Hollywood critics celebrate Asian Pacific cinema and television artists.

Elodie Yung won the Breakout Actress (television) award given by Critics Choice Association.

For the first time, Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the television and movie industries were cited for their achievements by the Critics Choice Association.

The Critics Choice Association handed out kudos and awards to celebrate Asian Pacific cinema and television Sunday, November 4, in Los Angeles. The event honored emerging and established talent in front of and behind the camera.

"We are thrilled with the response from the studios and networks and their support in recognizing the outstanding talent from the Asian American Pacific Islander community at our inaugural Celebration.," Critics Choice Awards CEO Joey Berlin said in a statement.

“For a first-time event, it makes us immensely proud to showcase these films and shows and shine a light on these extraordinary individuals,” said Critics Choice Association member and Co-Programmer/Co-Writer for the event Kylie Mar.

Ninety-three year old James Hong, who was awarded the Icon Award for his long career playing over 600 roles in movies and television thanked the CCA for staging the event. “To see an organization collect all these people together and work together and stop this hatred for Asians is our main goal I think, and just boost the whole level of Asian-Americans.”

Hong said he's still getting roles even at his advanced age. His latest role was in the film, Everything, Everywhere At Once.

Noticeably absent from any awards was Michelle Yeoh, whose performance in Everything, Everywhere At Once has been mentioned and promoted as a potential nominee for a Best Actress Academy Award.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment to assist with funding a Film Production Grant for one rising filmmaker.

The CCA also holds similar celebrations for Latino and Black artists, which will be held later this year. And the Critics Choice Awards will take place January 15, 2023.

Among those honored by Critics Choice, from top left, top row: Park Chan-Wook, Zoë Chao and John Cho. Bottom row:  Auli’i Cravalho, Jame Hong, Karyn Kusama and Nick Mohammed.

The full list of inaugural honorees follows:

Icon Award
Actor James Hong (career achievement, most recently A24's "Everything Everywhere All at Once")

Trailblazer Award
Producer and director Karyn Kusama (career achievement, most recently Showtime's "Yellowjackets")

Director (Film)
Park Chan-wook (MUBI's "Decision to Leave")

Director (Television)
Hwang Dong-hyuk (Netflix's "Squid Game")

Animated Film Award
Director and writer Domee Shi (Disney and Pixar's "Turning Red")

Showrunner
Soo Hugh (Apple TV+'s "Pachinko")

Social Justice Award
Director and producer David Siev (IFC Films' "Bad Axe")

Actor (Film)
John Cho (Prime Video's "Don't Make Me Go")

Actor (Television)
Nick Mohammed (Apple TV's "Ted Lasso")

Actress (Television)
Zoe Chao (Apple TV+'s "The Afterparty")

Breakthrough Actor (Film)
Joel Kim Booster (Searchlight's "Fire Island")

Breakthrough Actress (Film
Li Jun Li (Paramount's "Babylon")

Breakthrough Actress (Television)
Élodie Yung (Fox/Warner Bros. Television's "The Cleaning Lady")

Ensemble Award (Television)
Cast of Disney+'s "Ms. Marvel"

Rising Star (Film)
Auli'i Cravalho (Hulu's "Crush")

Rising Star (Television)
Park Eun-bin (Netflix's "Extraordinary Attorney Woo")

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