SDAFF opens tonight, but I also wanted to show some love to the Hawaii International Film Festival, which begins tonight and runs through October 25. It's not specifically an Asian/Asian Amerian film festival, but it's consistently one of the greatest, most diverse showcases for Asian cinema in the United States. There's a little bit of something for everyone.
Things kick off tonight with the Opening Night presentation of Bong Joon-ho's Mother, the South Korean director's follow-up to the smash hit monster film The Host. This one's described as a stylish thriller that's both a detective story and psychological horror.
The festival continues on through next week with an amazing, crazy array of film, including many of the indie features I've mentioned here in the past year, like All About Dad, Etienne!, The People I've Slept With, Fruit Fly, Whatever It Takes, White on Rice and Children of Invention, as well as Asian cinema hits like Ong Bak 2, Red Cliff, Ip Man and more.
I suppose if you weren't already planning on going to HIFF, you won't be making the trip out to Hawaii on whim. But it's going to be awesome. I'm headed out to Honolulu next week to check out the festivities. For more information about the films, schedule and ticketing, visit the Hawaii International Film Festival website here.