When was the last time you watched a movie while lounging on the sand with Diamond Head looming in the background?

For almost five years, Honolulu has held Sunset on the Beach, a series showing family-friendly movies on a 30-foot screen at Queen's Surf Beach, a stone's throw from the pier at Kuhio Beach. This weekend the ritual is coordinated by the 26th annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival, and presented by the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, for an unprecedented four-night Sunset on the Beach lineup. The action starts tonight and continues through Monday.

It's an ideal place to be if you want to enjoy free entertainment, watch the sunset and mingle with locals. The event is a chance to enjoy the last rays of sunshine and graze at a mini-food festival of vendors from restaurants and hotels selling snacks and plate lunches.

Supported by the city and the Waikiki Improvement Association, Sunset on the Beach has gained national notoriety as the site for "Lost" premiere screenings. Stars from the hit ABC series, filmed on O'ahu, have walked the red carpet with a Sunset on the Beach crowd as audience for three consecutive years.

This weekend's slate features two Hawai'i premieres and two world premieres. Tonight's selection is the riveting documentary "Sharkwater," about one man's crusade to clear the name of the world's most successful predator. The film doesn't go into general release until spring 2007.

HIFF is a major player in the film world and the Sunset on the Beach screenings help boost the festival's profile, highlighting its mission to emphasize films from the diverse Pacific Rim.

The festival opened last night and continues through Oct. 29 at several venues around town. For details, see www.hiff.org.

"We want to build a bigger presence in Waikiki of a most delightful event," said HIFF executive director Chuck Boller.

Hollywood visitors who come to Honolulu to view HIFF films adore the beachfront screenings, Boller said.

Anderson Le, film festival programmer, said HIFF's involvement with Sunset on the Beach adds "a new level of entertainment to the current landscape of Waikiki that will cater to tourists from East and West."

The bottom-line goal, he said, is to "appeal to local and tourist audiences and to promote (HIFF) attendance at Regal Dole Cannery Cinemas 18 and the Hawai'i Theatre, in downtown Honolulu.

"Each film is representative of the festival's motto: Entertain. Enlighten. Empower."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.