This weekend Boardman’s Art Theatre, 126 W. Church St. in downtown Champaign, will offer free screenings of five feature films from one of the world’s fastest growing and most diverse regions. The fifth annual Asian Film Festival showcases a cross-section of Southeast Asian popular cinema.

“We hope to introduce people to a new part of the world,” said Tanya Lee, program director of the Asian Educational Media Service, which co-sponsors the event with the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies.

Mr. Hidayat Karta Hadimadja, the Indonesian consul general, arrives at 7 p.m. on Friday from his diplomatic headquarters in Chicago to kick off the festival. The opening film, “Love for Share,” addresses polygamy, a hot social issue in Indonesia, and gives audiences a peak into life in the largest Muslim-majority nation on the globe.

“Southeast Asia is a very rapidly developing part of the world, and the cities are growing like mad,” Lee said. The consistent theme throughout the festival reflects the dynamism of the region. All five films present contemporary, cosmopolitan urban life.

Friday’s second film, “Citizen Dog,” is the quirkiest of the series. An off-the-wall indie rock film from Thailand should satisfy the tastes of those seeking some ironic comedy.

Susan Norris, assistant director of Asian Educational Media Service, believes the eccentric nature of the film and the cheap ticket price are likely to draw a large student audience. “We want to expose the campus to something they might not normally pay to see but may turn up for because it’s free,” she said.

Content for the festival was selected by Norris, Lee and four faculty members, two from the University and two from Eastern Illinois University with expertise in cinema. The committee members will give a brief introduction before each screening and initiate a discussion afterward.

“Singapore Dreaming,” a serious adult drama set to close the festival after its 8:30 p.m. showing on Saturday, should spark some poignant discourse.

The teenage romance “Sepet” produced in Malaysia tells a more light-hearted tale. Lee described the movie as a modern, urban “Romeo and Juliet.” This classic plot line is perfectly adaptable to Southeast Asia, known as the crossroads for many ethnicities and religions. Though a rainbow of dialects spans the 10 nations encompassed in this region, all films are subtitled in English, making them accessible to the Champaign-Urbana community.

According to Jonathan Smiley, assistant manager of Boardman’s Art Theatre, maximum capacity is 250 viewers per film. Last year’s Asian Film Festival drew an estimated audience of 1,000. Perhaps the star quality of Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. feature will pack the theater this year.

Filipino pop idols Piolo Pascual and Claudine Barretto star in the glamorous “Milan.” The film is not, however, fluff. The serious subject matter about migrant workers weaves the story web of social commentary.

The offerings of the cinema series are meant to entertain and engage weekend audiences.

The Asian Educational Media Service, 805 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana, has hours worth of DVDs in a public media library. Documentaries, features and classics are available for viewing and browsing.

All countries in Southeast Asia produce video entertainment.

“The films we selected come from the most developed film industries in the region,” Norris said.

The free screenings this weekend are an easily accessible glimpse into a diverse and dynamic culture. The Asian Educational Media Service and Center for East Asian Pacific Studies offer a multitude of resources worth a more in-depth examination. This is something audiences of the festival may be interested in seeking.