Do Oscar wins by 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' equate to recognition of AANHPI?

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Co-directors and writing team Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan give thanks to the Academy.

When the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once won the Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble award earlier this month, 94-year old James Wong, veteran of over 600 movies and TV shows, reminded the audience about how White actors used to go Yellowface to portray Asian characters. He reveled at the acting award, "Look at us now!"

After winning seven Oscars last night, including the big prize for Best Picture and two of the four acting awards, you could not blame the AANHPI communities repeat Hong's exclamation, "Look at us, now!"

"This is for my dad, who like so many immigrant parents, died young. He is so proud of me, not because of this, but because we made this movie with what he taught me to do... and no one is more important than anyone else." said co-producer Jonathan Wang upon receiving his statuette for Best Picture.

History was made when Michelle Yao was named Best Actress, the first Asian* to win this award.  

(*When Indian American Merle Oberon won Best Actress in 1936 for The Dark Angel, she was "passing.") 

"For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities," the Malaysia-born Yeoh said as she held up her Oscar. "Dream big and dreams do come true."

The 60-year old actress who has been acting for 40 years also gave a shout-out to women, saying, "And ladies, don't let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up."

Ke Huy Quan won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, only the second actor of Asian descent to win this award. Haing Ngor won for The Killing Fields in 1984.

In his emotional acceptance speech, Quan said, "My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refuge camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood's biggest stage."

"They say stories like this only happen the movies. I cannot believe it's happening to me. This -- this is the American dream," he added.

In addition to Best Picture, EEAAO won best director, best original screenplay and best supporting actress Jamie Lee Curtis for her role as the IRS agent and Editing.

“There is greatness in every single person,” Daniel Kwan said as he accepted best director with co-director Daniel Schenert,. “It doesn’t matter who we are. There is genius in every single person, you just have to find it. Thank you to the people who unlocked my genius.”

Kwan becomes the third winner of Asian descent to win a directing Oscar. Chloe Zhao (Nomadland, 2021) and Bong Joon (Parasite, 2020) have also won the coveted statuette, the highest recognition in the movie industry.

The acting Oscars won by Yeoh and Quan marks the most given to Asian actors in a single year. 

In addition, Stephanie Hsu, the daughter in EEAAO and Hong Chau (The Whale) were also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category making the most acting nominations ever in the same year.

Asian Americans believe this year's Academy Awards and EEAAO popular success was a watershed moment in representation and recognition of the AANHPI communities because Everything Everywhere All at Once is decidedly an Asian American film about an Asian American family. 

Following the critical success of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians  which opened the door for Asian American and Asian movies like Minari and The Farewell and the award-winning Parasite, have helped paved the way for general acceptance despite the surge of anti-Asian incidents that continue to occur.

In a way, Academy recognition could be interpreted as another step towards the recognition of all AANHPI people who are too often perceived as perpetual foreigners, no matter how long they have lived in the US.

Other Oscar winners with Asian themes this year include: RRR, an Indian production, which won for Best Song, "Naatu Naatu;" and The Elephant Whisperers for Best Short Documentary, which is about a Tamil couple raising an elephant in India

EDITOR'S NOTE: Updated, March 13, 12 pm. For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Oscar bet 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' may get upset, cautions director

Everything Everywhere All at Once co-directors Daniel Scheinert abd Dabuek Jwab

By most metrics, Everything Everywhere All at Once should win some of the major  Oscars at tonight's Academy Awards show but, one of the movie's directors cautioned fans about an upset.

“I know for many, this story and characters mean a lot so any slight towards the film feels like a personal attack,” posted Daniel Kwan on social media, “but lashing out does everyone a disservice.”

“No movie deserves to sweep, no matter how good it is, and I am rooting whole heartedly for my fellow nominees. Thank you for coming along with me on this wild ride, all of your support has meant the world to me,” continued Kwan, who shares directing duties with Daniel Scheinert.

The sci-fi film, set in a multitude of universes and featuring a largely Asian and Asian American cast, has been in an unprecedented roll leading up to Oscars night. Last weekend, for example, the film won all of its categories at the Indie Spirit Awards. the motion picture now holds the record for most wins in Indie Spirits history—a good sign as it heads into the Oscars.

It now has won more awards and accolades than any other film, chalking up 158 victories, beating out The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which earned 101 major awards.

The film has its detractors. To some eyes, maybe EEAAO has won too many awards. Maybe some Academy voters are sick of hearing about the history of Asian and Asian American representation in the movies.

A series of tweets from Daniel Kwan, who is Daniel Scheinert who formed the directing team known collectively as The Daniels, seems to indicate that there may be a backlash against the film's unprecedented success. The idea of a single movie sweeping the Oscars bugs some Academy voters and there is that residue of the old guard who just don't "get" EEAAO.

In January, the unconventional film Everything Everywhere All at Once was nominated for 11 Oscars —including for Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as the Daniels), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actress (Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis), and Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), best original screenplay, editing, score and costume —the most of any film this year.

Out of all the nominations, only EEAAO's Ke Huy Quan, who is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, appears to be a lock after winning in almost all the different award shows leading up to the Academy Awards

Even Michelle Yeoh, who won the Screen Actors Guild Best Actress trophy for her role as the lead protagonist in EEAAO, is not a sure bet. 

Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett nominated for her over-the-top performance in Tar, has strong industry support among Academy voters, which despite recent efforts to include more members of color, is still dominated by older, white members.

Dark horse Andrea Riseborough is being pushed by some big Hollywood names for her role in the unglamorous role in To Leslie. Among her A-list fans are Edward Norton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Winslet

Still, Everything Everywhere All at Once's detractors have pointed out flaws. Some are upset by the idea of a sweep, advocating for films like White-dominated films Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin in categories like Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Others have problems with the film’s alleged anti-Semitism, in which Jewish actress Jenny Slate plays a character named “Big Nose.”

In a recent New York Times interview, Stephanie Hsu, who played Yeoh's daughter in the movie and who herself is a contender in the Best Supporting Actress category, cautioned that AANHPIs shouldn't assume that film industry's long standing issues with racism and representation have been resolved, 

In the interview, the Asian Australian actress described being mistaken on the red carpet for Lana Condor, star of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," and a moment at a New York screening for "Everything Everywhere" when her Asian publicist was approached and praised for a performance he never gave.

"Listen, this ride is amazing, but that is real. We have not transcended this moment, right?" Hsu told the Times. "James Hong (who plays her grandfather in EEAAO) started acting at a time when people wouldn't even say his name, they would literally just call him 'Chinaman' and say 'Get on your mark.' Michelle waited almost 40 years for her first chance of being No. 1 on the call sheet, and Ke left acting for (nearly) 20 years. As successful as this film has been, the biggest fear on the other side is, 'What if this is my last chance?'"

In his cautionary note, Kwan couldn't resist a clapback against the Hollywood establishment critics. He signed off:

“P.S. to the people who hate the film with their entire being: I’m sorry we ruined cinema for you forever. I hope we can make it up to you on the next one <3”

TO  WATCH: The Hollywood Reporter has all the different ways and stations fans can watch, stream or record the 95th Academy Awards starting hours before the official telecast at 5 p.m. PDT.

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

Asian American Hollywood executive elected president of Oscars' academy

ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES

Janet Yang takes over helm of Oscars' sponsor.

Hollywood producer Janet Yang, who has been described as “the godmother of Asian Americans in the industry” was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization’s Board of Governors.

“Janet is a tremendously dedicated and strategic leader who has an incredible record of service at the Academy. She has been instrumental in launching and elevating several Academy initiatives on membership recruitment, governance, and equity, diversity, and inclusion,” noted Academy CEO Bill Kramer.

“I am thrilled that she is taking on the esteemed role of Academy President and look forward to working closely with her on our shared vision to serve our membership, celebrate the collaborative arts and sciences of motion pictures, and inspire the next generation of filmmakers.”

Yang, 66, is beginning her first term as president and her second term as a Governor-at-Large, a position for which she was nominated by the sitting Academy President and elected by the Board of Governors. Gigliotti, Karaszewski, Linde, Mussenden and Thomas were re-elected as officers. It will be the first officer stint for Dorman, Howell Taylor and Taylor-Coleman.

Yang’s extensive film producing credits include “The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Zero Effect,” “High Crimes,” “Dark Matter,” “Shanghai Calling” and the Oscar®-nominated animated feature “Over the Moon.” She won an Emmy® for the HBO film “Indictment: The McMartin Trial.”

Following Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Yang is the second person of color to hold the academy's top job.

The New York City-born daughter of Chinese immigrants has long been a significant figure in Hollywood's Asian American community. She co-chairs the academy's Asian Affinity Group and has served on the academy's board of governors since 2019 as one of three governors-at-large who were added following the 2016 #OscarsSoWhite movement to help boost diversity and inclusion.

After Oscar host Chris Rock used Asian children as props for a not-so-funny racist  joke, Yang was a part of the creatives that included some of the biggest Asian American names in the film industry, who wrote a letter to the Academy expressing their displeasure asking that the Academy initiate more efforts to be more inclusive to include more women and members of color.

The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, brought attention to long-standing racism and bias in awards recognition in Hollywood. Since the 2019 Oscars, the Academy has increased the diversity of its membership by doubling the number of women and minority members, increasing its overall membership from 6,000 to around 10,000.

A member of the Academy’s Producers Branch since 2002, Yang most recently served on the Board as vice president and chair of the Membership Committee and prior to that, the Membership and Governance Committee. She is also co-chair of the Academy’s Asian Affinity Group.

Yang also co-founded Gold House, the collective that aims to lift the voices of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in Hollywood. She has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood” by the Hollywood Reporter.

Last June, she was feted at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures with a pillar named in her honor. She became the first Asian American woman to have a pillar at the museum.

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

OSCARS: Hollywood struggles to overcome the white, male perspective

Of the 20 nominations for Oscar's major acting awards this year, not a single one is an AANHPI actor. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

As America eagerly views the Academy Awards tonight (March 27), Hollywood appears to find it hard to swallow that the today's audience is not the same audience of the last century. Two new studies found that people of color helped keep the movie industry afloat during the pandemic even as the Oscar's acting categories showed a lack of diversity in casting their products, according to studies from two L.A.-based universities, UCLA and USC.

A large percentage of the movie business’s box office revenue and home viewership was driven by consumers of color in 2021, according to UCLA’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report. The report examines the 252 top-performing English-language films — based on box office receipts and streaming data — during the second year that the COVID-19 pandemic forced movie studios to adopt unconventional release strategies. 

The coronavirus pandemic upended the theatrical film market in 2020 and 2021, but despite the industry upheaval, a new report shows that at least a few things haven’t changed in popular films: It's still a White man's world.

At the same time, the movie-making capitol of the world is stuck in the mud in producing films with characters that look like the majority of moviegoers. 

“We cannot underestimate the positive impact the 32 movies with leads and co-leads of color released in 2021 can have on young audiences of color,” said Katherine L. Neff, lead author of a research brief entitled "Inequality in 1,500 Popular Films" out of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

“To be able to see yourself on screen, and to see yourself and people that look like you as the hero or leader in a variety of different films was not an option when I was younger. People of color deserve to be at the heart of storytelling.”

Of the 100 top films in 2021, according to the USC report, only 32% featured an underrepresented lead/co lead. This figure is slightly higher than 2020 when only 28% of movies had a lead/co lead of color. 

2021 findings are still notably below proportional representation, as people of color make up 40% of the U.S. population. The 32 movies depicted a total of 34 non-white leads/co leads. 

• 32.3% (or 11) of the leads/co leads were Asian, 
• 32.3% (11) were Black, 
• 8.8% (3) were Hispanic/Latino, 
• 2.9% (1) were Middle Eastern/North African, and 
• 23.5% (8) were Multiracial/Multiethnic

That's sparse pickings and might be one of the reasons there are no AAPI actors nominated for an Academy Award considering the hundreds of films made and distributed by Hollywood studios and independents.

To increase the likelihood for AANHPI actors receive more accolades such as the Oscars, the actors have to be given substantial roles in which they can shine beyond the martial artist, good friend, wise mentor or comic relief. And there needs to more of them, not just one or two projects that stand out above the rest. Hollywood movie makers need to offer a wider choice of films besides the kung fu superheroes, computer nerds and math wizards offered to audiences.

Not that outstanding performances can come out of such characterizations or stereotypical genre. There just hasn't been any, thus far.

'Drive My Car' is Oscar contender

This year, there is no Crazy Rich Asians, Minari or The Farewell that the AAPI fans can hang their hopes to in the Oscar races.

Drive My Car, which is deservedly nominated for Best Picture and Best Foreign Feature, is, alas, a Japanese film, not an American movie. It stars Japanese actors, not Japanese Americans. 

Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon, which takes place in  a fictional Southeast Asian country and features a voice cast of actors of Asian descent including Daniel Dae Kim, Gemma Chan, Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina, is up for Best Animated Feature.

In 2020, Parasite won a slew of awards including Best Picture and Best Director, but that groundbreaking movie was from South Korea.

In 2021, Best Picture and Best Director went to Nomadland, an American film directed by Chloe Zhao, who had to reaffirm her Chinese citizenship to assuage her critics in her homeland.

The UCLA report’s authors noted that 2021 was the first year since they began tracking such statistics that the majority of Academy Awards went to films that were directed by people of color and featured minority actors in lead roles. And the year’s third highest-grossing film at the box office was F9: The Fast Saga, which featured a cast that was more than 50% minority and was directed by Taiwanese American filmmaker Justin Lin. Sixty-five percent of opening weekend ticket sales for “F9” were to minority audiences, the highest figure among all films in the top 10.

“Last year, every time a big movie exceeded expectations or broke a box office record, the majority of opening weekend audiences were people of color,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, a co-author of the report and the director of research and civic engagement for the UCLA College division of social sciences. “For people of color, and especially Latino families, theaters provided an excursion when almost everything else was shut down. In a sense, people of color kept studios afloat the past couple of years.

“Studios should consider them to be investors, and as investors, they should get a return in the form of representation,” continues the UCLA study.

Overall, 43.1% of actors in the movies analyzed by the report were minorities. That’s more than double the percentage from 2011, the first year of data collected by the authors, when 20.7% of actors were minorities. And 31.0% of the top-performing films in 2021 had casts in which the majority of the actors were minorities.

“Minorities reached proportionate representation in 2020 for the first time when it comes to overall cast diversity in films, and that held true again in 2021,” said Darnell Hunt, dean of the social sciences at UCLA and co-author of the report.

Hunt said the phenomenon is probably due in part to the greater number of movies that are initially released on streaming services: Of the films analyzed in the report, 45.6% were released on streaming services only.

“We do think this dual-release strategy is here to stay,” Hunt said. “And it could have a lasting impact on diversity metrics in front of and behind the camera as studios think about how to finance content for different platforms.”

For example, the report found that women and people of color were far more likely than white men to direct films with budgets less than $20 million.

“A small production budget usually means that there is also little to no marketing and studio support, unless it’s from a production company known for making art house films,” Ramón said. “And that makes it more difficult for filmmakers to get the next opportunity if their films have to fight for attention.”

Hunt said studios are likely to bank on big-budget tentpole movies and sequels as traditional box office drivers, even as they continue to experiment with release platforms and adjust the amount of time between films’ theatrical releases and their arrival on streaming services or on DVD or Blu-ray.

Among the 2021 films released to streaming services, those with casts in which a majority of actors were non-white enjoyed the highest ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49 and in Black households. Seventy-two films with majority-minority casts were released on streaming in 2021, including Raya and the Last Dragon, Coming 2 America, Vivo and Mortal Kombat.

“In 2021, diversity in front of the camera did not equate to more opportunities behind the camera for filmmakers who are women and people of color,” Ramón said. “They continue to receive less financing, even when they make films with white lead actors. Most of these filmmakers are relegated to low-budget films. For women of color, directing and writing opportunities are really the final frontier.”

Of the filmmakers who directed the movies analyzed in the report, 21.8% were women and 30.2% were people of color. Among the screenwriters for those films, 33.5% were women and 32.3% were people of color. Diversity in both jobs increased incrementally from 2020.

Out of the 76 minority directors of 2021’s top films, just 23 were women. And among Black, Latino and multiracial directors, at least twice as many were men as women in each racial or ethnic classification.

Although there was gender parity among Asian American and Native American directors, the overall numbers of directors from those groups were very small: just 17 Asian American directors and and just two Native American directors were represented in 2021. Among white directors, 32 were women and 143 were men, says the UCLA study.

Gender bias clearly evident

Across town, the USC brief also concluded that although the number of popular films with female and underrepresented leads has not significantly declined from 2019, there is still room for growth.

"To encourage continued change, one important factor that must be countered is the notion that economic 'risk' is tied to identity," says the USC study.

As USC's previous studies indicate, the presence of a girl/woman in a lead/co lead role does not significantly impact domestic or international revenue. 

Films with underrepresented leads/co leads may actually earn more money domestically than films with only white leads.7 Yet as the data reveal, even if companies are aware that they may not lose money by being inclusive, they have not fully embraced inclusion either. 

In the same study, there were differences in the size of production budgets, amount of marketing spend, and distribution density, such that movies with female and underrepresented leads/co leads were given less support in these critical areas than movies with white or male leads. In other words, the perception of economic “risk” tied to identity guides decision-making about who can lead a film. 

To solve this problem, companies and producers must critically examine the resources given to films with women and underrepresented leads– and women of color in leading roles in particular. Then, companies must level the field by ensuring that the movies starring women and people of color are not systematically disadvantaged through the allotment of budgets, marketing, or in the distribution process. 

At each stage of the green light and budget trajectory, executives must seek to decouple “risk” from identity and assess whether the questions they ask themselves to gauge “risk” for films with women and underrepresented leads are the same they pose about white male-driven movies. 

The UCLA and the USC studies, released days apart, reinforced their separate findings.

The authors of the UCLA study noted that 2021 was the first year since they began tracking such statistics that the majority of Academy Awards went to films that were directed by people of color and featured minority actors in lead roles. And the year’s third highest-grossing film at the box office was “F9: The Fast Saga,” which featured a cast that was more than 50% minority and was directed by Taiwanese American filmmaker Justin Lin. Sixty-five percent of opening weekend ticket sales for “F9” were to minority audiences, the highest figure among all films in the top 10.

The report tracks the numbers of writers, directors and actors who identify as Asian American, Black, Latino, Middle Eastern/North African, multiracial and Native American. People in those groups make up 42.7% of the U.S. population, and they form an important consumer bloc for entertainment, including movies. 

Diversity in casting results in box office success

For six of the 10 top-grossing films that opened in theaters in 2021, people of color accounted for the majority of opening-weekend U.S. ticket sales. 

The UCLA report also analyzed box office performance based on the diversity of the movies’ casts — whether minority actors made up less than 11% of the cast, 11% to 20%, and so on, up to 51% or more. The study revealed that films with 21% to 30% minority actors had higher median global box office receipts than films in any other tier. That echoed a pattern since the report began tracking box office performance in 2011.

The UCLA report also found that, as in previous years, films with the least diverse casts (11% or less minority) were the poorest performers at the box office. 

“Last year, every time a big movie exceeded expectations or broke a box office record, the majority of opening weekend audiences were people of color,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, a co-author of the report and the director of research and civic engagement for the UCLA College division of social sciences. “For people of color, and especially Latino families, theaters provided an excursion when almost everything else was shut down. In a sense, people of color kept studios afloat the past couple of years.

“Studios should consider them to be investors, and as investors, they should get a return in the form of representation.”

Overall, 43.1% of actors in the movies analyzed by the report were minorities. That’s more than double the percentage from 2011, the first year of data collected by the authors, when 20.7% of actors were minorities. And 31.0% of the top-performing films in 2021 had casts in which the majority of the actors were minorities.

“Minorities reached proportionate representation in 2020 for the first time when it comes to overall cast diversity in films, and that held true again in 2021,” said Darnell Hunt, dean of the social sciences at UCLA and co-author of the report.

Hunt said the phenomenon is probably due in part to the greater number of movies that are initially released on streaming services: Of the films analyzed in the UCLA report, 45.6% were released on streaming services only.

“We do think this dual-release strategy is here to stay,” Hunt said. “And it could have a lasting impact on diversity metrics in front of and behind the camera as studios think about how to finance content for different platforms.”

For example, the report found that women and people of color were far more likely than white men to direct films with budgets less than $20 million.

“A small production budget usually means that there is also little to no marketing and studio support, unless it’s from a production company known for making art house films,” Ramón said. “And that makes it more difficult for filmmakers to get the next opportunity if their films have to fight for attention.”

Hunt said studios are likely to bank on big-budget tentpole movies and sequels as traditional box office drivers, even as they continue to experiment with release platforms and adjust the amount of time between films’ theatrical releases and their arrival on streaming services or on DVD or Blu-ray.

Among the 2021 films released to streaming services, those with casts in which a majority of actors were non-white enjoyed the highest ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49 and in Black households. Seventy-two films with majority-minority casts were released on streaming in 2021, including “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Coming 2 America,” “Vivo” and “Mortal Kombat.”

“In 2021, diversity in front of the camera did not equate to more opportunities behind the camera for filmmakers who are women and people of color,” Ramón said. “They continue to receive less financing, even when they make films with white lead actors. Most of these filmmakers are relegated to low-budget films,” reports the UCLA study.

By the numbers

Other takeaways from the UCLA report:

• Films written or directed by people of color in 2021 had significantly more diverse casts than those written or directed by white men.
• Asian American people made up 5.6% of lead actors, 6.4% of overall cast, 6.7% of directors and 4.0% of writers.
• Black actors held 15.5% of lead actor roles and 18% of overall acting roles, as well as 9.5% of directors and 10.4% of writers. For comparison, Black people make up about 13% of the U.S. population.
• Latinos held just 7.1% of lead acting roles, 7.7% of overall acting roles, 5.6% of writers and 7.1% of directors. Latinos represent 18.7% of the U.S. population.
• There were no lead actors of Middle Eastern and North African descent in the films analyzed.
• Native Americans remain virtually invisible in Hollywood, making up less than 1% of each job category in the study.
• Women made up 47.2% of lead acting roles, nearly double the 2011 percentage, which was 25.6%.

The Oscars will be held on March 27, 2022, at 5 p.m., PDT and air on ABC. The ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre, located in Los Angeles,

Hollywood, like the rest of the nation, is still stumbling around trying to wrestle its way out of the quagmire of race and representation. It is a struggle that is evolving and necessary in order for the "soft power" Hollywood spreads across the world -- albeit in pursuit of profits -- to reflect the emerging America.

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

Asians make history at the Academy Awards

Oscar winners, from left: director Chloe Zhao, musician H.E.R. and actress Youn Yuh-jung.

There has never been an Academy Awards like this year's Oscars show. In the midst of pandemic-induced social distancing and mask-wearing, Asians made their presence felt like never before in the history of the coveted statuettes.

An unprecedented number of Asians and Asian Americans were among the nominees and they walked away with awards for directing, best picture, best supporting actor and best song.

Chloe Zhao of China was named best director for helming the drama Nomadland, which also won awards for best picture and best actress (Frances McDormand). In her victory, Zhao made history as the first woman of color -- and only the second woman, ever -- to win the director's Oscar.

“I have always found goodness in the people I met everywhere I went in the world,” she said as she accepted her statuette. “So this is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves. And to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that. And this is for you, you inspire me to keep going.”

Zhao's was a frontrunner for the award had been building since awards season began. She and Nomadland won a plethora of awards in the film festival circuit including the director's award in the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice and the Director's Guild.

For the first time in Oscar history, there were two directors of Asian descent being considered for the director's Oscar. Isaac Lee Chung was nominated for Minari, a movie about a Korean immigrant family adapting to life in rural Arkansas. 

Like Chao, Youn Yuh-jung, who played the feisty grandmother in Manari, made Oscar history as the first Korean and the second Asian American to win the Best Supporting Actress statuette. Miyoshi Umeki won the award for Sayonara in 1958.

Minari's lead actor Steven Yeun was also nominated for Best Actor. Like the director's category, it was the first time there were two Asians up for Best Actor. Riz Ahmed was also named for the same category for his work in the Sound of Metal. The award was won by  veteran actor Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father. 

TWITTER

Filipino American musician and singer H.E.R. didn't expect to win the Oscar.

The song for Judas and the Black Messiah, "Fight For You" cowritten and performed by H.E.R., aka Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, won in the category of Best Song. "I didn't expect to win this award," said H.E.R.

"Musicians, filmmakers, I believe we have an opportunity and a responsibility, to tell the truth, and to write history the way that it was, and how it connects us to today, and what we see going on in the world today. I have no words, I'm so, so thankful," said the 23-year old Filipino American in her acceptance speech. Judas and the Black Messiah is about the betrayal and assassination of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party.

"Knowledge is power, music is power, and as long as I'm standing, I'm always gonna fight for us," she said. "I'm always gonna fight for my people and fight for what's right, and I think that's what music does, and that's what storytelling does."

 

Oscars not quite as white; historic year for AAPI filmmakers

For the first time, two directors of Asian descent will compete in the Best Actor category:
Lee Isaac Chung for "Minari" and Chloe Zhao for "Nomadland."

So this is what happens when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts invites more people of color to join: The movie industry's premiere awards, the Oscars, starts to reflect the real America.

This is especially true for AAPI artists and projects. Whether or not they win in their respective categories or not, the sheer number and firsts make this year's Academy Awards one for the history books. For the first time, two Asians have been nominated in the Best Director category and two actors of Asian descent name been nominated as Best Actors.

Isaac Lee Chung and Chloe Zhao were nominated as Best Directors, as were their movies, Minari and Nomadland, respectively, named in the Best Picture catetgory. It's the first time two directors of Asian descent were named. 

Zhao, fresh off her Best Picture win in the Golden Globes, also made history as the first Asian woman nominated in the director category. She has to be the early favorite to repeat her win for the Academy Awards.

"I’m grateful to have gone on this journey with our talented team of filmmakers and to have met so many wonderful people who generously shared their stories with us," Zhao told Variety. "Thank you so much to my Academy peers for recognizing this film that is very close to my heart.” 

For the first time, there will be two Asians in the Best Actor Category: Korean American Steven Yeun for his role of quiet but determined ambition as the Korean American immigrant father in Minari; and Riz Ahmed, a Pakistani Brit, for his emotional portrayal of the drummer losing his hearing in Sound of Metal.

Riz Ahmed and Steven Yeun were nominated for Best Actor Oscars.

Minari scored another win as Yuh-Jung Youn, who plays the feisty grandmother, was nominated as Best Supporting Actress.

“Never in my dreams did I ever think a Korean actress would be nominated for an Oscar, and I can’t believe it’s me!," Youn told Variety. 

Minari's director and writer Isaac Lee Chung, who partially based the film on his own story, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. The motion picture was also nominated for Best Original Score, by Emile Mosseri.

Zhao's writing was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Nomadland, which was adapted from the Jessica Bruder novel, "Nomadland: Surviving American in the Twenty-FIrst Century."

The Adapted Screenplay will also feature White Tiger, a rags-to-riches story shot in India and produced by Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas.

The Filipino American R&B singer and songwriter H.E.R. had her song, "Fight For You" from the film Judas and the Black Messiah nominated for Best Song.

In the animated feature category, Over the Moon, based on a Chinese myth and featuring an all-Asian voice cast, earned a nomination.

Mulan, the live-action Disney film featuring an all-Asian and Asian American case and  based on the Chinese legend of the woman warrior, was nominated in a couple of categories, Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects.

The nominations for Asian and Asian American projects along with the plethora of Black actors and projects nominated for an Oscar is a marked change in the past. Only a few years ago, the Oscars was derided for nominating only white actors resulting in the infamous #OscarsSoWhite hashtag.

Efforts by the Academy to diversify its selection process by inviting more movie-making individuals in front of and behind the camera to become members may be showing up in the nominations this year.

Whether or not the increased inclusion of people and perspectives other than the still-powerful white view is simply a temporary fad or a permanent trend will depend on next year, and the next and the next.

Hollywood is starting to realize that there is a wealth of material and talent outside of the traditional white bubble of the past. The fact that a majority of the movie-going audience are primarily made up of people of color helps the bottom-line, too is not lost on the profit-motivated industry.

Oscars: Chloe Zhao touted in Best Director category

'Nomadland' director Chloe Zhao may be up for an Oscar ... or two, or three.

We may see unprecedented Asian representation in the race for the Oscars this year. Chloe Zhao is receiving almost universal praise for her directing of Nomadland. In fact, she may be the leading contender in that category.

If nominated, Zhao would be joining Lee Isaac Chung, director of the Asian American movie, Minari, who is also being touted as a candidate in the same category.

Unlike Asian American directors of her generation, Zhao didn't start her movie-making career within the genre of "ethnic" films dealing identity or fitting into white culture. The Beijing-raised director made a name for herself with her films about the modern American West, Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider, all starring non-Asians.

In Nomadland, Zhao is still exploring the American West, but instead of rodeo riders, she has her focus on the subculture of homeless senior citizens, who wander in their trailers and campers from job to job, a byproduct of the country's increasing corporate and global culture.

She may also be in nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for her work on Nomadland, adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by Jessica Bruder. 

Zhao's latest work is a hit with audiences (currently at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes) and film critics, winning high praise in the film festival circuit, including the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In recent years, both of these festivals have been strong indicators for a Best Picture nomination.

Zhao also edited and produced the picture, which will be released on December 4, qualifying her for the Oscars.

There's a sadness in her films, devoid of special effects and action sequences, as she concentrates on the characters making their way through a changing world, as they find a way to survive or get left behind by the inevitable shift, but in the background, the landscape, bare, rough and beautiful, remains.

Because of the outstanding work by the directors, both Nomadland and Minari, are also potential nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

If both Zhao and Chung get that nomination -- and likewise if both Nomadland and Minari get nominated in the Best Picture category -- that will mark a real change in Hollywood culture as the older establishment yields its influence to the incoming generation of diverse filmmakers. 

It may be hoping for too much for both films and both directors to get nominate; but if they did, that would be going against precedence. They both must pass muster from the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts, which hand out the awards. Despite recent efforts to add diversity to its membership, it is still overwhelming older, white and male.

Can the Oscars have another Asian motion picture be awarded Best Picture. After last year's Parasite from Korea, can artistic merit overcome the institutional bias? This year, one Asian nominee might be a possibility, but to have both films nominated might be too much for the out-of-touch membership -- even though they deserve it.

The Oscar nominations will be announce March 15, 2021 and the awards ceremony will air April 25, 2021 on ABC. Details of the format for the awards show is yet to be determined because of the coronavirus limitations.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

Serious Oscar talk for Steven Yeun, 'Minari'

Movie director Lee Isaac Chung, left, and the cast for his film "Minari," let by Steven Yeun are being touted as possible Oscar nominees.

It's winter and the U.S. is in the middle of a pandemic, but that is not stopping Hollywood from launching it's campaigns for the Academy Awards. For the first time, there is serious buzz about an Asian American film that could have a huge impact on the Oscars.

Actor Steven Yeun's sensitive and deep role in the motion picture Minari has been hailed as an Oscar-worthy performance. 

If nominated, Yeun would be the first Asian American nominee for Best Actor. Two other actors of Asian descent have been nominated in that category: Yul Brynner, who was born in Russia and citizen of Switzerland, in The King and I and Ben Kingsley of Great Britain in Gandhi and House of Sand and Fog.

For Yeun, whose breakthrough role was in the popular TV series The Walking Dead, he told Deadline that the script that “captured a feeling of what an immigrant experience is like.”

The movie, he says, captured the feeling of what a family is like, of what marriage feels like, what growing up in a religious household feels like … there are so many things that I could relate to with Isaac,” Yeun said in a Deadline interview. “I hadn’t seen many tellings of stories of the other done in a way that wasn’t idealizing them or romanticizing them or needing them to be afflicted by some external force that validates their existence.”

The critically acclaimed movie Minari, depicting the cultural adjustment of a Korean  American family that moves from Los Angeles to rural Alabama in the 1980s, is also making critics' lists for a potential nominee for Best Picture. 

In addition, Yeun's costars are also being praised for their work. Yeri Han might get a  a Best Actress nod while Alan S. Kim, Will Patton and Yuh-Jung Youn are potential nominees for the supporting acting categories.

With all the praise being lavished on the film, it is not surprising that its director, Lee Isaac Chung, is also being recognized for his directing and original screenplay.

The Oscars, the awards given by the Academy for Motion Pictures, Arts and sciences has been criticized for favoring big-name studios over indepdent produced films and being swayed by the studios-driven campaigns for their products and actors.

Independent distributor A24 is willing to go to bat for Minari as its next big Oscar contender. The movie has set the release date for Minari for an awards-qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles this December before a wider release beginning in February 2021. 

With over 80 titles under it's belt and its commitment to underserved audiences, A24 has received 25 Academy Award nominations, several prestigious industry wins, and their films have landed at the top of countless year-end lists. Its top films include another Asian American movie, The Farewell, which was snubbed in the Oscar's acting and directing categories despite critical and box office success.

Contrary to popular belief, not every actor in Hollywood is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which awards the Oscars, Actors have to be invited to join the Academy, which is still overwhelmingly older and white males despite recent efforts to diversify its ranks.

The bias built into the voting has tilted the Oscar winners to white movies and performances by familiar white actors.

Last year's Best Picture award and Best Director Oscar went to the Korean movie Parasite. Those awares were the exceptions, not the rule. Minari is an American-made film about a uniquely American topic.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

'Parasite' makes history by winning four Oscars including Best Picture

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

'Parasite's' cast and crew assembled on stage after the Best Picture award was announced.

It was a historic night for the South Korean movie Parasite. It won four Academy Awards, including the most prestigious award, Best Picture, the first Asian film to win that prize.

Parasite, a black comedy about class bias, also won Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best International Feature. Director Bong Joon-Ho's win was the first Oscar for a Korean filmmaker.

The last director of Asian descent to win Best Director and Best Picture was Taiwanese American Ang Lee for Life of Pi in 2013.

“Just to be nominated was a huge honor,” Bold told the audience through an interpreter when he won the director's Oscar. “I never thought I would win.”

“I will drink until next morning,” he joked.

Parasite's Best Picture award was well received by the celebrity-filled audience although it was predicted that the Oscar would go to the big-budget spectacle 1917. 

When the award was announced, the Parasite's cast and crew assembled on the stage as producer Kwak Sin-ae said through a translator, "I'm speechless. We never imagined this to ever happen, we are so happy. I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now. I express my deepest gratitude and respect for all the members of the Academy for making this decision."

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Bong Joon-Ho won an Oscar for directing 'Parasite.'

Kazu Hiro won an Oscar for Hair and Makeup who, along with Vivan Baker and Anne Morgan, won for their work in Bombshell. It was the second oscar for Hiro, who had previouisly won for Churchill in 2018.

The evening saw the first Maori, Taika Waititi, to win an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for the film Jojo Rabbit. Waititi dedicated his award to "All the indigenous kids of the world who want to do art and dance and write stories. We are the original storytellers, and we can make it here (Hollywood) as well."

Later in the evening when he presented one of the awards, he reminded the audience that the ceremonies were taking place "on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, Tataviam and the Chumash.

Diversity and inclusion was an underlying them for the evening when Monae sang the opening number, she reminded the audience of the Academy's shortcomings. "It's time to come alive," sang Janelle Monáe in the show's opening number, "because the Oscars is so white!"

Although Parasite won the major awards for the night, none of its cast was nominated for individual acting awards. The movie's cast had previously won Best Acting Ensemble at the Golden Globes.

Of the 20 acting nominations, this year, only one, Cynthia Evio, was an actor of color for her work in Harriet. No women had been nominated for Best Director despite several Oscar-worthy movies directed by women, including Lulu Wang for The Farewell and Greta Gerwig for Little Women.

Academy Awards: Asian American watchdog urges Hollywood to vote against Quentin Tarantino movie

Brad Pitt, left, and Mike Moh (playing Bruce Lee) in the Quentin Tarantino movie.

Ten days prior to the Academy Awards, Media Action Network for Asian Americans issued the following statement on Jan. 29 objecting to Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar nominations for Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood because of his depiction of the late Bruce Lee, and alleging that the director has a history of negative portrayals of people of color.

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Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, but MANAA is concerned about the Best Original Screenplay nod, as the nonprofit watchdog organization believes it’s undeserved given the insulting and inaccurate depiction of Asian American icon Bruce Lee (Mike Moh).

In the film, stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) laughs when Lee tells those gathered on a set that in a fight with the future Muhammad Ali, “I would make him a cripple!” Lee gets angry, asking Booth what’s so funny.

He responds: “You’re a little man with a big mouth and a big chip. And I think you should be embarrassed to suggest you’d be anything more than a stain on the seat of Cassius Clay’s trunks.”

Lee angrily retorts: “Brother, you’re the one with the big mouth. And I would really enjoy closing it, especially in front of all my friends. But my hands are registered as lethal weapons. That means, we get into a fight, I accidentally kill you, I go to jail!”

Lee suggests “a friendly contest … two out of three.” Although he defeats Booth in Round One, on their second match-up, Booth throws Lee into a vintage Lincoln Continental, damaging it.

Audiences laughed, as Lee was set up as a conceited jerk who deserved to be taken down a peg or two. The third round is interrupted before a winner can be determined.

After Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, expressed outrage, Tarantino said at a press conference: “Bruce Lee was kind of an arrogant guy. The way he was talking, I didn’t just make a lot of that up. I heard him say things like that, to that effect. If people are saying, ‘Well, he never said he could beat up Muhammad Ali,’ well, yeah, he did! Not only did he say that, but his wife, Linda Lee, said that in her first biography I ever read. … She absolutely said that!”

But on Twitter, Matthew Polly, author of the biography :Bruce Lee: A Life,” said the director was wrong. “Linda was quoting a TV critic [who]wrote: ‘Those who watched him would bet on Lee to render Cassius Clay senseless if they were put in a room and told that anything goes.’”

In the book “The Making of Enter the Dragon” (1987), Enter the Dragon co-star “Bolo” Yeung recalled Lee telling him that in the ’60s, while screening a documentary on Ali, “Bruce set up a wide full-length mirror to reflect Ali’s image from the screen. Bruce was looking into the mirror, moving along with Ali… Bruce was fighting in Ali’s shoes… Bruce knew he could never win a fight against Ali. ‘Look at my hand,’ he said. ‘That’s a little Chinese hand. He’d kill me.’”

Dan Inosanto, one of only three martial arts Lee trained to teach his Jeet June Do philosophy — and who co-starred with Lee in his final film, “Game of Death” — told Variety: “Bruce Lee would have never said anything derogatory about Muhammad Ali because he worshiped the ground Muhammad Ali walked on. In fact, he was into boxing more so than martial arts.”

Inosanto often accompanied Lee on TV and movie sets from “The Green Hornet” until his death and says Lee would never brag about his skills or get into fights to show off.

In his Aug. 16 Hollywood Reporter column, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who fought Lee in “Game of Death”) wrote: “I was in public with Bruce several times when some random jerk would loudly challenge Bruce to a fight. He always politely declined and moved on. First rule of Bruce’s fight club was don’t fight — unless there is no other option. He felt no need to prove himself. He knew who he was and that the real fight wasn’t on the mat, it was on the screen in creating opportunities for Asians to be seen as more than grinning stereotypes.”

Lee himself once unambiguously stated, “Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”

Tarantino exploits the real-life reputation of Bruce Lee to establish Booth as a formidable force to be reckoned with. In doing so, he arguably becomes the most powerful and volatile force in the film.

Tarantino’s History of Demeaning People of Color

Since the “Kill Bill” (2003/2004) films, Tarantino hasn’t hid his superficial fixation with the East. Audiences watched as The Bride (Uma Thurman) sashayed across the screen in a replica of Bruce Lee’s “Game of Death” yellow and black-striped track suit wielding a Japanese katana and massacring a horde of faceless, nameless Asian men wearing Kato masks from “The Green Hornet.”

She challenged notorious yakuza boss O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) to a sword fight in the snow (a scene inspired by the 1973 Japanese film “Lady Snowblood”), slicing her head open. The Bride then miraculously mastered the art of kung-fu with laughable aplomb and in adequate time to assassinate her aging lover/betrayer (David Carradine).

The effect of these stylistic and narrative choices demonstrates an appreciation of Asian culture and aesthetics but not of Asian people and bodies.

Like many white directors, Tarantino culturally appropriates aspects of Asian culture (e.g. martial arts, samurai swords, philosophies, old movies) and uses them to defeat or kill the very people who crafted them in the first place, Asian men and women.

As far back as the 1993 film “True Romance” (which Tarantino wrote), there are blatant and demeaning references to people of color. In 1994’s “Pulp Fiction” (which Tarantino wrote and directed), Vincent Vega (John Travolta) shoots and kills a young black man and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L Jackson) tries to enlist his friend Jimmie — played by Tarantino — to help hide the body. Jimmie goes on a rant, pointing out that his home doesn’t have a sign that says, “Dead [N-word] Storage.”

Not long after, the audience witnesses the graphic anal rape of Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), with a ball-gag in his mouth, only to be rescued by a courageous Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), samurai sword in hand, of course.

Unforgettably, this same film featured a scene where Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) tells a child that he hid a gold watch in his anal cavity in order to prevent its confiscation by his Vietnamese captors, whom he describes as “gooks” and “slopes.”

In “Django Unchained” (2012), Tarantino set a record for the use of the N-word in a film (more than 110 times). After Spike Lee said he was boycotting the movie because of the overuse of the racial slur (“I use it, but not excessively… But Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made — an honorary black man?”).

Tarantino, displaying his ignorance as to why he, as a white man, should be the one to determine if, when, and how often racial slurs should be used, told a reporter, “The minute any word has that much power, as far as I’m concerned, everyone on the planet should scream it. No word deserves that much power.”

Backlash Against Bruce Lee Portrayal

Although fact and fiction often blur in Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Bruce Lee is the only historic figure — besides the Manson family members — to be depicted negatively. Lee has been the inspiration of millions in large part because of his talents, but also due to the strength of his character and vision in trying to knock down barriers for Asian Americans in Hollywood. He was one of the few confident, leading Asian American men prior to his death in 1973.

While he wasn’t perfect, Lee’s remarkable legacy has stood the test of time for over half a century. Lee invented Jeet Kune Do, a philosophy of martial arts drawing from different disciplines that many credit with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA).

Unlike Lee, Tarantino sells future generations the empty promise that creative expression and malicious tropes go hand-in-hand. That the ruthless exploitation of one’s fellow man remains justifiable. Instead of attempting to defile the legacies of others, Tarantino should spend more time considering his own.

Shannon Lee decried Tarantino’s characterization of her late father as arrogant. As she told The L.A. Times, “I feel like he turned his confidence into arrogance and his intelligence into mockery.” The Wrap quoted her as saying, “I understand they want to make the Brad Pitt character this super bad-ass who could beat up Bruce Lee. But they didn’t need to treat him in the way that white Hollywood did when he was alive. It was really uncomfortable to sit in the theater and listen to people laugh at my father.”

Lee told Variety that, despite Tarantino’s use of elements from her father’s past work, she doubts he’s really a fan of Lee’s. “I have always suspected that [Tarantino] is a fan of the kung-fu genre and a fan of things that kick ass in cool and stylish ways… But whether he really knows anything about Bruce Lee as a human being, whether he’s interested in who Bruce Lee was as a human being, whether he admires who Bruce Lee was as a human being, I’m not really sure that I have any evidence to support that that would be true.”

Reportedly, Shannon Lee appealed to China’s National Film Administration to have her father’s depiction in the film changed. Tarantino refused to make any changes, so it was banned in China.

Even more important than the question of whether Ali or Lee would’ve won in a fight, says MANAA Founding President Guy Aoki, “The question I’ve heard for decades is, ‘How different would the image of Asian men have been had Bruce Lee lived?’ Tarantino irresponsibly took the one iconic figure Asian Americans had, ridiculed him, and turned him into a joke.”

MANAA asks Academy members to take these concerns into consideration as they cast their ballot for both “Best Picture” and “Best Original Screenplay.”

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The Academy Awards airs on ABC, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2 p.m. EST, 5 p.m. PST.