DISORIENT ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL OF OREGON
HOLDS FIRST SCREENING IN PORTLAND
June 26, 2009 – Hollywood Theatre, Portland, OR

PORTLAND, OR – June 6, 2009 – The Chinese American Benevolent Association is pleased to announce an encore screening of feature films WHITE ON RICE and MANILATOWN IS IN THE HEART of the Fourth 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 first DisOrient event presented in the Portland area and will take place at the historic Hollywood Theatre on Friday, June 26, 2009. After receiving the Programmer’s Award for Creative Vision at the Fourth Annual DisOrient Film Festival, director Dave Boyle returns to Oregon for a special screening of his second feature film WHITE ON RICE. Since it premiered at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival in March, WHITE ON RICE has collected many awards including the Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Screenplay at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Director Dave Boyle will be in attendance for an exclusive Q&A immediately after the screening of the film.

Curtis Choy’s MANILATOWN IS IN THE HEART is a beautiful documentary about the late Al Robles, poet and one-man social service agency. Choy, a Portland-based filmmaker, screened his film at the DisOrient Film Festival in April. He has since brought his film to the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in May, where MANILATOWN IS IN THE HEART was in competition for the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary. DisOrient dedicates this special screening to the memory of Al Robles, who passed away in May. Director Curtis Choy will be in attendance for an exclusive Q&A immediately following the screening of the film.

The Fourth Annual DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon was held in Eugene, OR April 17-19, 2009. 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.