It’s time again to settle in for a weekend of beautiful filmmaking with narratives that speak to all. A grass-roots volunteer-run celebration from its start, The DisOrient Asian American Film Festival is now celebrating its 20th year and has become a staple of the Eugene arts and culture community. “It’s very much run by the community for the community,” says Pam Quan, who has been at the festival every year as an audience member and a volunteer, and is now DisOrient’s executive director. “It’s become a favorite community event for many. I’m proud of that.” This year’s festival — in-person March 7 through 9 at Art House with 28 films showing virtually March 10 through 23 — features more than 100 films and more than 60 filmmakers available for Q&A sessions after their films. There are short films and full documentaries that explore journeys through memory and imagination, including a look at the members of the Lebanese diaspora’s unrequited but irrepressible love for their homeland; a profile of photographer Tamio Wakayama, interned during World War II, who joined the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the 1960s American civil rights movement; and a powerful coming-of-age documentary about Ashley Chea (pictured), a Cambodian American basketball prodigy now at Princeton, to name just a sample of the offerings. “There’s a lot of beautiful narratives that are common to all people,” Quan says.

The DisOrient Asian American Film Festival is March 7 through 9 at Art House, 492 East 13th Avenue. Schedule and ticket information — including individual screenings and all short films as well as an all-live pass and an all-virtual pass — is at DisOrientFilm.org. Virtual access to the DisOrient Film Festival is March 10 through 23.

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