The third annual Honolulu International Film Festival runs next Friday through Sunday, showcasing a variety of alternative and independent shorts and features in the Coral Ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Not to be confused with the Hawaii International Film Festival, the much larger event that shares the same HIFF acronym, the Honolulu fest often presents selections that premiered at more prestigious festivals. One we've heard about before is “;Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority,”; which won an audience award last year at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Other documentaries are narrated by stars such as Kiefer Sutherland and Joan Allen. Quite a few animated shorts also made the cut. Individual film tickets cost $8; a VIP all-access pass (including parties!) is $100. Visit http://www.honolulufilmfestival.com.

Speaking of the Patsy Mink documentary: It will air nationally on PBS in May, and is scheduled to screen all over the country in the coming month. See the full schedule at http://www.aheadofthemajority.com ...

Turning 70 hasn't slowed Gerry DeBenedetti, a veteran runner with all 31 Straub/Kapiolani Women's 10K runs under her belt. And she's heading for the starting line of No. 32 this weekend.

Amazingly, DeBenedetti still has the T-shirts from every event in the form of three quilts composed of 10 shirts each. Beneath each shirt square, she embroidered her finishing time. It all started when her daughter decided to train for a marathon in 1977, as a junior high school student at Punahou. This inspired DeBenedetti, who entered her first Women's 10K the next year. When she turned 40, she ran her first 26.2-mile marathon, and has completed one for every decade she ages, at 50, 60 and 70.

The 6.2-mile race begins at 7 a.m. Sunday morning, with race director and coach KC Carlberg at the helm. An ovarian cancer survivor, Carlberg has inspired thousands of women to conquer their insecurities and call themselves athletes.

So how did this make it into a column about movies and television? A little stream of consciousness: World-class triathlete, friend and training partner Rachel Ross called me Sunday to report that we had flashed across the television screen during a break in the Academy Awards. Of course I missed it, and she sort of did, too (does this still count?), but we heard reports of the advertisement for the women's race. Oscars ... 10K commercial ... Gerry ... get it?

Race day entries cost $40, or just come out and cheer. Some of the proceeds benefit the pediatric program at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. Visit http://www.straubhealth.org ...

...Worried about short films or other online material you generate? Pacific New Media will host a workshop for content creators on March 7. Intellectual-property experts Sayoko Blodgett-Ford and Sharon Webb will discuss copyright, branding/trademark/domain names, right of publicity, privacy, fair use, idea theft and other challenges facing filmmakers and anyone posting material on the Web. Visit www.outreach.hawaii.edu.