Schedule

January 19, 2024

7:00 pm : Opening Night Feature : Maamanithan

Doors, Box office and Concessions open at 6:30pm

Feature

Directed by Seenu Ramasamy Ramakrishnan
India 2022, Drama, 122 min, Tamil

Synopsis: A humble auto driver, desperate to improve the standard of education for his children, convinces a real estate agent that he will help him sell all his plots.

January 20, 2024

2:30 pm : Shorts Program 1

This Is the Beginning

Directed by Lucie Reese
United States 2023, Drama, 2:12 mins, English

Synopsis – The feeling one gets when they have accomplished their goal. Once they achieve their goal, it is not the end of their story. It is the beginning of a new story, a new chapter, and a new goal. A new beginning.

Earth After Rain

Directed by Keane Alexander Gosselin
United States 2023, Musical, 10 mins, English

Synopsis – On a foggy and rainy day, a solo dancer first runs from, then grapples with ambiguous loss. She eventually sits with the pain, lets it go, and comes to acceptance of what is. By breathing in the scent of the earth after rain she connects with the beauty of the earth as it is, and she makes space for joy to enter. The mist and the clouds are still there.

#TalithaKoum

Directed by Misty Shipman
United States 2023, Drama, 15 mins, English

Synopsis – When a young mother suffers a sudden and grievous loss, she seeks a miracle from God.

Another Story

Directed by Luis Jorge Mujia
Cuba 2022, Drama, 29 mins, Spanish

Synopsis – A successful Cuban painter finds his better half. In a year she gets pregnant and decides to return to her hometown, taking the fateful Cubana de Aviación Flight 972, thus triggering a series of tragic events that lead the painter towards self-destruction.

What the FWT

Directed by Dominique Daher/David Arnaud
Switzerland 2023, Documentary, 37 mins, English

Synopsis – The Freeride World Tour is the biggest ski and snowboard freeride competition. The best riders on the best mountains. But it’s not the way I see it. Photographer for the last 17 years on the FWT, which belongs now to the FIS, I went behind the scenes to see what it really is.

4:30 pm : Shorts 2 Program

Wonders of the Invisible

Directed by Iker Duro Linares
Spain 2023, Documentary, 4:56 mins, English

Synopsis – Right in front of us, invisible to the naked eye, there is a hidden world teeming with life. A world inhabited by beings whose shapes, colors, and way of life surely will surprise those who see it for the first time. They are present in each and every corner of the planet. They are tiny, almost invisible. Immerse yourself into a world you have never seen before.

Placebo Effect

Directed by Jordyn Bryant
United States 2023, Student project, 6:55 mins, English

Synopsis – Tony and Linda are a couple doing face masks together. Tony reluctantly agrees to take part in it, despite his doubts that face masks actually do anything. Tony soon finds the face mask holds more power than he thought and witnesses a mysterious figure breaking into his neighbor’s house. Tony and Linda are left with the decision to intervene with the break-in or wait for the police to arrive.

A Silent Farewell

Directed by Shabir Shrestha
Nepal 2023, Drama, 23:52 mins, Nepali

Synopsis – Depicts the agony of a poor father who has recently lost his young son to Covid-19. He is quite old to go out making money, but still he has to because he is quite alone in this world. After his son’s death he tries to alleviate his pain by expressing his deep sentiments to others, but the world doesn’t care or seem to have any time for him. So he starts digging a small hole to express himself. He goes on digging and digging, and keeps on telling his stories about his son to this hole. At the end given to much pain and fatigue he dies in the hole that he had dug.

Wine and Fox

Directed by Chuanfa Wan
China 2022, Drama, 29:47 mins, Chinese

Synopsis – A communication between wine and poetry, sex and spirit, emotion and love. A middle-aged couple trapped in a mediocre life, whose affections were stagnant and unable to communicate. Under the effect of alcohol and poetry, the couple started a dreamlike journey. In the blurred dreamland, they stirred up the memories of love in youth, inspected the hidden secrets deep in their hearts, and became the most secret and valued misplaced lovers of each other.

Mekong Apocalypse

Directed by Michael Buckley
Canada 2023, Documentary, 55:35 mins, English

Synopsis – A satirical personal take on ecosystem collapse along the mighty Mekong. The film explores the devastating downstream impact of China’s megadams in Cambodia’s Lake Tonle Sap and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The filmmaker shot this on the run, getting undercover footage of megadams and illegal sand-dredging. Drawing inspiration from water puppetry theatre in Vietnam, this film features characters like a talking glacier in Tibet, waltzing fish in Laos, and a talking sunflower in Vietnam to get complex concepts across. This film is part four of a series delving into serious ecosystem problems concerning the Tibetan plateau.

7:00 pm : Outed

Feature

Directed by Blake Arthur (David James Senft)
United States 2023, Feature, English, 87 min

Synopsis – Oliver, a recent high school graduate, is kicked out of his house after his parents find out he is gay. He struggles to make it on his own as he tries to find a way to pay for college.

Date : January 19 - 20, 2024

Time :

January 19, 2024 : 7:00pm
January 20, 2024 : 2:30, 4:30, & 7:00pm

Location : Palace Theater - 38 Haili St, Hilo, HI 96720.

Tickets :

$20 - Full Festival Pass. Grants access to all 4 film programs
$10 - General Admission
$9 - Senior, Student, Veteran

Click Here For Buy Tickets.

Click Here For More Information.