For 25 years, the Hawaii Film Festival has been plugging along, flying more or less completely under the Hollywood radar. So Roger Ebert was surprised this year to attend the fest and discover something that looks quite a bit like an event on the rise. “I remember Sundance and Toronto in their earliest days, when everybody at the festival could fit into one hotel banquet room. Look at them now. Then I look at the enormous crowds at Hawaii, its 200 films, its creative programming, and I think, yes, the dream that Jeannette Paulson had when she started the festival 25 years ago is becoming a reality.”