Continuing the Vilcek Foundation’s longstanding partnership with the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival (HIFF), the foundation presents the 2026 New American Perspectives (NAP) program at HIFF’s 46th edition, HIFF46, on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi. 

Highlighting both the importance and impact of diversity in contemporary filmmaking, NAP underwrites five immigrant filmmakers’ participation at HIFF46. The program platforms these creatives’ artistic perspectives through film screenings, panels, Q&A sessions, and a book talk, all available to both festival and public audiences. This 2026 program marks the U.S. debut of three participating films, as well as four films’ Hawaiʻian debut. Over the course of the Vilcek Foundation’s two-decade-long partnership with HIFF, the foundation has supported 95 filmmakers from 33 countries and shown 88 films through NAP.

From directing debut features to stepping out in front of the camera, the 2026 NAP cohort includes foreign-born artists from a diversity of cinematic practices and working across a variety of genres. Academy Award^®-winning actor, HIFF career achievement honoree, and NAP featured filmmaker Ke Huy Quan (b. Vietnam) will lead both a master class following a screening of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and book talk for his debut memoir. Guest filmmakers Henry Ian Cusick (b. Peru), Liz Sargent (b. South Korea), Alex Tarrant (b. New Zealand), and Michelle Zhou (b. China) will present new cinematic projects and discuss their creative practices with audiences during a panel discussion as well as individual film Q&A sessions.

In addition to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the 2026 NAP films are Los Vampires (featuring Cusick), Take Me Home (by Sargent), Sgt. Haane (starring Tarrant), and Big Little Things (by Zhou).

More information on the 2026 New American Perspectives cohort, including filmmaker biographies and film synopses, can be found in the press release.