Animated Drama ‘We Are Aliens’ Wins Shooting Star Award at Hawai’i International Film Festival

Japanese Animated Feature Takes the Kau Ka Hōkū Award in Waikīkī

Japanese director Kadowaki Kōhei won the Kau Ka Hōkū (Shooting Star) Award for his animated feature “We Are Aliens” at the 46th Hawai’i International Film Festival. The festival handed out its jury prizes at an awards reception at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikīkī on Nov. 1. The festival also honored Ke Huy Quan and Sung Kang during the celebration.

Hawaiian Airlines presents the prize, which the festival reserves for an international filmmaker’s first or second feature. Festival programmers select the nominees, covering both fiction and nonfiction, and an international jury then chooses the winner. “We Are Aliens” had its world premiere at Cannes before it reached Honolulu.

The film charts a childhood friendship that breaks apart over what looks like a small incident. It then follows the fallout across three decades, tracing how a single rupture shapes the lives of the people involved.

The Jury’s Unanimous Verdict

“For giving childhood a physical presence through hand-drawn animation, rotoscoping and dialogue that feels overheard, and for capturing the cruelty children learn from one another and what memory eventually makes of it, we unanimously give Kadowaki Kōhei’s ‘We Are Aliens’ the Kau Ka Hōkū Award,” the jury said. “We offer our highest praise for an emotional force that should not be allowed in a first feature.”

Three jurors decided the award: Samuel Jamier, president of the New York Asian Film Festival; Jesse Hawthorne Ficks, a film critic and San Francisco Bay Guardian producer; and Mia Lee Vicino, a film journalist and former West Coast editor of Letterboxd. The panel also gave an honorable mention to “The Seoul Guardians.”

The jury’s praise centered on craft as much as emotion. It singled out the film’s hand-drawn animation, its use of rotoscoping, and dialogue that feels overheard rather than staged.

Made in Hawai’i Prizes Celebrate Local Filmmakers

Zilla Barbosa won best Made in Hawai’i feature for “Making the Line.” The jury described the film in its citation.

“The film thoughtfully captures an intense emotional journey often kept behind-the-scenes and celebrates the grit, determination and perseverance required to uphold Hawaiian excellence,” the jury said, adding that it “marks a triumphant debut for a filmmaker from Hilo, Hawaii, whose work in music and radio has long served this community.”

Justyn Ah Chong had the strongest night among the local filmmakers, taking two prizes for his short “The Man and the Tree.” The film won best Made in Hawai’i short, which puts it in line for Oscar qualification. It also took the short film honor at the Pacific Award, a category the festival added for the first time this year.

The Made in Hawai’i jury said the narrative short depicts “the beauty and weight of an entire life cycle and does so while staying true to a Native Hawaiian perspective.”

Honorable Mentions Round Out the Awards

Honorable mentions went to two more local productions. Aukai Lagiri‘s “Kukulu” earned recognition in the Made in Hawai’i short category. Ty Sanga‘s “Lahaina: Voices of Change” drew honorable mentions from both the Made in Hawai’i and Pacific Award juries.

The Made in Hawai’i jury included Michelle Sugihara, who joined fellow panelists in selecting the local winners. Together, the results show a festival that balances international discoveries with homegrown storytelling.

• Kau Ka Hōkū Award: “We Are Aliens,” directed by Kadowaki Kōhei
• Kau Ka Hōkū honorable mention: “The Seoul Guardians”
• Best Made in Hawai’i feature: “Making the Line,” by Zilla Barbosa
• Best Made in Hawai’i short and Pacific Award short: “The Man and the Tree,” by Justyn Ah Chong
• Made in Hawai’i short honorable mention: “Kukulu,” by Aukai Lagiri
• Made in Hawai’i and Pacific Award honorable mentions: “Lahaina: Voices of Change,” by Ty Sanga

For Kadowaki, the win adds to a run that began with the film’s Cannes premiere and now includes a prize that praises “We Are Aliens” for an emotional force beyond what a debut usually delivers.