Dear filmmakers, audiences, partners and friends of cinema,
I have always believed that a story can travel farther than the person who first imagined it. It can cross a border without a passport, enter a room where its language is not spoken and still be understood through an image, a silence or the truth of a performance.
That belief sits at the heart of the Hollywood International Film Festival. HIFF is not being built simply as a place where films receive a screening or an award. It is being built as a meeting place—between cultures, between generations, between independent filmmakers and the audiences who may carry their stories forward.
Our 2027 theme, WHERE WORLDS MEET, reflects the festival we are working to create. We want global cinema to arrive with its full identity intact. We want a filmmaker from a small town, a major city, a formal film school or an apprenticeship tradition to feel that strong work will be met with curiosity and respect. We want established artists and emerging voices to share the same cultural space without pretending that every journey into cinema looks the same.
As we prepare HIFF’s second official edition, our responsibility is to build carefully: a focused competition, meaningful recognition, honest public information, thoughtful education and a festival experience worthy of the filmmakers who trust us with their work.
I invite you to follow this journey as the programme, jury, venue and public opportunities take shape. The next chapter belongs not only to HIFF, but to every story that will help define it.
Umar (John) FarooqFounder · Hollywood International Film Festival