Off the Menu: Asian America, a new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Grace Lee, takes viewers on a road trip across the United States in an exploration of how family, history, faith, and geography shape people’s relationships to food and their communities. Lee travels from Houston, Texas, to Oak Creek, Wisconsin, to Oahu, Hawaii, seeking stories that reflect an evolving Asian Pacific America and the role food plays in peoples’ lives.

“We wanted to find unexpected stories that embodied the Asian American experience,” says Lee. “Asian America is already such a vast, complex, and contested idea. Focusing on food was a way to explore the deeper connections of culture and family, and the ideas of authenticity and adaptation that link us all.”

Screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Lee and local chefs and food writers, moderated by sociologist Oliver Wang. Reception to follow, featuring dishes inspired by the film.

Tickets are available at vconline.org.

Presented in partnership with Visual Communications.