Overview The Hawaii International Film Festival, founded in 1981 and based in Honolulu, is the only statewide film festival in the U.S., screening 300-plus films across five islands each fall. HIFF is the only Academy Award-qualifying festival in the world focused on Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander content. On site The month-long Fall Festival runs narrative and documentary features, shorts and international premieres statewide, closing with the Honoree Gala, a red-carpet dinner at the Halekulani Hotel. The spring Opio Fest puts student and youth films on the same screens as the festival's international lineup, and the three-day HIFILM Industry Conference brings keynotes, panels and workshops for film and media professionals from across the Pacific. Audience Audiences span Hawaii public school students seeing themselves onscreen for the first time, working film and media professionals, and visiting directors and press from across the Pacific Rim. Most are highly educated: 84.5 percent hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Talent and Influencers Filmmakers and actors who have appeared at HIFF include Ang Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Taika Waititi, Elisabeth Moss and Awkwafina. Roger Ebert attended for decades and received the festival's Vision in Film Award. Aulii Cravalho has appeared as an Opio Fest special guest, and the HIFILM Industry Conference has featured two-time Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ben Proudfoot and former Amazon Original Movies head Glenn Gainor. Track record Opio Fest has grown to 3,604 attendees in its second year. A recent Fall Festival screened 340 films from 50 countries and drew 33,842 attendees, toward 43,335 total attendees across that year's programs, with coverage reaching six continents and generating 60,011,959 press impressions. Brand presence Every HIFF sponsorship is built around the partner's own goals, with activations ranging from event signage and broadcast spots to filmmaker dinners, industry panels and curated screenings, each with a post-event recap covering press impressions, social analytics and audience recall. Past and current partners include Halekulani Hotel, Hawaiian Airlines and First Hawaiian Bank.