Now in Columbia City, the Tasveer Film Festival Brings Movies, Masala Popcorn, and a 'Monumental' Experience

Inside the darkened theater on Rainier Avenue South, posters from festivals past lined the stairwell, the hallways smelled of fresh paint, and the concessions counter sat unattended.

Now, with the arrival of its 20th anniversary, South Asian arts organization Tasveer is ready to debut the Tasveer Film Center to the general public during its annual film festival and market, which runs Oct. 8–12. With the festival featuring 109 films from 22 countries by South Asian filmmakers, this year's festivities also feature the Tasveer Film Market, where filmmakers can pitch their films to studios. In March, the org announced its acquisition of the building for $2.85 million, taking over the space once run by Ark Lodge Cinemas. This marked a huge shift for the future of the theater, which will now screen films by and for the South Asian diaspora.

"It feels monumental, it feels grounding," said Tasveer Executive Director Rita Meher, who won the Mayor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film this year. "We feel like we made permanent our organization. Now it's there for the next generation. Our team talks about how we haven't been going back and forth with venues or looking for places, changing our dates, and setting things up. We feel so blessed and grateful that we don't have that stress this year."

Six months in, Tasveer has been hard at work. Meher said the team spent the last half year giving the space a deep clean, painting, and getting the administrative details in place. They've updated the theater so it meets health-code standards, renovated the concession area, and are looking to add an elevator to make it more accessible. Meher said they will sell masala popcorn, samosas, chai, and other South Asian treats for patrons to munch on during films.

Originally a four-screen theater, Tasveer has converted one of the upstairs screening rooms into a community space and will transform a smaller theater downstairs into another community room. The remaining two theaters — a 210-seat main theater upstairs and a 107-seat theater downstairs — will screen South Asian and international films throughout the year. Additionally, Tasveer has also updated the projectors and sound system for a more immersive film experience.

As the org was working on renovations, Tasveer has been hosting one-off events, like open mics and book readings with other arts organizations, and plans to continue the collaborative practice after its official opening this weekend.

"There's a lot of unknowns, but I'm very excited," said Meher. "I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm excited about learning how film theater works, the business side of it, and doing it for the community."

This year's Tasveer Film Festival serves a dual purpose: celebrating the organization's 20th anniversary as well as marking the official debut of its new permanent space. The opening night celebration is equally big: In addition to a red carpet, there will be four films. The first three — By Design, The Sale, and Yakshi — are all short films supported by the Tasveer Film Fund. The main film, Little Jaffna, is a gangster flick set in the heart of the Tamoul community in Paris, with many of its cast and crew members in town for a post-film Q&A. The closing night showcase features Bengal-set Zewel (Deshlai), about a young TikTokker seeking virality and an escape from his day job as a dockworker.

Having this new theater space also allows Tasveer to host its second annual Film Market for aspiring filmmakers to pitch their movies to executives from production studios like Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions, Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, Exit 33 Entertainment, and more. There will be a day-long AI convention exploring emerging technology in the film sphere. Tasveer associate director Anushree Shukla said they created the market as a way to connect filmmakers in late development stages of their projects to the film industry and get more South Asian stories out there.

"The reason why the Film Market was started was to have a seat [at] the table and for us to actually develop some of these stories and be part of the business side of filmmaking," said Shukla. "We realized there was such a need for the Film Market, given that South Asian stories in the diaspora at 1% and less."

After the Tasveer Film Festival and Market concludes this weekend, the organization will turn its focus to opening the theater for regular programming. They are still wrangling the point-of-sale system and other odds and ends, but Tasveer's outlook and aspirations for the Tasveer Film Center is global.

"The theater is going to be known all over the world, because our community comes to the film festival from all over the world," said Meher. "They're going to go back with their experience of this theater and Columbia City. We are hoping for everyone to go back with good memories and good experiences, putting this on the world map."

Tasveer Film Festival and Market runs Oct. 8-12. Find out more information about the films, post-screening Q&As, and other events over on Tasveer's website.