# Hawai’i International Film Festival Crowns ‘We Are Aliens’ as Ke Huy Quan, Sung Kang Receive Honors (EXCLUSIVE)

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/hawaii-international-film-festival-crowns-we-are-aliens-as-ke-huy-quan-sung-kang-receive-honors-exclusive/
- Published: 2026-11-02T09:45:50+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-02T10:55:32+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/hawaii-international-film-festival-einners-we-are-aliens-ke-huy-quan-1236936992/
- Topics: Asia, Business, Markets, Paranormal, Weird & Viral, World

## Key points

- “We Are Aliens” won HIFF’s Kau Ka Hōkū Award.
- “The Man and the Tree” took two short-film prizes.
- “Faceless” won the festival’s Oscar-qualifying international short award.

## Summary

Japanese director Kadowaki Kōhei’s animated feature “We Are Aliens” won the Kau Ka Hōkū Award at the 46th Hawai’i International Film Festival. The prize recognises a filmmaker’s first or second feature, and the win highlights the festival’s international programme alongside its awards for local and Pacific Island storytelling.

The film, which premiered at Cannes, follows a childhood friendship and its consequences over three decades. Other winners included Zilla Barbosa’s “Making the Line” for best Made in Hawai’i feature, Justyn Ah Chong’s “The Man and the Tree” for best Made in Hawai’i short and the new Pacific Award short-film honour, and Jordan Manley’s “The Navigator” for Pacific Award best feature. Fraser Pemberton and William Jaka’s Australian film “Faceless” won the festival’s Oscar-qualifying international short award; Ke Huy Quan and Sung Kang also received honours, though the supplied article text ends before detailing them.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.