Two foreign films by Asians win Oscars

The director and some of the cast of 'Drive My Car,' traveled to L.A. for the Oscars.

Two films by Asian moviemakers won the coveted Oscars last night, the highest award in the movie industry.

The Oscar for Best Foreign Feature went to the Japanese production, Drive My Car, which was also nominated for Best Picture.

RELATED: Why weren't tere any AAPI nominees for Oscars?

Adapted from the Haruki Murakami short story of the same name and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, the film follows grieving theater director Yusuke Kafuku (played by Hidetoshi Nishijima)  who is mounting a stage production of Uncle Vanya while grieving the death of his wife. As he is driven to work, he uses the ride to practice his lines and developes a connection with his personal driver.

Highly praised by film critics, the 3-hour feature previously won awards at the Golden Globes and the Cannes Film Festival.

The film's Oscar win was one of the few victories by an Asian or Asian American project.

RELATED: Complete list of Oscar winners.

Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia celebrated their Oscar wins for 'The Long Goodbu=ye.'

Pakistani Brit Riz Ahmed won an Oscar for his live short film, The Long Goodbye.

The 12-minute film paints an unsettling and unfortunately believable picture of a dystopian future, where a British South Asian family are violently rounded-up by a gun-toting gang, Ahmed describes the short as a piece about “being broken up with by the country they live in.”

“In such divided times, we believe that the role of story is to remind us there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. There’s just ‘us,’ said Ahmed, who wrote and starred in the film.

“This is for everyone who feels like they’re stuck in No Man’s Land,” Ahmed said while accepting the Oscar. acceptance “You’re not alone. We’ll meet you there. That's where the future is. Peace."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and tips from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.