Asian Pacific American Heritage

From the upcoming comedy Easter Sunday to various TV series including Pachinko, Fargo, Grey’s Anatomy, and Billions, these productions share something in common – some of their creatives are alumni of the New Writers Fellowship of CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) of which the HFPA is one of the major supporters. “Together we have launched so many careers and I hope you all are as proud as I am,” said Michelle Sugihara, CAPE’s executive director.

In May 2022, in association with many other Asian-American organizations, the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) will be celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month (AAPIHM) by hosting a special screening of multi-award-winning comedy/drama The Farewell, which will take place at the TCL Chinese Theater, Hollywood Boulevard on May 19. The film, written and directed by AWFF Advisory Board member Lulu Wang, stars Awkwafina (who received the AWFF's 2018 Rising Star Award), and AWFF Honorary Board member Tzi Ma.

This year, at the Metropolitan Museum gala in New York City, Michelle Yeoh dazzled in a green Prabal Gurung gown. Made of upcycled silk, the off-the-shoulder stunner was completed with a hand-draped bodice and a color coordinated long cape.

“By collaborating with other diverse groups, we can provide leading industry stakeholders with collective guidance on how best to use their enormous cultural influence to advance equity and inclusion for people of all backgrounds,” said Jeremy Tran, executive director of Gold House, the leading nonprofit collective of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) leaders, on why it joined the HFPA, NAACP, and others in the Reimagine Coalition. In October last year, the HFPA and NAACP announced a five-year partnership that included the unique dimension of the Reimagine Coalition.

At age six, David Tupaz was already a concert pianist. But after his grandmother brought him to see the movie, My Fair Lady, at age seven or eight, his dreams changed from music to fashion design.

Awkwafina has her roots in comedy which means she understands beats. Each tiny choice builds in the next.

Historically, the landscape of successful Asians behind the camera has been sparse. Among the few who peopled this landscape, however, there have been standouts – famously, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, who helmed over thirty films in his career during the mid-1900s, and is often cited as the inspiration for the work of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and George Lucas.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, American television networks began a gradual modification to their primetime shows to reflect a more diverse perspective. Though Desi Arnaz rocketed to stardom as the Latin lead of I Love Lucy back in 1951, the networks were slow to embrace diversity outside of cultural typecasting.

Magnum P. I.

Taiwan has been drawn to cinema as an art form since the summer of 1900 when Oshima Inoshi and his projectionist Matu-ura Shozo brought to Taipei and other cities, the dreamy new moving images created by the Lumière brothers, a mere four years after the novelty had been shown to enthralled audiences in Japan and China. The island, caught between history’s many chapters made of darkness and light, seems to still be looking for its own identity after centuries of dispute between European powers, Tokyo and Beijing.