Martha Yamasaki ¡Presente! from Moving Image Productions by Will Doolittle.

This documentary about a beloved local Eugene hero and activist Martha Yamasaki was screened at the first DisOrient Asian American Film Festival in 2006.  Martha Yamasaki drew on her experience of incarceration in Poston internment camp as a young woman during WWII to become an outspoken voice for social justice.  Thanks to Will for making this important film and sharing it with the world.

If you would like to attend DisOrient next year, please support our film festival by sending in a donation today. 

DISORIENT ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL OF OREGON

HOLDS SPECIAL SCREENING AT PORTLAND’S WHITE STAG BLOCK [map]

May 1, 2010 – White Stag Lecture Hall, Portland, OR – Free, suggested $3 donation

Fruit Fly - 2:00 pm | 9500 Liberty - 4:30 pm

PORTLAND, OR – April 22, 2010 - The Chinese American Benevolent Association is pleased to announce an encore screening of the feature film FRUIT FLY and the Northwest premiere of 9500 LIBERTY of the Fifth Annual DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon. Over the last couple of years, DisOrient has garnered a national reputation for organizing a unique and quality film festival. This will be the second DisOrient event presented in the Portland area and will take place at the White Stag Block in Portland.

Filmmaker H.P. Mendoza (songwriter, screenwriter, “Rodel” of COLMA: THE MUSICAL) returns to DisOrient with his directorial debut of FRUIT FLY, a musical about a Filipina performance artist on a quest to find her biological mother and perform her solo show. The SF Chronicle calls FRUIT FLY  “another irresistible indie musical” from Mendoza. FRUIT FLY won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and Best Overall Film at the Fort Worth LGBT Film Festival.

The feature documentary 9500 LIBERTY, directed and produced by Annabel Park and Eric Byler (CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES, AMERICANESE), is the story of how Prince William County, Virginia, becomes ground zero of America’s explosive battle over immigration policy. Since its release last fall, 9500 LIBERTY has been featured in many news outlets across the country, including the Washington Post, CNN, and the SF Chronicle.  Best-selling author John Grisham says 9500 LIBERTY “makes it clear that when we, as a nation of immigrants, debate the immigration issue, we are defining our very identity as Americans.” The film won Best Documentary at both the St. Louis International Film Festival and the Charlotte Film Festival.

The Fifth Annual DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon was held in Eugene, OR April 23-25, 2010. Festival attendees experienced three well-rounded days of films, workshops, parties, panels and special guests. DisOrient brought directors, actors and industry professionals to Eugene, Oregon, to present their new films not yet available in theaters.

DisOrient was started in 2005 by a group of Asian American educators and activists who dedicated themselves to bringing honest representations of Asians to the silver screen.  We understand the power of the moving image to combat the rampant Hollywood stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans as kung fu fighting houseboys, hypersexual/asexual bodies, expendable villains, or nerdy and anti-social geeks.  Film also allows us to tell compelling stories about our experiences such as war, immigration, identity, family, labor, globalization and other diasporic experiences. We use the W.E.B. DuBois standard of "for us, by us, or about us" when selecting new and exciting films for our festival.

If you want to review a film or interview a filmmaker, please contact Rose Pergament.