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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The documentary film, "Finding Face," which recently premiered at The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, will make its Portland premiere on Sunday, Aug. 23, as part of the Northwest Film Center's Tracking Series.

The screening begins at 7 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum's Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 S.W. Park Ave.

The film, which was directed and produced by Skye Fitzgerald and Oregon State University faculty member Patti Duncan, documents the controversial case of Tat Marina, a young woman who was attacked with acid in 1999. At 16, Marina was a rising star in Phnom Penh's karaoke music scene. She was coerced into an abusive relationship with Cambodia's Undersecretary of State, and subsequently attacked with acid.

The film contextualizes acid attacks as both a human rights violation and a gendered form of violence. Marina, who was granted asylum to enter the United States, struggles to emerge from a shattered self-image and with hopes of gaining some form of justice.

Marina will be in attendance for the Portland screening and will join the filmmakers for a question-and-answer session following the film.

In addition to its premiere in March at the International Film Festival in Geneva, Finding Face also was an official selection at the International Film Festival on Human Rights in Sucre, Bolivia, in May. It was the featured film of the International Feminist Film Festival at OSU in the spring, and was screened at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego.

Duncan, an associate professor in the Women Studies Program at OSU, wrote the script for the film. Fitzgerald, founder of Spin Film and producer and director of Bombhunters (2006), co-produced the film and is the principle cinematographer.

"We're excited to screen the film in Portland, since many local community members have volunteered countless hours to help us complete it, particularly members of the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon," Duncan said.

The film has already received international media attention, including features in The Cambodia Daily, The Phnom Penh Post, and World Pulse Magazine. Interviews with the filmmakers and/or subjects of the film have aired on ABC Australia, Voice of America, World Radio Switzerland, Air America, and the BBC.

"Finding Face" is showing as part of the NW Tracking Series by the Northwest Film Center. For more information, go to www.nwfilm.org/screenings/20/201/#1330

For more information about Finding Face, see www.spinfilm.org/face.htm