Film for All

No matter what kind of moviegoer you are, this year’s Hawaii International Film Festival has got you covered.

This month, filmmakers from around the globe will gather in Honolulu for the 27th annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival. That means local residents will once again have an opportunity to sample more than 150 feature films, documentaries, shorts and animated works from such wide-ranging countries as Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Israel and Australia.

With so many cinematic options, we asked HIFF program director Anderson Le to help moviegoers sort through this year’s offerings:

photos courtesy of HIFF

If: You’re hungry.

Check Out: “Eat, Drink, Film,” a roundup of food-themed films, from Yakiniku: The Movie (think last spring’s Udon, but for meat lovers) to A Touch of Spice, the story of a man who returns to his native Greece to see the grandfather who inspired his love of cooking.

If: You don’t just talk during movies, you sing.

Check Out: “Guilty Pleasures,” a new addition to the festival that will highlight musicals, including the Shaw Brothers’ ultra-kitschy 1967 classic, Hong Kong Nocturne and the “Rocky Horror-esque screening of Buffy the Musical, which is a sing-along presentation of the famous Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode,” Le says.

If: The only Taiwanese film you’ve ever seen starred Chow-Yun Fat.

Check Out: The festival’s Taiwanese section, which highlights filmmakers rebuilding the country’s small film industry. Le says to expect “zany, cute comedies and life-affirming road movies.”

If: You’re stuck with the kids.

Check Out: The festival’s program book will identify family-friendly flicks, such as Under the Same Moon, a Mexican drama about a boy looking for his mother.

If: You want to see the movie everyone will be talking about.

Check Out: The Savages, a dramedy starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, and Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a Cannes Film Festival favorite. Also, don’t miss director Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club), who will be on hand for the Hawaii Theatre showing of his A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.