Organizers of the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival announced today the recipients of this year's festival awards for various achievements in independent filmmaking.

The awards and recipients:

• The Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Narrative Feature was awarded to "Cape No. 7," directed by Wei Te-Sheng.

• The Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Documentary Feature was

presented to "Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii," directed by Anne Keala Kelly. Feature and documentary feature winners were chosen for best expressing artistic and technical excellence and for promoting cross-cultural understanding.

• The Netpac Award, which is given at select international film festivals in honor of exceptional achievement in Asian film, was awarded to "Brutus, The Adventure," directed by Tara Illenberger.

Honorable mention for NETPAC went to "The Little Heart," directed by Thanh Van Nguyen.

• The Film in Hawaii Award was presented by the state of Hawai'i to Joan Lander and Puhipau for their significant contributions in promoting the local film

industry.

• The Honolulu Magazine Award for Best Short Film was awarded to "Coffee and Allah," directed by Sima Urale, for its excellence in short film cinema.

Honorable mention went to "Texas Girl," directed by Hyung Hyup Kim.

• The video-on-demand Viewers' Choice Award, sponsored by Oceanic Time Warner Cable went to "The Hollow," A University of Hawaii, Academy For Creative Media submission from director Dana Ledoux Miller.

Four additional awards are scheduled to be announced at the close of the festival. The audience choice award will be determined and announced, Korean actor Jung Woo-sung ("The Good, The Bad, The Weird") will receive HIFF's Achievement in Acting Award, Korean director Kim Jee-woon will receive the Maverick Award and the vice-president of the Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group, Yang Qixiang, will receive the City and County of Honolulu Vision in Film Award

The film festival, this year in its 28th year, is an annual event that focuses on independent film, with an emphasis on Asian and pan-Pacific cinema. The festival opened Oct. 9 and continues through Oct. 19.

All HIFF films are being screened at Regal Stadium 18 Cinemas at Dole Cannery. The festival program guide can be viewed at www.hiff.org/prog-guides.php and film images downloaded at picasaweb.google.com/hiff2008filmimages. More information is available at www.hiff.org.

Tickets are $10 for general admission, $9 for students, seniors, children and the military.