Memorial services are planned this weekend for Loni Ding, an award-winning filmmaker,

Memorial services are planned this weekend for Loni Ding, an award-winning filmmaker, educator and activist who documented the Asian American experience while fighting for broader community access to television programming.

Ms. Ding, whose full name was Isadora Quanehia Ding Welsh, died of a stroke Feb. 20 at Summit Hospital in Oakland. She was 78.

Ms. Ding produced, wrote and directed “Ancestors in the Americas” in 1996. The PBS documentary explored the experiences of Asians in the New World from the 15th to 19th centuries. It was followed two years later with a second part, “Chinese in the Frontier West.”

Her productions won several Emmys and have been shown at the London and Berlin film festivals. Among her numerous awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship and a director’s fellowship at the American Film Institute.

Two of her documentaries, “Nisei Soldiers” and “The Color of Honor,” examined issues faced by Japanese American soldiers during World War II. The films were submitted to members of Congress in 1987 and 1988 during hearings on Japanese American reparations.

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