Join our Tu'i Patron Circle - support our 'ohana by

Full access pass for 1 tickets to festival viewings, Q&A, smaller gatherings

Guaranteed ticket at invite-only PIFF Gala (valued at $250)

📍 Ascent Lounge

⏱️ 6:00pm

Presented by Loulu Hawai'i, join us for a evening fit for the stars! Celebrating "Honoring our History and Securing our Future" we let ICAN take the mic to hear how our brightest start in Hollywood navigate today's industry, and leverage today's non-profits to elevate their platforms.

Then enjoy the smooth tunes of Keilana as she takes us into the night and we award our PIFF 2026 filmmakers with 7 awards! Best Feature, Best Short, Best Documentary, and Audience Choice. And three new awards, Kim Taylor Reece Cinematic Visionary Award, K Gerald Breakthrough Film of the Year and this year we announce the very first Loulu Hawai'i Hōkū E Kū Mai Ana Student Film Award with $2,500 grant.

📍 Village East by Angelika

⏱️ 2.00pm - 10.00pm

Full day passes to our 7 screenings at Angelika. Dip your toes into the Pacific Waters for a full day of cinema (Valued at $80)

📍Playwrights Horizon

⏱️5:30pm

US Launch of Pasifika On Air, an wave-making program dedicated to celebrating and amplifying Pasifika stories, voices, and creativity.

Be part of this landmark event as we unveil the platform, hear from special guests, and celebrate this milestone with the Pasifika community.

Join us for an evening of short films followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and a cocktail hour, offering the chance to continue the conversation and connect with fellow audiences and guests.

Special Guests from the films:

Descendants of Niue - Sandra Kailahi

Dollar to Dreams - Abba Rose Leuluaialii-Ioasa

Malo aupito (thank you) to PCBL and Pasifika On Air for making this possible.

📍 Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian

⏱️ 6.30pm

A bold reimagining of gothic horror, Mārama follows a young Māori woman confronting the violent legacy of colonialism through ancestral power, spiritual awakening and righteous vengeance.

Writer-director Taratoa Stappard crafts a visually stunning and culturally resonant film that has been praised for its atmospheric storytelling, unforgettable lead performance and powerful emotional catharsis.

📍 Village East By Angelika

⏱️ 2:00pm

Fresh Waves brings together a new generation of filmmakers from Hawaiʻi, where stories rise from the land, the ocean and the communities that sustain them. Rooted in place and shaped by culture, these bold short films reflect the imagination, resilience and vision of emerging voices charting the future of Pacific storytelling.

CUPPA' JOE - Pono Wong (Hawai'i)

Cereal Killers - Conner Yoshioka (Hawai'i)

Denial - Erek Elliott (Hawai'i)

The Whimsical Tale of Wes & Frank - Emi Catanzariti, Kasen Isa (Hawai'i)

Sons Are Not Earthbound - Lauren Luke (Hawai'i)

Falling - Kainoa Kaeha (Hawai'i)

Ka Pō Lōʻihi - Josiah Castillo (Hawai'i)

📍 Village East By Angelika
⏱️ 2.00pm

Tidal Voices brings together a vibrant collection of short films from across Moana, celebrating identity, resilience and self-expression. Bold, intimate and unapologetic, these stories explore culture, gender, belonging and the many ways Pacific voices continue to challenge, inspire and redefine the present.

DASHER - Alexander Bocchieri (Hawai'i)

Don't- Get Married -Aidee Walker (Maori)

O Alofa Nei, O Alofa Nā - Giselle Ilaoa (Samoa, Aotearoa)

📍 Village East By Angelika

⏱️ 4.00pm

Deep Currents journeys into the stories deep below the surface where memory, identity and belonging are shaped across generations. Spanning Tonga, Fiji and Hawaiʻi, these powerful films explore the enduring ties between people, culture and place, revealing the currents that carry us forward while keeping us connected to where we come from.

Tuai Kae Pau/Slowly But Surely - Rizván (Tonga)

Tamai - Enoch J Lui (Tonga)

Distant Roots - Caleb Teaupa (Tonga)

What We Carry - Lindsay Watson (Hawai'i)

Grey - 'Ana Ika (Tonga)

Ei - Aukai Ligairi (Cook Islands)

📍 Village East By Angelika

⏱️ 4:00pm

Mana Wāhine, a screening honoring femme pride from across the Pacific. A living response to the manifestation of Pacific peoples in contemporary times, sovereignty, cultural perseverance and brown joy.

I Am Not Your Dusky Maiden - Vea Mafile'o (Aotearoa, Samoa)

Sonic Sands - Lady Shaka (Aotearoa, Tahiti, Tokelau, Samoa)

ADI (Girl Chief) - Adi Tulia Nacola (Fiji)

📍 Village East By Angelika

⏱️ 6.00pm

'Onipa'a, stand firm with us, you’re invited to experience Lāhainā: Voices of Change, our first feature of the day. August 8, 2024 marked one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, displacing thousands of residents and claiming many lives in Lāhaina, on the Island of Maui, Hawaii. A story exploring deep ancestral ties between people and land, and the process of healing across generations. 

📍 Village East By Angelika

⏱️ 7:30pm

More than a rugby legend, LOMU is an intimate portrait of Jonah Lomu - the man behind the myth. Youngest All Black of all time current holder of Rugby World Cup all-time try-scoring record.

Directed by Vea Mafile'o and Gavin Fitzgerald, this powerful documentary traces his journey from his Tongan roots to global sporting icon, revealing the personal challenges, family ties and unwavering resilience that shaped one of the greatest athletes of all time. A story of legacy, identity and the enduring strength of Pacific communities, LOMU celebrates a life that transcended sport and inspired generations

.

To join this screening please connect with one of our community partners for special access!

📍 Village East By Angelika

⏱️ 7:30pm

TOITŪ: VIsual Sovereignty, Directed by Chelsea Winstanley. A visionary way-finding documentary exploring the creation of the largest Māori art exhibition curated by Nigel Borell in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history. It illustrates the indigenous self-determination challenging institutional power. Highlight the tensions that arrive when challenging those traditional colonial institutions.

Join us for a Q&A, with filmmakers Chelsea Winstanley, Desray Armstrong, and artist Reuben Paterson

Sunday 20th September
📍 AMC - Lincoln Center 1998 Broadway, New York, New York 10023

⏱️ 2:00pm

Take a journey down to the top of the world and then to the bottom of the ocean, presented by the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations, we start this afternoon with Te Ara - The Path, a film the follows Holly Beckham (Ngāpuhi) is on a mission to be the first Māori woman to scale Everest. She has no alpine experience, but she has survived the depths of addiction and is climbing a mountain to recovery. The take a journey to the bottom of the ocean with Remathau: People of the Ocean which follows the journey of Dr. Nicole Yamase, the first Micronesian and Indigenous person to dive to the deepest part of the ocean, Challenger Deep, in the Marianas Trench.

Followed by a Q&A, speak first hand with these amazing mana wāhine (powerful women)!