Sound Cinema: Tasveer Film Center

Facade of Ark Lodge / Tasveer Film Center

The Evergreen Echo

The Ark Lodge building was erected in 1921. It was used for a long time as a meeting place for members of the Freemasons. The fraternal order and its offshoots met on the second floor of the building with the bottom floor left as a factory for the Heater Glove company. LIke many buildings that have withstood over a hundred years of existence, the Ark Lodge had many tenants, watching as businesses thrived, then struggled, then moved on. 

In 2003, the Masons finally decided to sell the building. This led to an interior transformation that birthed the Columbia City Cinema, which lasted until 2011. It was not long after Columbia City Cinema closed that a new group moved in and renamed the space the Ark Lodge Cinemas. With four screens playing first-run features, the Ark Lodge hummed along until the financial toll of the COVID-19 pandemic and the years of declining audiences led it to turn off its projectors in early 2025. In March of 2025, the building was purchased and a new theater group began operating as the Tasveer Film Center in February of 2026.

The Tasveer organization began as a way to combat the rise of bigotry and hatred of South Asian communities ubiquitous after the 9/11 attacks. It’s been around since 2002, spreading and evangelizing the diverse storytelling from the South Asian community. In 2004, the first iteration of what would become the Tasveer Film Festival and Market premiered and has been going and growing ever since. This year's festival will take place October 13-18, and will undoubtedly bring unique and exciting cinematic voices to our small corner of the world. Not only that, it is also an Oscar-qualifying festival, which means that film you saw in October might just have its name read—and quite possibly butchered—by an A-list celebrity on Oscar night next March. 

That second part of the title, the market, is also crucial, too. While we all enjoy the films on screen, there will be people in the theater who can ensure that more people see the film across the globe. A marketplace means money, yes, but it also encourages the idea that these stories and voices are important and should be championed. It is a special piece of the puzzle that many people forget or do not even think about. It’s all part of Tasveer's ambitions for their organization and the space at the Ark Lodge.

Poster for 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market

Courtesy of TFFM

While Tasveer has big future plans for the Lodge, including a dedicated community space on the second floor, they do currently have three screens running first-run independent features both international and domestic. Walking up the block to the theater, you can smell the fragrant waft of popcorn that signals something magical is about to unfold before your eyes.

The lobby is unassuming with the stairs to the upper floor to the right, the concessions and box office to the left, and the theater auditoriums straight ahead. Auditorium 2, which I was in this time, has a classic feel to it. There are creaky wood platforms with standard movie theater seats that have a decent amount of legroom. The slant of the room is only slight, so be aware of who you sit behind. There are also two comfy chairs on either side of the screen as places where presenters and filmmakers sit after a screening for a Q&A.

I took in a screening of the new film Filipiñana, directed by Rafael Manuel. The film follows Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto), as she navigates her new job as a driving range tee girl at an exclusive country club. The film has a languid pace that belies the indignities and injustices under the surface of these types of country clubs. You can feel the heat coming off the screen and how it plays into the strangeness of the environment. The story is split into two main focuses as Isabel wanders the length of the property trying to find meaning and Clara (Carmen Castellanos) meanders through a golf game with her wealthy uncle who wants to convince her to move back to the Philippines from New York. The film is full of darkly comedic twists and turns with many sequences that delight, then shock.

Tasveer is bringing international cinema to the neighborhood theater. Whatever they program for their slate, there will always be more than a few films that you won’t see anywhere else in the city. That is a unique and exceptional experience. It often feels as if I champion these independent cinemas as a way to keep film exhibition in all its forms alive, which usually means theaters that encourage the large scale blockbusters. Yet, there is a deep importance to a theater that creates a community out of the films that they show.

I was the first to arrive at my screening, but as the theater filled up around me, there were many people who did not fit the art house mold. Theaters like Tasveer encourage patrons who are after some magic and a story they can engage with on more than an entertainment level. It is beautiful to see cinema in this space continue, and heartening that an organization like Tasveer is shepherding it into a new age of unique and vibrant programming.