Hawai’i International Film Festival – Before the Moon Falls

Doors, Box Office and Concessions open at 2:00pm

The Hawai‘i International Film Festival (HIFF), an Academy Awards®-qualifying festival, celebrates dynamic cinema from Asia and the Pacific while championing Native Hawaiian and Indigenous filmmakers through powerful storytelling and groundbreaking programming.

Ticket Available Now

$10 General Admission
$9 Senior, Student, Veteran
$50 HIFF PASS (Festival Pass is good for all 10 HIFF films. Pass must be picked up at our box office prior to attending your first HIFF screening, and presented to the usher each screening that you plan to attend.)
*All Sales Final. Tickets and Passes are non-refundable or transferable.
Seating is open.

US Premiere | United States
Biography, Crime, Documentary, Mental Health | 101 minutes | English

Director: Kimberlee Bassford
Cast: Sia Figiel, Marilyn “Kuki” Figiel, Malamalama Figiel, Pounamu Figiel-Toia, Mario Lemafa

In May 2024, the Pacific was shaken by the shocking news of a murder in Samoa. The perpetrator was Sia Figiel—a groundbreaking novelist and poet, celebrated worldwide as the first to give voice to the struggles of Samoan girls and women. The victim was her close friend and fellow poet.

For eight years, Hawai‘i-based, award-winning documentary filmmaker Kimberlee Bassford (PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY, CHINATOWN, WITH ALOHA, WINNING GIRL— all screened at HIFF) had been crafting a portrait of Sia when the tragedy occurred. What began as a story of literary achievement transforms into a searing exploration of mental illness, stigma, and the devastating impact on families and communities when care is inconsistent or absent. At once intimate and unsettling, the film traces Sia’s path leading up to the tragedy, offering a nuanced and deeply human lens on an event that reverberated far beyond Samoa.