Action star Jackie Chan, shown here in a scene from "The Big Brawl,"
will be the subject of a Hawaii International Film Festival seminar.
Warner Brothers

The question is: What will be featured at the 16th Annual Hawaii International Film Festival that begins Nov. 8 in Honolulu?

This year's festival will offer such diverse subjects as a "Comedy in Film: East & West" section; a Film Technology Forum; and a "Blow by Blow with Jackie Chan," seminar and film series featuring the Hong Kong superstar. The Chan seminar begins Nov. 8.

"Comedy in Film: East and West" will highlight humorous films exploring comedy in culture, and how people find common ground in the universal experience of laughter. Films scheduled for screening include: "The Case of the Cold Fish" (Hong Kong); "Love and Other Catastrophes" (Australia); "Some Kind a Love" (Japan); "Leili is with Me" (Iran); and "Sleepy Heads" (United States).

"The Technology Forum" will take place Nov. 10 and 11 in Honolulu, Nov. 16 and 17 on Maui, and will include panels, demonstrations and workshops. The forum will explore the work of Pacific Rim artists and the ways they are using technology to push the barriers of creativity in the filmmaking process to enhance content and quality.

Panels and workshops will tackle the role of the internet in production, marketing and distribution of films, implications of digital visual effects on modern cinematography, and the role of art, culture, and technology in the future of animation.

"Blow By Blow with Jackie Chan" will be hosted by film critic Roger Ebert, who will also include a selection of films from Chan's body of work chosen especially by Chan for the film festival.

Other special festival features include the opening night film "Shine" from Australia; a tribute to Korean director Im Kwon-Taek and his films "Sopyonje" and "Festival."

There also will be special panels on "Independent Production: East & West" and "Playing the Festival Game: The Hawaii Film and Video Makers" series with a broad selection of independent films. These will include Australian features and the best new films from the Philippines, China, Japan, and Korea.

Kauai and the Big Island will host a "Cinematography Seminar" and "Producers' Conference," respectively.

The Festival's Golden Maile Awards will be presented Nov. 14 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's Monarch Room. World and United States film premieres for this year's festival as well as special guests have not yet been announced.

The Hawaiian International Film Festival features 80 films - two dozen U.S. and world premieres - on 24 screens throughout the state, including, for the first time, the newly restored Hawaii Theatre.

"Haru" will also be shown at the Hawaii International Film Festival in November.

Through the anonymity of electronic bulletin boards and "handle names," the film's two protagonists - played by Naboru Hayami and Mitsue Fujita - divulge their secrets and ambitions.

Admission to "Haru" is $4 for Hawaii International Film Festival Ohana members; $6 for general admission.

Before the screening, at 7:30 p.m., there will be a talk show called "Internet Chat & Romance" on where the film characters are meeting, what they're doing, and how they're doing, hosted by Kit Grant of Lavanet.

For more information on the HIFF Ohana call 528-3456.

Is Hawaii "Atlantis: The Lost Continent"?

It could be if producers for an independent production company like what they see when they come scouting this week.

Producers Alex Beaton and Jim Michaels will scout Oahu locations - especially the North Shore - for the two-hour movie of the week for the Starz Cable Network which does not broadcast here. Most recently Beaton produced the television mini-series "Dr. Who."

The Hawaii Film Studio at Diamond Head would be used extensively for the TM Productions project which could film here for as long as a month, said Georgette Deemer, Hawaii Film Office manager.

The producers have already spoken by phone with local union officials about the filming, and hope to use as many local people for the crew as possible, she said. Australia is also in the running to get the production.

"Atlantis: The Lost Continent" is not an underwater film. Most of the story is about the fabled continent before it sank, Deemer said.

Stars of the TV film have not been announced and the script is being written.

Meanwhile, Disney's on-again, off-again feature film "George of the Jungle" may still be coming to Hawaii for a week of production. Disney location scouts are slated to come to Oahu and Kauai this month for a final look at potential film sites. They also scouted Hawaii earlier this year. Production could begin as early as October, Deemer said.

On the down side, the proposed Tom Selleck-Charles Floyd Johnson TV series for Hawaii is dead.

The amount of money the Selleck-Johnson production team was seeking from the USA cable channel to produce the show was "just not there," sources said.

In an interview earlier this year Johnson said it was impossible to produce a television episode in Hawaii for less than $1 million. Apparently, USA network offered less than that. Network officials did not return calls to the Star-Bulletin.

Selleck recently has become increasingly busy appearing on television and is preparing for a feature film. Johnson has become executive producer of the "Jack" television series, a Don Bellisario production.