Hawai'i film festival gets grant from Oscars group

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

The Hawai'i International Film Festival received a $30,000 grant this week from the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is the festival's first grant from the academy and its largest grant from an outside source, according to Chuck Boller, HIFF executive director.

The grant is to be used for HIFF's 2002 festival programming. The academy gave out a total of $250,000.

"We're just thrilled, because it shows what an important film festival we have now," Boller said.

HIFF showcases movies that deal with the cultural exchange among people of the East and West and the Pacific Basin.

Boller said the money, not yet received, will support three aspects of HIFF's programs:

• The Hawai'i filmmakers section. The grant will help expand the scope of luring Hawai'i directors to create local works.
• A video literary project, involving a Web site (www.hiff.com) that enables between 5,000 and 6,000 Hawai'i students to check out films for educational pursuits. The added funds will enable the festival to move onto foreign turf, like Shanghai, which has a keen interest in the Hawai'i marketplace.
• Increase the frequency of seminars and technological workshops for filmmakers.