A speaker in a still from the film "Buffalo Soldiers."

This month, the Astoria International Film Festival will mark a milestone, celebrating its 15th year with a series of nine showings at the Liberty Theatre.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the festival will explore the theme of “Retro Documentaries,” spotlighting a selection of films that highlight histories of underserved communities.

Eight feature-length films and one short film collection weave through stories from all corners of the globe. The documentaries selected for this year’s festival focus on sharing histories. Some are recent releases, others are decades-old classics.

Ron Craig, the festival’s executive director, made an effort to represent the stories of people who are Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ and women.

“I’ve always been a documentary fan,” Craig said. Craig explained that older documentaries shed light on information and history that’s been out there – but were sometimes hard to access.

“I think people are curious about it,” he said. “Being able to facilitate that curiosity is one of my goals.”

Friday’s screening, starting at 6 p.m., will show a series of shorts, followed by “Dryland,” filmed over the course of a decade. It’s set in the American West and follows a young man’s story of fighting to save his family’s wheat farms in eastern Washington, according to the festival website.

On Saturday, films will run all day, starting at 11:30 a.m. and lasting until 10 p.m. “Dancer,” a Ukrainian film, shows audiences the tale of Sergei Polunin, a talented ballerina questioning his dancing career.

“Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts” shares the story of all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments created after Congress passed the Army Organization Act. The group became known as the buffalo soldiers, and the film explores their conflicting role in American history, with an emphasis on settling in the West, according to the event website.

“To be able to put those sorts of films out there, it opens doors to other aspects of the history,” Craig said.

He also noted that “Buffalo Soldiers” has a local connection, since Fort Stevens is a historic footprint with the group.

Filmed firsthand from the inside two therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen, “Hunger Ward” shares the devastating stories of two women healthcare workers fighting starvation in the country, the festival website states.

“Equal Means Equal” explores the challenges women face in modern-day America, including wage gaps, maternity leave, violence and poverty. “Rachel Carson: Silent Spring” and “Where’s Molly?” will round out the Saturday evening screenings.

On Sunday, “Stonewall Uprising” and the 1967 classic “To Sir, With Love” will close out the festival. “Stonewall” tells the story of the police raid on the Stonewall Inn in 1969 and the subsequent protests.

The film festival’s international bend is emblematic of Astoria’s busy river filled with boats from around the globe, Craig said. He’s an Oregonian and has worked on the film festival for its entire 15-year run.

Discussions will follow the screenings at Munktiki, a nearby gallery. Guests will have the chance to sip wine or coffee and talk about the films. “I think being able to bring people together and talk about it, whether it’s animation or a documentary, I think it’s really it’s beneficial,” Craig said.

Astoria International Film Festival

Liberty Theatre, 1203 Commercial St., Astoria

A short film collection will be shown at 6 p.m. Friday, alongside “Dryland: Cultivating Rural Resilience” Saturday’s showings include “Dancer” at 11:30 a.m., “Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts” at 1:30 p.m., “Hunger Ward” at 3 p.m., accompanied by a guest speaker, “Equal Means Equal” at 6 p.m., “Silent Spring” at 8:30 p.m. and “Where’s Molly” at 10 p.m. On Sunday at noon, see “Stonewall Uprising,” followed at 2 p.m. by “To Sir, With Love”

Admission is $10 for individual films and $80 for a festival pass

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