The Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) is a film festival held in the US State of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 and has been held annually ever since. It is held in the fall for 2 weeks but also has a smaller one week festival in the Spring known as the "Spring Showcase" or the "Spring Fling."

The festival states that it "is dedicated to the advancement of understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and North America through the medium of film." It is the largest such "East meets West" film festival in the United States.

The festival receives sponsorship from numerous corporations every year, the largest contributor is Louis Vuitton, the festival is also known as the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival.

Each year, reknowned film critic Roger Ebert picks one film to be shown at HIFF, sometimes he travels to Hawaii in order to introduce it to the audience. The festival gives out several awards the top prize is named the Golden Maile , it is also known as the First Hawaiian Bank Golden Maile Award. In 2004 an award for achievement in acting was given to Maggie Cheung.

The Hawaii International Film Festival site can be found here - HIFF

See Also

list of film festivals