Mahalo to all the filmmakers, film lovers, sponsors and community partners who made the 2023 Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival a truly memorable experience. We canʻt wait to see you again in 2024 for our 35th Annual Festival. A hui hou!

Congratulations to the HRFF34 Award Winners!

Thanks to everyone who joined us in-person during the HRFF34 opening weekend at the Doris Duke Theatre / Honolulu Museum of Art, and to the folks who joined us at Hulaʻs Bar & Lei Stand for our celebration honoring HRFF founder Jack Law. 

We were especially proud to spotlight a sold out screening of MY PARTNER, a touching tale of high school crushes and cultural preservation — and Hawaiʻi’s first LGBTQ+ boy love feature film. 

Other films screened during the HRFF34 opening weeked included:

Friday, September 8 | At 2pm watch Andy and Danny Vallentineʻsʻ THE MATTACHINE FAMILY about a couple struggling to move forward after their child is returned to his birth mother. Then join the community for a pau hana in the HoMA Courtyard before the 7pm screening of GOLDEN DELICIOUS, Jason Karmanʻs drama exploring an Asian-Canadian teenagerʻs coming-of-age in our digital era.

Saturday, September 9 | At 2pm, Tom Gustafonʻs GLITTER & DOOM follows a musician and a carefree kid as they fall in love at first sight, and at 7pm in Hannah Pearl Uttʻs CORA BORA, a young woman trying to win her girlfriend back realizes that itʻs much more than her love life that needs salvaging.

Sunday, September 10 | At 2pm donʻt miss MY PARTNER, Hawaiʻi’s first LGBTQ+ boy love feature film, directed by Keliʻi Grace and starring Kaipo Dudoit, Jayron Munoz and Marieyan Balagtas, preceded by AIKĀNE, an animated queer mythic love story inspired by the Hawaiian concept of love between men. Closing weekend films were followed by the After Party celebration honoring HRFF founder Jack Law at Hulaʻs Bar & Lei Stand.

Thanks also to everyone who viewed our free streaming Fun in Shorts program of queer short films from around the world. Mahalo!

Embracing diverse genres including comedy, animation, dramas and thrillers, Fun In Shorts 2023 included HER CURVE, TO KEN WITH LOVE, TUI NA, MAKING UP, and 15 other remarkable recent queer short films.

One of the longest-running and most respected queer film festivals in the country, the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival (HRFF) is celebrating its 34th anniversary in 2023.

Especially well known as a bridge between Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, Asia, and the USA, HRFF is an IMDB-qualified festival and member of the Asia Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance.

The Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival (HRFF) is a project of the Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation (HGLCF).  For more information about HRFF34, contact HGLCF Board President Dean Hamer.

Mahalo to this yearʻs Sponsors