The centerpiece film is “A Lot Like You,” a documentary written and directed by Eliaichi Kimaro. The tagline for the film is “The Truth Has No Borders,” and it centers on Kimaro’s search for herself, growing up as a multiracial first-generation American.

“I think if there’s a film that really speaks to our mission statement, that would be it,” Pamela Quan [Assoc Dir of DisOrient Film Festival] says.

“At first when we saw the submission of the film, it was like, ‘OK, dad’s from Tanzania, mom’s Korean, how is this all going to work?’  We watched it and I think everybody feels like that film was made for them when they see it, because you question who you are.”

Set mostly in Tanzania, the discoveries that Kimaro makes about her past are gripping, touching on everything from achieving the American dream to a cultural tendency to sweep shocking violence under the rug.

“A Lot Like You” is scheduled to show Saturday at 3:30 p.m.  A Q&A with Kimaro, her husband, Tom Kenney, and their daughter, Lucy, follows.

~ Excerpt from The Register-Guard (April 26, 2013) by Jackie Varriano