Newsroom

With a rich program of global cinema, local storytelling, and Indigenous perspectives, HIFF45 offers a cinematic experience that invites audiences to see Hawai‘i and the Pacific not as exotic backdrops, but as dynamic, lived-in homelands full of complexity, history, and resilience. The documentary Remathau: People of the Ocean, produced by Nia Tero, is an intimate portrait of one woman’s journey, and a collective call to uplift Pacific Islander stories too often left in the margins.

For centuries prior to modern conservation efforts, Indigenous communities cared for the oceans with a fundamentally different philosophy – treating marine environments as family rather than a commodity. In this article, 'Aulani Wilhelm, Nia Tero's CEO, talks about this relationship of care with the ocean.

This year's Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) will screen 72 features and 143 short films from 44 countries. The film "Remathau: People of the Ocean," produced by Nia Tero, will make its world premiere at this year's festival.