ARGYLL FILM PARTNERS
"To End All Wars" will tell the story of Allied POWs
who served as slave laborers under the Japanese
during WWII.

Movie shaped on
Kauai will headline
Hawaii film festival

"To End All Wars" will vie for
top award at the annual event

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By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

For the first time in the Hawaii International Film Festival's 21-year history, a motion picture mostly shot in Hawaii not only is the event's opening night picture, but also is nominated for the top honor, the Golden Maile Award.

"To End All Wars," produced and directed by Hawaii filmmaker David Cunningham, will be shown at 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. Nov. 2 in the Waikiki Twins Theatres.

HIFF runs Nov. 2-11 in Honolulu, on the Big Island Nov. 7-11 and on Maui and Kauai Nov. 9-11.

"To End All Wars" will be the festival's closing-night film on Kauai, Nov. 11, with two free showings at the Waimea Theatre for the film's cast and crew at 1 and 3:30 p.m., then for regular festival viewers at 6 and 8:30 p.m.

The film is about Allied POWs who served as slave laborers for the Japanese during World War II. Stars Keifer Sutherland, Ciaran McMenamin, Sakae Kimura, Masayuki Yui and Robert Carlyle and director Cunningham are expected to be in Honolulu for the opening-night screening, then participate in a question-and-answer session following the film.

ARGYLL FILM PARTNERS
"To End All Wars" was filmed on Kauai
last May and June.

"To End All Wars" filmed on Kauai last may and June. It premiered at the Cannes International Film Market last May and at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

This year's HIFF will feature 179 films from 25 countries on 16 screens throughout Hawaii. Countries represented in film include Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Great Britain, Iceland, Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong, Fiji, Mexico, Samoa, Israel and America.

There will be 12 world premieres and 55 U.S. premieres. World premieres include "Blood of the Samurai," directed by Hawaii's Aaron Yamasato, and "Plan B," starring Diane Keaton and Ellie Parker, directed by Hawaii-born filmmaker Scott Coffey.

Other notable films are the musical "Lagann: Once upon a Time in India" and "Crooked Earth," starring Temuera Morrison ("Once Were Warriors").

Gala Presentations will feature "Lantana," a mystery starring Geoffrey Rush; Canada's "The Fast Runner"; Korean award winner "JSA"; the documentary "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition"; the Chinese World War II epic "Purple Sunset"; and "Warm Water Under a Red Bridge," starring Koji Yausho, from Japan.

Six feature films and documentaries are competing for the First Hawaiian Bank Golden Maile Award for best promoting cultural understanding.

Best feature nominees are:

>> "Season of Guavas" (Vietnam)
>> "The Fast Runner" (Canada)
>> "Bungee Jumping of Their Own" (South Korea)
>> "Firefly Dreams" (Japan)
>> "Millennium Mambo" (Taiwan), directed by former HIFF Golden Maile Winner (1995) Hou Hsiao Hsien

>> "To End All Wars" (USA)

Best documentary nominees are:

>> "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" (USA)
>> "In the Name of Growth" (Fiji)
>> "Made in China" (Canada)
>> "My Mother India" (Australia)
>> "Revolution O.S." (USA)
>> "Sleeping with the Enemy" (Israel)

The festival also will present the world premiere of the documentary "Journey of Honor" by Hawaii Public Television's Stuart Yamane, about Hawaii WWII veterans who revisited the battlefields of Italy after 55 years.

Program s will be available at HIFF's box office, theaters, Blockbuster and Starbucks Coffee locations. Advance tickets will be available Oct. 26. HIFF Ohana members can purchase tickets from tomorrow. Call 808-528-HIFF (4433).

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