April 24-27
April 24-27
since 1967…
The Humboldt International Film Festival has been a beacon for extraordinary filmmaking talent from across the globe. In its 58th year, we continued this proud tradition, inviting you to celebrate an incredible array of films and filmmakers. Along with our four main categories of Narrative, Experimental, Documentary, and Animation we are bringing back our Spotlight Films, this year we focused on films that explore the theme “Metamorphosis.”
We were thrilled to welcome three guest judges to the fest: Philip Thompson, Victoria Vincent, and Kaya Dillon.
HIFF 58
Program Guide
Schedule
Thursday April 24
7pm
Narrative Program
Minor Theatre
Arcata, CA
8:30pm
Opening Night After Party at the Summitt Gallery and Sports Lounge! (21+)
Feat. Installation screening of Border Dwellers, Dir. Cathy Lee Crane (USA) 18min
Drinks are discounted for HIFF weekend!
1507 G Street, Rooftop
Arcata, CA
FRiday April 25
4pm
Process and positionality in independent film:
Guest judge film showcase and panel discussion
Art B 102
On campus
7pm
Documentary Program
Minor Theatre
Arcata, CA
Saturday April 26
4pm
Animation Program
Minor Theatre
Arcata, CA
7pm
Experimental Program
Minor Theatre
Arcata, CA
SUnday April 27
4pm
Spotlight Program: Metamorphosis
Minor Theatre
Arcata, CA
7pm
Best of fest program
Minor Theatre
Arcata, CA
8:30pm
Closing Night After Party at the Cider Bar!
828 1 Street
Arcata, CA
HIFF 58 Guest Judges
Join us for our guest judge film showcase & panel discussion - open to all
April 25, 4pm
Art B 102 (Cal Poly Humboldt campus)
Philip Thompson
New York
Philip Thompson is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker, listed as one of Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2023, and a Sundance x Adobe Ignite and NYFF Artists Academy Fellow in 2024. His work investigates popular media’s influence on culture and the one-sided “looking” relationship between audiences and image subjects.'
His work has garnered accolades at festivals such as Onion City Experimental Film Festival, Athens International Film+Video Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, and NFFTY, also screening at Palm Springs ShortFest, New Orleans Film Festival, Lago Film Fest, Chicago Underground, and Indie Memphis, amongst others.
He is also the co-founder and a programmer of the Ithaca Experimental Film Festival.
Victoria Vincent (VEWN)
Los Angeles
Victoria Vincent, known online as Vewn, is an American artist from Los Angeles, California. She has been making independent short films and posting them online for the past 10 years.
Victoria’s work often focuses on the disillusionment and anxiety of characters living distorted and unstable worlds. Her frantic and fast-paced art style seeks to visually capture our chaotic online culture and general feelings of doom. Despite the apocalyptic subject matter, she also hopes to make people laugh.
She has created over 20 short films which have screened at festivals worldwide, as well as been featured on Netflix, FXX, and Adult Swim. Her work is most celebrated on her YouTube channel, which has over 1 million subscribers and over 80 million views. She is currently working on a series of paintings and two new short films about the internet world.
Kaya Dillon
Arcata/New york
Kaya is a Director, Cinematographer and Producer based in Brooklyn, NY and Arcata, CA. A 2010 graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt, Kaya first discovered the storytelling power of camera traveling with the university's Tibet Field Studies Program. His debut feature film as cinematographer, “All Static and Noise” sheds light on the harrowing experience of the Uyghur diaspora. He is the series cinematographer for the newly released Hulu docu-series “Vow of Silence,” a detailed account of the American Indian Movement of the 1970s. “Fox Chase Boy,” his directorial debut, strongly features an impulse for personal storytelling amplified through dynamic photography, multiple formats and cinematic layering. A driving force in Kaya’s approach to documentary work is its transformative power, for subject, storyteller and audience alike.
AWARDS
We’re proud to present cash awards for our talented filmmakers with support from the community.
Those Next to Us
Dir: Bernhard Hetzenhauer
30:00
Mexico
Best of Fest
Jeff
Dir: Julia Hebner
24:34
United States
Best Narrative
I Walk While Glaciers Melt
Dir: Lucia Lambarri Barberis
9:00
Peru
Best Documentary
Father’s Letters
Dir: Alexey Evstigneev
12:10
France
Best Animation
Pablo Koontz Award for Experimental Film in memory of local filmmaker Pablo Koontz
Metamorphosis' Chantings Or That Time When I Incarnated As Porpoise
Dir: Ainá Xisto
11:28
Portugal
Pablo Koontz Award
Sponsored by the Humboldt Del Norte Film Commission & ProCuts Editing Services
Piss
Dir: Lucca Daughdrill
7:03
United States
Best Local Film
Best Immigrant story - sponsored by the Matteoli family
Sunchong
Dir: Yoontaek Hong
13:53
United States
Ledo Matteoli award
THANK YOU, SPONSORS!
HIFF would not be possible without the generous support of our community. Thank you to our in-kind, ad and media partners!
