The 43rd edition of the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) will be staged from Oct. 12 to Nov. 5. Films from Taiwan "Be With Me" (車頂上的玄天上帝) and "A Girl Out of the Country" (鳳姐) are nominated for the Kau Ka Hōkū Award and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award respectively at the HIFF, honoring the Taiwanese film industry.
The award of Kau Ka Hōkū, meaning "shooting star" in Hawaiian, is HIFF's main competitive prize and is bestowed on budding filmmakers for their first or second feature film, both fiction and non-fiction included. Meanwhile, the NETPAC Award is given at selected international film festivals every year, to discover and highlight new talents in Asian cinema.
"Be With Me" is the first film directed by Hwarng Wern-ying (黃文英), a filmmaker noted for art direction and costume design. This film was selected for the Venice Gap-Financing Market in 2022 along with other 26 international films. It illustrates a female protagonist who struggles between her career, romantic relationship, and family but has to return to her hometown due to her ill father.
Meanwhile, directed by Bruce Chiu (邱新達), "A Girl Out of the Country" displays the potential of emerging young filmmakers from Taiwan. It tells the story of a young lady who dreams of becoming a singer but is unfortunately trafficked to become a prostitute.
The Ministry of Culture and the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles collaborated to introduce the "Spotlight on Taiwan" screening event at the HIFF. This event will be held at the Consolidate Theaters Kahala, Hawaii, showcasing the diversity of Taiwanese films.
For more information, please visit the HIFF website.