Hawaii Film Fest Screens 150+ Films from 36 Countries Starting 10/9/08 Through 10/19/08

Now on its 28th year, the Honolulu-based 2008 Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival is the largest "East meets West" film festival in America.

The festival opens and closes with two recent #1 box office hits from Korea: THE DIVINE WEAPON, an action epic (and its US premiere), and THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD, a Korean-style Western.

A few notable features include:
NOHO HEWA: THE WRONGFUL OCCUPATION OF HAWAI'I, a US documentary
TOKYO!, a Japanese fantasy anthology
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE, a US film that explores the true origin of the fortune cookie
BOB MARLEY: EXODUS 77, a UK documentary
TOKYO GORE POLICE, one of the festival's Extreme Asia horror films from Japan
FINDING ALOHA-THE MOVIE, a surf film from Hawaii
MORNING COMES SO SOON, a tragic teen love story from the Marshall Islands
CHILDREN OF THE DARK, a Japanese documentary on child prostitution and organ harvesting in Thailand

General admission is $10 per movie at the Regal Dole Cannery Theaters. Fall Festival Passes start at $350. But there are also free seminars, a free music video showcase, selected free screenings for students in grades 7 to 12, a free showcase of the best shorts made by child filmmakers, and free screenings at the University of Hawaii's Architecture Auditorium and at "Sunset on the Beach" (where people watch a 30-foot screen right on the sands of Waikiki). Even the local Oceanic Time-Warner Cable is offering free video on-demand to its subscribers so they can preview trailers, as well as watch and then vote for their favorite local short film.

On the festival's website, you can filter and sort the program listing in various ways, purchase tickets, and be kept current about added screenings and sold-out (rush line only) shows. On top of all that, you can also track audience buzz, create a custom calendar, and review/rate films.