The Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) has announced its 2015 award winners. Ahi Ka, directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Jillian White, adds to its festival successes.
The HIFF judges said the film “exhibits breathtaking imagery that instilled nostalgia and complex emotion. Its main actress delivers a haunting performance, portraying a kind of beauty that invokes the ghosts of our past. Lastly, the film makes a powerful statement and sheds light on a story we feel needs to be shared.”
Actress Christine Edwards took the Audience Award for Best Actress for her performance in Ahi Ka at last year’s Wairoa.
Curtis is a member of the Rotorua-based collective Steambox, whose shorts have had considerable success over the last couple of years. Tim Worrall’s Tits on a Bull and Mike Jonathan’s Ow What! have both played festivals and won awards this year. Earlier this month Ow What! (which also plays HIFF) won the Liklik Piksa (Short Film) award at Sydney’s Pasifika Film Festival.
Also awarded in Hawaii were Shin Su-won’s Madonna (Best Narrative Feature) and Steve Hoover’s Crocodile Gennadiy (Best Documentary Feature). Audience Awards will be announced after the festival closes. The Hawaii International Film Festival runs 12 – 22 November.
There was another Kiwi honored at HIFF this year, stuntwoman Zoe Bell was honored for her contributions to American cinema by the prestigious Vilcek foundation. Her film ‘Camino’ also screened at HIFF.
http://www.vilcek.org/about/new-american-filmmakers/