Story by Charmaine Ng
Photos by Wesley Thompson

The church-turned-theater Bijou Arts Cinema stood imposingly in front of me. I had never stepped foot into the independent theater before, but on the breezy Friday evening of April 23 I came to see the fifth annual DisOrient Asian American Film Festival. It being my first time at DisOrient or any film festival, period, I had zero expectations. I ended up being blown away.

Before viewing Mr. Sadman the opening night film, we watched as they screened music videos by artists Kero One and Dawen. Everyone burst into laughter at lyrics like “just because I saw the movie Crouching Tiger doesn’t mean I can do kung fu.” Mr. Sadman is the story of a Saddam Hussein body double who leaves Iraq for Los Angeles after an attack renders him unable to portray Hussein. It was completely unlike anything I had ever seen. It mixed the silliness of a Saddam Hussein look-alike pretending to be Michael Jordan with the seriousness of someone struggling to piece together his identity. A question-and-answer session followed the film with Dawen, Johnny Le (the Kero One video director), and Patrick Epino (director of Mr. Sadman). I appreciated that they flew all the way to relatively tiny Eugene to accept feedback and provide insight into their works.

We moved onto the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art for the opening reception. During the Chinese American Benevolent Association lion dancers’ performance, my friend from Hawaii was practically agape. Then Dawen performed a few songs for us, one of which was an a Capella work in progress decrying the South Philadelphia High attacks on Asian students. He ended with a cover of Jay Sean’s hit single “Down.” With Dawen, DisOrient definitely found someone with range and a voice to make you stop in your tracks.

Once he put down the microphone, everyone has a chance to roam around the gallery and mingle with the night’s honored guests. All of the directors I talked with were incredibly amicable. None of them had been to DisOrient before, but raved about the intimate experience and how they all felt like part of the family. I had only been at DisOrient for a few hours, but I could easily see how much the festival meant to the staff, guests, and attendees. Sitting with Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy in front of me and U.O. Multicultural Center Programs Advisor Steven Morozumi to my right during the performances, I felt a strong sense of the Eugene community coming together in support of independent filmmaking and breaking down Asian stereotypes.

By the end of DisOrient, I felt welcomed, embraced, and proud to be Asian American. Finally, I saw people who look like me, who have gone through similar struggles, on the big screen. But it didn’t matter whether you identified as Asian American or another ethnicity. Like featured director S. Leo Chiang told me: “You don’t have to be something to understand something. We really have to reach out and stretch ourselves and be empathetic. It’s just one step out of your comfort zone.”

Read Charmaine’s review of some of the festival’s featured films.