Music, celebs, galas accompany HIFF

A film festival is about more than the films. It’s about the events, the glamour, the guest awards, the hoopla surrounding it. The 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival is no different, but its special events always have a flair that fits with the island’s multicultural and environmental ethos.

“These events are geared towards a wide audience,” said HIFF deputy director Robert Lambeth. “HIFF is also geared to celebrating that which is our local culture, like Jake (Shimabukuro, subject of a new documentary), reaching out in areas beyond our borders, like China (celebrated in a gala fundraiser), and to bringing a diverse set of interests to the community.”

An environmental theme figures prominently in a HIFF special event Monday at the Doris Duke Theatre, which Lambeth called “a must-see event.” The evening features a double bill: “Amazon Gold,” a documentary about gold mining in Peru, and “Himalaya Song,” a film that combines world music and experimental filmmaking and got rave reviews at the Sundance Festival.

HAWAII INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Where: Regal Dole Cannery, unless noted When: Oct. 11-21 Info: 447-0577 or hiff.org; tickets also available at the HIFF box office at the Guest Services Counter, Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18 SPECIAL EVENTS » China Night-Gala fundraiser, 6:30 Saturday, Halekulani Hotel; $250 ($200 members) » Pop-up in the Park, 6 p.m. Saturday (screening of “Spirited Away” at sundown), Kakaako Makai Gateway Park, Ilalo Street; free » “The Woodsman and the Rain,” with an appearance by Koji Yakusho, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Regal Dole Cannery; $10-$12 » “Amazon Gold” and “Himalaya Song,” a Green Screen and Sound X Vision program, 6 p.m. Monday, Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 S. Beretania St. $10-$12 » “Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings,” 8 p.m. Tuesday, Hawaii Theatre, 1130 Bethel St., $20-$15 » EuroCinema Hawaii Gala, 7 p.m. Oct. 19, Moana Surfrider Hotel, 2365 Kalakaua Ave., $125

Attending will be the three major contributors to “Himalaya Song”: Gingger Shankar, a multitalented musician and composer who has scored several films; classical and jazz pianist David Liang, who blends Chinese instruments with hip-hop and electronic music; and award-winning filmmaker Mridu Chandra, who contributed narration and video to the film.

Shankar, who will perform at thirtyninehotel on Saturday (see related story, Page 12), said she’s eager to meet with local filmmakers and become acquainted with their filmmaking voices during her visit.

“They’re a really inspiring group of artists,” Lambeth said, providing a “unique perspective” into the film project developed “from a chance meeting to an idea to actually executing it in a very short amount of time.”

“Amazon Gold” producers James Carvello and Sarah duPont are also expected to attend. The film follows two war correspondents working with a Peruvian biologist to investigate the effect of illegal gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon.

“When (the journalists) actually went to the devastation in the Amazon, they both just looked at each other and said, ‘This looks like a battlefield,’ and so they absolutely understand why they were asked to do this,” Lambeth said.

HIFF EVENTS also pay tribute to two major figures in Asian media. Japanese actor Koji Yakusho, dubbed “Japan’s leading man,” is receiving a Career Achievement Award and will be hand Sunday at Dole Cannery to introduce his latest film, “The Woodsman and the Rain.”

Yakusho starred in the Japanese hit “Shall We Dance?” and “The Eel,” winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Babel,” becoming an international star. HIFF has shown more than a dozen of his films.

Chinese-American media icon Yue-Sai Kan is celebrated by HIFF with a Lifetime Achievement Award at China Night, a gala at the Halekulani Hotel ballroom on Saturday. The gala raises funds for an exchange program for student filmmakers from China and Hawaii.

Kan, a television host and producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, is considered one of China’s most influential people. Her TV show, “Looking East,” debuted in 1978 and introduced Asian culture to the broader American public. She later did a reciprocal program for Chinese audiences. “She’s often dubbed the ‘Oprah of China,’” Lambeth said.

China’s entry to the Miss Universe pageant, Diana Xu, will attend China Night, along with Chinese-American actress Joan Chen, star of “The Last Emperor” and “Twin Peaks,” and Korean-American actor Daniel Henney, who starred as heartthrob Dr. Daniel Lee in the TV series “Three Rivers.”

Another gala banquet, hosted by EuroCinema Hawaii at the Moana Surfrider on Oct. 19, will honor Hawaii resident Richard Chamberlain with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The actor will also attend the Oct. 20 screening of “Awakening World,” a documentary that explores human fulfillment in which he appears.

Saturday evening also features Pop-Up in the Park, a free, family-oriented event at Kakaako Makai Gateway Park that combines food and film. Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece “Spirited Away” will be screened at the park; HIFF is offering a retrospective on Miyazaki this year, and “Spirited Away,” which tells the story of a young girl helping her family escape a magical world, seemed like the ideal film for the event, Lambeth said.

The documentary on Shimabukuro, “Life on Four Strings,” screens Tuesday at the Hawaii Theatre.

Shimabukuro will perform at the screening, which “was able to capture the more intimate side of things,” including scenes with his family and his appearances at schools, Lambeth said.

“What comes through very, very vividly … is that Jake loves what he does and he believes deeply in the power of music and the power of ukulele.”

HIFF centerpiece presentations include “Silver Linings Playbook,” (6:30 p.m. Wednesday) starring Bradley Cooper as a divorcee on the rebound, and the closing night film, “The Thieves,” (6:30 p.m. Oct. 21) a Korean heist film.

HIFF is also promoting several films by giving them high-profile programming positions. Among them: “Big Boys Gone Bananas!” (6 p.m. Saturday) and “The Sessions” (6:30 p.m. Monday); the Chinese films “Dangerous Liaisons,” (8 p.m. Saturday) and “Full Circle” (6 p.m. Thursday).

The remastered animation classic “The Monkey King” will be shown in 3-D (11:30 a.m. Sunday).

Also high-profile: award-winning director Ramona Diaz’s documentary, “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” (6 p.m. Oct. 19) about new Journey front man Arnel Pineda, discovered in the Philippines via his YouTube videos; and a Korean romantic comedy hit, “All About My Wife” (8:45 p.m. Oct. 20).

–Steven Mark / smark@staradvertiser.com