Schedule

The 9th HIDFF (FEB 2024)

9th Season Schedule
This event will be held at the Sherry Theater in North Hollywood on Thursday Feb 22 (Day 1) and Friday Feb 23 (Day 2).
For details on the venue location, see our Festival page.

BLOCK A - Day 1 at 4pm

Light (USA)
An intimate secret haunts a newlywed couple from Austin, TX while honeymooning in Barcelona Spain.
Directed by Maurice Moore and Alex Rios
Written by Maurice Moore
Cast: Ana Luga, Maurice Moore (The Place She Dwells, Founding Father, DejaVu, The Devil Inside US)

Somewhere (USA)
When Elena and Cameron are ripped apart by an act of racism, both must stand up for what they believe to keep the door of love open.
Directed by Alexander Craven
Written by Alexander Craven and Jeff Pifher
Cast: Jon Robert Hall (Wicked, Glee, Grease Live!), Natalie Hanna Mendoza, Richard Rivera (As Real As You Make It, Demise, Cold Highway), Scott Kruse (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Man Camp)

Martial Law (USA)
In 1972, two wrongfully imprisoned brothers must survive the torture and maltreatment from persistent military agents who accuse the younger brother of terrorism in the Philippines.
Written & Directed by Elijah Joaquin Matias
Cast: Luis Canete, River Ramos, Rhandy Torres, Marcel Licera, Jack Boston

I Am No One (France)
Minh is an ordinary man. His daily routine revolves around commuting on the subway, working, sleeping... and fulfilling his duties as a son of Vietnamese immigrants in France. Raised with humble values, Minh is nearly invisible to the French society. He faces the stereotypes and prejudice directed towards Asians, as well as the pressure from his elders who consistently demand more from him. However, appearances can be deceiving.
Directed by Sébastien Kong and Steve Tran
Written by Sébastien Kong, Steve Tran, Laura Bui, Virak Thun
Cast: Steve Tran, Jean Claude Tran, Thi Lộc Leley, Trinh Nghia Nguyen, Hồ Thủy Trang, Maité Guyot, Mike Nguyen

BLOCK B - Day 1 at 5:15pm

Dear Mother - A Climber's Transracial Adoption Story (USA)
Climber and transracial Asian-American, Cody Kaemmerlen, searches for connection with his birth parents after a near-death fall leaves him shaken and grasping for answers.
Directed by Jon Glassberg
Written by Jessica Glassberg, Sophi Rutherford, Saraphina Redalieu, Jon Glassberg
Cast: Cody Kaemmerlen, Nina Williams

Born For This (USA)
Determined not to become another statistic of the Black maternal health crisis, Janeé Washington and her husband Josh choose the rare option of hiring an experienced midwife and doula and planning to give birth at home, away from the hospital and all of its interventions. But the baby has other plans, and despite all of the team's efforts, they end up transferring to the hospital at the eleventh hour. This is the story of the birth of one baby, with its family caught between two very different approaches to childbirth.
Directed by Jen Gilomen

BLOCK C - Day 1 at 7:05pm

The Goat (Italy)
Hadyia a pregnant eleven years old orphan escapes from her village after having been forced to marriage. She takes the road to freedom alone with her goat whose milk she will use to survive. Sometimes when she drinks the milk she feels her mum is talking to her.
Written & Directed by Ilaria Borrelli
Cast: Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite, Amongst Friends), John Savage (The Deer Hunter, The Onion Field, Salvador, Hair), Amr Saad (Mawlana), Maya Talem (Pharaoh's War, Thou Shalt Not Kill), Jessica Hossam

BLOCK D - Day 2 at 4pm

Hyphen (USA)
A second-generation Vietnamese-American teen must navigate the familial challenges of coming out despite being unable to speak the same language as her grandma.
Written & Directed by May-Lynn Le
Cast: Shirley Kim Nguyen, Cat Ly, Alice Le, Liz Ho, Chloe Dinh, Yung Trang, Kevin Bui, Julie Do

Supa Hair (USA)
After the death of her mother, Luna and her sister, Carmen move from Dominican Republic to Arizona to live with their estranged grandmother. There, Luna is confronted with bullying and her sister's cold shoulder. At this point, Luna has neglected her hair as a manifestation of her grief. One night, Luna decides to comb her hair with an old comb she found in the river in the Dominican Republic prior to her exit. Unbeknownst to her, the comb is actually part of her family lineage that activates a magic power that had been lost for decades. Her grandmother instantly recognizes the artifact and guides Luna through a ceremony that will help her reclaim the powers. In her ceremony state, Luna is taken through her ancestral history and a final goodbye from her mother that’ll forever change her life.
Written & Directed by Glenís Hunter
Cast: Somali Rose, Luz Ozuna, Adargiza De Los Santos, Magda Rivera

She Marches in Chinatown (USA)
In 1952, Asian American girls had no extra-curricular activities until Ruby Chow created the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team, the only one of its kind in the world. Despite gentrification, Title IX, and a global pandemic, seventy years later the drill team continues to define, represent and celebrate the evolving Asian American experience of its dedicated multigenerational participants.
Directed by Della Chen
Written by Dina Guttman
Cast: Ruby Chow, Cheryl Chow, Celina Tran, Colleen McKisson

BLOCK F - Day 2 at 7pm

The Gardener (USA)
A whimsical immigrant forges a deep-rooted bond with nature when life gives him a bitter one.
Written & Directed by Derek Shimoda
Cast: Ryuso Shimoda

AWARDS PRESENTATION

Awards will be presented at 8:30pm on Day 2.

Previous season schedule