The Hawai‘i International Film Festival (HIFF) recognized ‘Ulu‘ulu: The Henry Ku‘ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai‘i at the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu with an award for excellence and service to Hawai‘i’s creative industries.
The Jeannette Paulson Hereniko HIFF Legacy Award was presented to ‘Ulu‘ulu collections specialist and producer Heather Giugni at an awards ceremony held last month at the Halekulani Hotel for the 43rd edition of HIFF, one of the premier film festivals in the United States.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by the Hawai‘i International Film Festival for the important work that the staff at ‘Ulu‘ulu, the official state archive for moving images, provides for our community,” Giugni said.
The HIFF Legacy Award was created by HIFF executive director Beckie Stocchetti in 2022 in honor of HIFF founder Jeannette Hereniko, the award’s first recipient, according to the HIFF website.
The HIFF Legacy Award acknowledges the often underappreciated and undervalued individuals and organizations that dedicate immeasurable time, finances, and resources to support the creative industries and who strive to build sustainable futures in filmmaking in Hawai‘i and across the Pacific.
HIFF honored ‘Ulu‘ulu for its dedication to the care, preservation, and digitization of film and video related to the history and culture of Hawai‘i.
“This space is an assembly of voices, communities, and stories, a gathering place for people to share Hawai‘i’s culture, traditions, and collective memory,” the HIFF website stated. “Heather Giugni and ‘Ulu‘ulu (Moving Image) Archive strive to save, preserve, and make publicly available a visual record of Hawai‘i across generations, innumerable changes, and influences.”
‘Ulu‘ulu — a Hawaiian word meaning collections, assembly, or gathering — aims to perpetuate and share the rich moving image heritage of Hawai‘i through the preservation of film and videotape related to the history and culture of Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawai‘i, according to the ‘Ulu‘ulu website.
“It is a joy to work with Hawai‘i’s filmmakers, preserving their films at ‘Ulu‘ulu and providing access to archival footage to help them tell new stories as well,” said ‘Ulu‘ulu head archivist Janel Quirante. “I’m so honored and proud that ‘Ulu‘ulu received the HIFF Legacy Award for the work that we love doing each day.”