Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Since the rise in popularity of Korean dramas such as Crash Landing on You, Kingdom, Vincenzo, Hospital Playlist, and of course, Squid Game, there has been an influx of recent as well as upcoming K-dramas not to be missed.   Below are some to watch out for: Mask Girl The series follows Kim Mo-mi (Ko Hyun-jung), an ordinary office worker who has always dreamed of being a performer though she feels that her face isn’t beautiful enough to achieve her goals.

When onscreen representation is discussed, it is most often first viewed through the more simplistic lens of access to roles. Minorities and historically underrepresented groups are justifiably fighting for race-blind casting, as they strive to increase their representation in films and television shows to percentages on par with the population as a whole.

In celebrating Asian heritage month, please note how Asian Australian actors are fast gaining traction in Hollywood. Below are some names to watch out for.

There’s a personality trait that two-time Golden Globe nominee Pat Morita shares with most of his beloved characters, from The Karate Kid’s Mr. Miyagi to South Korean Army Captain Sam Pak in the TV series M*A*S*H*.

Hollywood films are often thought of as America’s greatest export. But upon closer examination, it is rather ironic to note that many of the medium’s most significant creators were foreign-born.

When Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win an Oscar as best actress for her performance in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once last March she said, “this is proof- dream big and dreams do come true”, adding that her win “is for Asian community and anyone who has ever been identified as minority”.   Although Asians have been a minority in the Hollywood film industry since its inception, compared to Hollywood, Asian cinema has seen many more female action stars who inspire both empowerment and awe.

The animation enterprise has extended since the early 1900s from hand-drawn cartoons to a brand-new era of animation with a billion-dollar business industry. Anime has become a cultural phenomenon and an industry that has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers globally.

The world’s biggest working film studio that you’ve probably never heard of isn’t in Hollywood. It isn’t in the US either.

Persis Khambatta, a smart and beautiful Indian actress and model, became instantly famous in December 1979 when she appeared on movie screens as Lieutenant Ilia, the Deltan navigator of the Starship USS Enterprise, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture directed by Robert Wise. The film was based on the television series (1966-1969) created by Gene Roddenberry, starring William Shatner as Captain James Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy as Vulcan science officer Spock.

A tiger, a young Indian castaway, a boat, an ocean: those are certainly not the typical ingredients of a Broadway show, but the new production Life of Pie made it possible. The stage play Life of Pi is based on the book written by Canadian writer Yann Martel.