HIFF Opening & Closing Press Conferences

HIFF Opening Press Conference on Oct. 13 at the Sheraton Waikiki RumFire

During the HIFF Opening Conference, panelists Doug Chin, Peter Shaindlin, Princess Dialta, Goh Nakamura and George Drakoulias shared about their own background, why they were at the festival and what they were looking forward to the most. 

Shaindlin, chief operating officer at Halekulani, started off by saying that HIFF is an international exchange of humanity through film. 

Chin of the City & County of Honolulu said that the festival started as a way to bridge cultures and promotes cultural understanding through film. He then presented a check of $20,000 to HIFF from the city.  

Dialta, of EuroCinema Hawaii, said that this was a way to extend culture from Europe to Honolulu, which she adores. She also shared about the EuroCinema films featured at HIFF. 

"There is a different viewpoint, a different construction of the film," she said. "Is it a detective story? Is it a drama? Is it a romantic comedy? No, it's all of those things." 

Executive producer Chuck Boller shared about how the festival is a great way for filmmakers to get screen time and exposure. 

"It's a great chance to meet people and work with them," he said. "I enjoy people from all over the world and it's just great that they all come together here."

He also let us know that they've started planning for next year already, following films all year long while also accepting submitted films. 

"I wish I had known more about film festivals when I was in school," Boller said. "I would have jumped on ship." 

HIFF Closing Press Conference on Oct. 21 at the Halekulani Kalia Room

On the last weekend of the film festival, the closing press conference featured panelists Peter Shaindlin, Masato Harada, Prashant Bhargava, Adam Peschi and Ruslan Pak. 

Shaindlin, chief operating officer at Halekulani, opened up the conference as he said that the Halekulani touches the human experience and leaves people with memories, much like the films at HIFF do. 

Masato Harada wears many different hats--director, critic, professor, and by accident, actor. 

For Ruslan Pak, filmmaking was a way to find his "Hanaan," or promised land. Growing up in the 19th century Soviet Nation as a Korean, he was moved around a lot and lived in a country that didn't exist anymore. 

"I always thought my Hanaan was Korea but when I got there, I understood it wasn't so," Pak said. "Initially why I wanted to do Hanaan was to find my identity." 

Hanaan is a true story of life and friends who actually star in the movie. He wanted to show real life and real problems. 

"I'm still searching for my Hanaan, that's how I feel," Pak said.

Prashant Bhargava, director and producer of Patang, can relate. He spent three years doing research in India for his movie because he wanted to capture the magic and power of family. It was a movie made by the will and love of a community, he said. For this film he worked with kids from areas of adversity to capture the purity of the laughter they had.  

For his film he allowed people to live onscreen. One of the characters in his movie has a first kiss, which was also his first kiss in real life. This was the first time his city was shown in a positive light. It is something that the community itself can be proud of.

"We all have an issue searching for our identity," he said. "In India I feel home."

Adam Peschi, director and producer of Splinters, spent nine months in Papua New Guinea without water or power and while suffering from Malaria a few times, before shooting Splinters. He heard that people in Papua New Guinea loved surfing and wanted to show the benefits of this sport through a movie about four village hopefuls in a quest to win a surfing competition.

For Pak, he took a big risk with hiring his friend that had no acting experience for the lead role. Women go with their intuition, so as a man I went with mine, Pak said. He didn’t give them a script nor did they know how it would come out. At the end, he said he pulled the reality out of him the best he could.

“If you have a real life story you’re passionate about and want to show it, this is where you can start,” Pak said.

Bhargava took 7 years of improv, 200 hours of footage, and two years of editing to make his film.

“Don’t wait for someone to tell you you can do it,” he said. “If you love it and believe in it you have to do it.”

“Making a film is like playing the guitar, just let it sing through you,” Bhargava said.

With amazing filmmakers and even more amazing films, HIFF 2011 was a great success to say the least.

“My dream is to make people who come to come back and make films to show,” Chuck Boller said.

HIFF 2012, get ready for us!