HIFF Wrap Up

During HIFF 2011, I watched five films — “The Salt of Life,” “Pacific Showcase Shorts,” “Samson & Delilah,” “The Price of Sex,” and “Surrogate Valentine.” I read the synopsis for each of the movies online and chose a list of movies, but out of those I only ended up seeing the two, “The Salt of Life” and “Samson & Delilah.” After going to the opening press conference and hearing Goh Nakamura, I really wanted to see “Surrogate Valentine.” I was also hearing good things about “The Price of Sex” so that really interested me as well. Oswald was going to the “Pacific Showcase Shorts” and so I was curious and tagged along to that one. I really wish I had more time to see more movies and take full advantage of my press pass.

I attended both the opening and closing press conferences, which to me were my favorite part of HIFF because you really get to learn about the background of the filmmakers and their films. I loved being able to hear the stories of why they made their movies told by the filmmakers themselves. It was also a great opportunity as a journalism major to work on my interviewing skills and to find a great story within the event. I also really loved seeing movies from different cultures and visually learning about it.

I’ve never participated in HIFF before so being that it was my first experience, it meant a lot to me. I really loved being able to attend the media events and being given the opportunity to meet people I would have never been able to meet otherwise. I learned a lot from my participation this year in HIFF — about different cultures and about different people from all walks of life and the stories they share through film.

One of the films I watched, “The Price of Sex,” really opened my eyes to see a whole different undercover side of the world, Eastern Europe in particular. This film really opened my eyes to the horrible world of sex trafficking. After watching this film, I felt so much more thankful for the freedom I have. Some of these women turned to prostitution because they had no money. Others were captured and deceived but had no way out. Seeing their faces and hearing their stories really makes me count my blessings.

I really enjoyed “Surrogate Valentine” because it was such a good movie on so many levels. There was the love interest, the comedy aspect, and the fact that it was made on such a small shoestring budget. The main character had the chance to play himself in a more scripted format. I thought it was a great perspective and a whole new approach to film making.

From the many cultures at HIFF, I learned a lot. EuroCinema provided me with a chance to learn that men treat women in Europe very well and that it’s a very expressive culture. In Eastern Europe I learned that prostitution has become a large problem because young girls are very trusting and parents don’t really ask questions. From the shorts, I learned about the culture of many islands in the Pacific. I also learned that many people live in poverty in Fiji, where “Samson and Delilah” was filmed.

This collaboration was extremely helpful both professionally and academically. I expanded my knowledge of cultures, worked on my interviewing skills through the press conferences, and worked on my writing skills through the blogs and movie reviews posted.

I loved my first experience at HIFF this year and I will definitely be participating again next year. I’ve already recommended it to my friends and family with stories about the amazing films I was able to watch.  I also hope my tweets influenced some of my followers on Twitter. During HIFF, it was all I would talk and tweet about. Now that it’s over, I can’t wait for next year. HIFF 2012 should be amazing. See you there!