HIFFWE or the Hawaiian International Film Festival Welcome Event refers to the activities and ceremonies that are conducted before the actual showing of the films that are part of the festival.  The HIFF or the Hawaiian International Film Festival is considered the biggest of its kind in the Pacific region and many independent film makers vie for limited slots for the film screening in this event.  Members of the HIFF organization often hold the HIFFWE or the welcome event for various guests and artists before the movie screening actually starts.  Some lucky people and ticket-holders will be able to meet up with artists, directors, and producers of the independent film industry during the HIFFWE.  Some people also purchase tickets to various movies that are part of the HIFF to be able to attend the welcome event because it is only during this time that one may get to mingle with the important people of the Hawaiian International Film Festival.

Being one of many popular and international film festivals, the acronym “HIFFWE” has also become a common insider joke among users and visitors of the 420chan image board and website.  This website is supposedly run and administered by somebody who went to Hawaii back in 2005 and attended the HIFFWE.  The site administrator named Kirk basically had a funny and horrible experience attending the HIFFWE because one thing led to another and then all of a sudden he was arrested for supposedly assaulting Neveen Andrews, an actor who was part of the TV series “Lost” which was filmed in Hawaii.  The joke even continued with Kirk supposedly raped in his cell while he was arrested in Hawaii.  This kind of story line to the web admin of 420chan image board basically gave new meaning to the supposed “welcome event” of the Hawaiian International Film Festival. For visitors of the 420chan website, when somebody mentions the term “HIFFWE”, the reference is probably on the joke about the site admin rather than on the actual film festival held in Hawaii.