Jeannette Paulson Hereniko is an American film producer,

television writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

, film festival director and film festival founder. She is best known for founding the

Hawaii International Film Festival The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii. HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is ...

(HIFF), acting as the festival's director from 1981 to 1996 and her active promotion of

Asian cinema Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia. However, in countries like the United States, it is often used to refer only to the cinema of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. West Asian cinema is s ...

in America. She is currently the president of AsiaPacificFilms.com, Te Maka Productions Inc. and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema/USA.

Career

Hereniko began as a television writer and producer for Hawaii Educational Television in 1975. In 1980, she was hired by the East West Center as its Community Relations Officer and Educational Specialist. During this time, she proposed the creation of a public film festival as a public outreach campaign that initiated the Hawaii International Film Festival. Hereniko went on to direct HIFF from 1981 to 1996. In 1988, she received her MA from the University of Hawaii, focusing on American reception of Asian film. In 1990, she served as the first director of the Palm Springs International Festival. In 1996, she created the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema/USA (NETPAC/USA) and is currently its president. Also in 1996, she began her tenure as the Director of the Asia Pacific Media Center at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

's Annenberg Center for Communication and maintained her position until 2005. In 2009, she produced the international award-winning feature ''

The Land Has Eyes ''The Land Has Eyes'' ( Rotuman: ''Pear ta ma ʻon maf'') is a 2004 Rotuman film written and directed by Vilsoni Hereniko. It is the first ever (and so far only) feature film from Rotuma. Plot The main character, Viki ( Sapeta Taito), is a young ...

'', written and directed by Vilsoni Hereniko. She has served on film festival juries in Berlin, Rotterdam, Pusan, Singapore, Mumbai, Brisbane and New Delhi. She is also a rotating member of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nomination Council since 2007. In October 2009, Hereniko created AsiaPacificFilms.com. The website is an online library streaming hundreds of premiere films from Asia and the Pacific. Films are curated by distinguished filmmakers, festival directors and professors (including Philip Cheah, Shaoyi Sun and

Aruna Vasudev Aruna Vasudev (born 1936) is an Indian critic, author, editor, painter, maker of documentaries and is considered an eminent scholar on Asian cinema, who has also been described as the "mother of Asian Cinema". Early life and education A younger ...

). Hereniko is currently acting as the website's president.

Awards

* Korean Cinema Award 2009 for lifetime promotion of

Korean cinema The term "Cinema of Korea" (or "Korean cinema") encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hereniko, Jeannette Paulson Living people American film critics Year of birth missing (living people) American film producers American women film producers Film festival founders University of Southern California staff American women film critics