HIFF
"12 Storeys" won an award for best feature.

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‘12 Storeys’
wins Maile Award

Friday, November 14, 1997

By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin

The Singapore feature "12 Storeys" about three families living in a high rise frequented by the ghost of a young man who committed suicide jumping to his death from the building took top honors in the 17th annual Hawaii International Film Festival.

Directed by Eric Khoo, "12 Storeys" received the Golden Maile Award for best feature.

The Taiwanese film "Homesick Eyes", which chronicles the struggles of immigrant workers in Taiwan trying desperately to improve their lives, won the Golden Maile for best documentary.

The Hawaii Film and Videomakers Award went to "E Ola Ka 'Olelo" directed by Na Maka O Ka'Aina about the importance of the Hawaiian language immersion program in helping to preserve the Hawaiian culture.

The Golden Maile Awards are presented to the films which best promote cultural understanding. A five-member jury is charged with watching five nominated feature films and five nominated documentary films to determine the winners.

Jurors included actress Toni Colette (Australia); Malti Sahai, Directorate of Film Festivals (India); Kim Dong-ho, director of the Pusan International Film Festival (Korea); author Paul Theroux (USA); and film Critic Peter Rainer (USA).

HIFF
"E Ola Ka 'Olelo" tied for best documentary.

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Naomi Nishida received a Special Jury Award for her performance in the Japanese film "My Secret Cache." The Eastman Kodak Cinematography Award went to Academy Award-winning Cinematographer John Seale ("The English Patient", "Dead Poets Society", "Gorillas in the Mist", "Witness") for his "outstanding body of work."

The PrimeCo Hawaii Audience Awards voted on by attendees are:

Feature: "Deep River" (Jap-an), about three generations of Japanese tourists who travel to India to seek salvation and peace that they could not find at home.

Documentary: (Tie) "Luther Kahekili Makekau: One Kind Hawaiian Man", about the charismatic elderly Hawaiian who lived his entire life steeped in the traditions of his ancestors; and "E Ola Ka 'Olelo" about the importance of the Hawaiian language immersion program.

Short: "Signing Off" (New Zealand) about a DJ's comic attempt to keep his promise to play a special request for a devoted listener in the final hour of his last jazz show.

Other awards are:

Vision in Film Award: director Ang Lee.

Corporate Sponsor Award: ITT Sheraton Resort and Hotels Hawaii.

Outstanding Foundation Sup-port: Jhamandas Watumull Fund.