These are twelve Asian short films you shouldn’t miss at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival which will take place from October 12 -22, 2023 in O‘ahu, and from October 26 – November 5, in Neighbor Islands.

Note: The article may include movies made by filmmakers with Asian ancestry.

A Roadside Banquet by Peiqi Peng – USA | 2023 – 16 minutes
After the abolishment of the One Child Policy in China, 11-year-old Mai attends her baby brother’s very first birthday party and learns a crushing truth: her parents never really wanted a girl. Soon after learning this heartbreaking news, Mai experiences a strange transformation. (HIFF 2023)

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Astonishing Little Feet by Maegan Houang – USA | 2023 – 9 minutes
Afong Moy, the first documented Chinese woman to come to the United States, realizes the men who separated her from her family only have interest in profiting off the peculiarities of her bound feet. (HIFF 2023)

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Balikbayan by Rebecca Rajadnya – USA |2022 – 18 minutes
A Filipina immigrant grapples with the physical distance from the family she left behind and the cultural disconnect from her daughters in the United States. (HIFF 2023)

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Champion by Kim J.Y. Han – Korea, USA | 2023 – 13 minutes
It”s 1997, a month after 9-year-old Jimin moved from Korea to start school in California. She arrived in America as part of a Korean ”goose family,” a term for when the father stays behind in Korea to make money, while the rest of the family goes abroad for an English education. Jimin refuses to speak to her father but when the pressure around her family and country finally implodes, she must gather the courage to take the next steps alone. (HIFF 2023)

Closing Dynasty by Lloyd Lee Choi – USA | 2023 – 17 minutes
Queenie, a precocious 7 year-old, fearlessly scours the subways and streets of New York City searching for ways to make a dollar. From basketball charity schemes to peddling roses, Queenie is relentless and unstoppable. As we follow a day in her life, we ultimately wonder what the little girl”s true intentions are and why she is working so hard on a school day. (HIFF 2023)

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Every Day After by Elisa Gambino – Philippines | 2023 – 36 minutes
The older sister of a neglected brother faces her own fears so her brother may heal and experience the everyday joys and struggles of growing up. (HIFF 2023)

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Hito by Stephen Lopez – Philippines | 2023 – 22 minutes
A 14-year-old girl discovers that the fish she had been given for dinner is a rehabilitated bioweapon named Kiefer. (HIFF 2023)

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Jeong-Dong by Choi Woo Gene – Korea | 2023 – 23 minutes
Graduate student Yoobin has a nervous breakdown after experiencing strange phenomena in his new home. His childhood friends Sodam and Haseung gather at his house to find out what”s going on, as their deep-seated traumas and wounds are coaxed to the surface. (HIFF 2023)

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Say Something by Jiin Oh – Korea, USA | 2023 – 13 minutes
Fresh from Seoul, a teen girl struggles to find connection in her new home until she sees the church band’s floppy-haired drummer and strikes up a daring idea to get his attention. (HIFF 2023)

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Take Me Home by Liz Sargent – USA | 2023 – 16 minutes
After their mother’s death, a cognitively disabled woman and her estranged sister must learn to communicate in order to move forward. (HIFF 2023)

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What do we call this? by Anna Mikami – USA | 2023 – 14 minutes
After the sudden death of her husband, Julia is left a single mother and forms an unexpected kinship with the only other person who can truly understand her grief. (HIFF 2023)

Young People, Old People & Nothing in Between by Parida Tantiwasadakran – Thailand | 2022 – 20 minutes
7-year-old Juice has one mission this year: to help Grandma Lovely retain as many memories as possible in order to halt the onset of her early dementia. (HIFF 2023)

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For more information, please visit: https://hiff.org/