My HIFF Experience

It was a really nice experienve to attend the 38th Annual Hawaii International Film festival Prestended by Halekulani for the first time. I am very happy I got to see Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, My Hero´s Shadow, and the two “Ohana means ...” short films: My Little Brother, Seung-Hyuk, and Floating Weeds. The Bethany Hamilton film was the one I was most excited about, since I already knew a bit about her story. I was really interested in learning more about her story and getting to know her and her family on a more personal level. The film really fulfilled these expectationd, and it was definitely a big highlight of the festival to get to meet her after watching the film.

My Hero´s shadow was kind of a blind choice. I did not know much about what I was going in to, but I soon realized that I actually remembered to have heard about the Nancy Kerrigan attack before. Even though I wasn´t even born when it happened in 1994. This film actually happened to be the film I thought was the most interesting and touching to watch. It was really interesting to learn more about the man that conducted the attack and his family-history. The fact that his story was told through the eyes of his sister was really touching. She has a completely different view of him. To her, he isn´t a violent person, he is someone who has always taken care of her when their father wasn´t.

I was only able to watch two of the “Ohana means…” short films, but those two showed two completely different family situations, and that was also what I was excepting to see before going. I really enjoyed the films, but I definitely like films with a “clear ending” and not endings where I have to reflect and wonder what happens next.

Both the Bethany Hamilton film and My Hero´s shadow was made in Hawaii, so I learned a lot about the Hawaiian culture while watching the films. I will really recommend anyone who enjoys watching movies to attend the next Hawaii Film Festival!