'We Are Aliens' Wins Kau Ka Hōkū Award at Hawai’i International Film Festival

Kadowaki Kōhei's animated feature 'We Are Aliens' won the Kau Ka Hōkū (Shooting Star) Award at the 46th Hawai’i International Film Festival, the festival announced at its awards reception on Nov. 1. The prize, presented by Hawaiian Airlines, is reserved for an international filmmaker's first or second feature.

'The Seoul Guardians' received an honorable mention from the jury that handed 'We Are Aliens' its award.

In the Made in Hawai’i lineup, Zilla Barbosa's 'Making the Line' was named best feature. Justyn Ah Chong's 'The Man and the Tree' took best Made in Hawai’i short as well as the Pacific Award's short film honor, while Aukai Lagiri's 'Kukulu' earned an honorable mention in the Made in Hawai’i short category. Ty Sanga's 'Lahaina: Voices of Change' collected honorable mentions from both the Made in Hawai’i and Pacific Award juries.

Jordan Manley's 'The Navigator' won the Pacific Award for best feature. The Pacific Award short film category was added for the first time this year.

Elsewhere, Fraser Pemberton and William Jaka's 'Faceless' won the HIFF Best Short Film Award, and Zou Jing's 'A Girl Unknown' took the Netpac/USA Award.

Background

'We Are Aliens' had its world premiere at Cannes. The Made in Hawai’i strand is now in its 10th year and is backed by the Nichols Family Fund and the Hawai’i Film Office. HIFF is the sole U.S. festival permitted to hand out the Netpac prize, which is also given at Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Rotterdam and Busan.