hawaiʻi awards on Thursday, Sept. 25, at a media event at HIFF headquarters in Kaimukī.
This year, the festival, which runs Oct. 15 through mid-November, includes 220 films. There are screenings planned for Oʻahu, Maui, Lānaʻi, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi Island and Molokaʻi.
Aloha State Daily spoke with Kimberlee Bassford, director of “Before the Moon Falls,” who was at the event and is one of the filmmakers nominated for the Made in Hawaiʻi feature film award.
Tell us about your film. My film is the story of Samoan writer, Sia Figiel. It’s a very complex story, and it really was meant to be a portrait of her as an artist. She was the very first Samoan woman to be published in the U.S. She’s a poet and a novelist, and so she's huge in the Pacific literature community and in the Samoan community. But as I got to know her and documented her, she really started opening up more about her personal struggles. So, it became more of a mental health journey.
What does it mean to be part of the competition for the Made in Hawaiʻi award for feature films? It’s an honor, and it's really meaningful for me because this is the film's homecoming. I'm based here, but we actually ended up filming in lots of different parts of the world. We filmed here on Oʻahu, but we also filmed on the Continential US, New Zealand, Samoa — and so I do have crew and team in other places, but for me, this is where home is.
Is there anything we did not ask that you want to share? This is a film I hope will maybe open conversations and open the door to healing because there's basically a tragedy that happens.
Nominated films for the “Made in Hawaiʻi Award - Feature Film” include:
- “A Paradise Lost” by Director Laurie Sumiye
- “Before the Moon Falls” by Director Kimberlee Bassford
- “Indigenous Naʻau” by Director Ku'ulei Ka'ili
- “Lahaina Rising” by Director: Matty Schweitzer
- “Nā Wāhine Buda Kiakahi: The Legacy of Hawaiian Buddhist Women” by Director Eleni Avendaño
- “The Price of Paradise” by Director Anabella Funk
- “Remathau: People of the Ocean” by Director Daniel H. Lin
- “Reeling” by Director Yana Alliata
Those nominated for the “Made in Hawaiʻi Award - Short Film” include:
- “The Arrangements,” by Director: Sonny Ganaden
- “Back to the Loko” by Director Ricky-Thomas Serikawa
- “Birds of Paradise” by Director Veronica Rutledge
- “Breaking the Tide” by Director Katrin York
- “Dasher” by Director Alexander Bocchieri
- “Hui O Waʻa Kaulau” by Director: Matt Yamashita
- “Māhū: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter” by Director Lisette Marie Flanary
- “Malama Mākua” by Director Mikey Inouye
- “Memory as Missionary Position” by Director Brigitte Leilani Axelrode
- “Nohoʻana Farm” by Director De Andre Makakoa
- “Salvador” by Director Gerard Elmore
- “Slack Tide” by Directors Cody Kahaku and Kurt Hoffmann
- “What We Carry” by Director Lindsay Watson
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
