Asian American Media Alliance (AAMA) Congratulates Unprecedented AAPI Wins at the 2023 Oscars
March 13, 2023
AAMA congratulates all of the 2023 Academy Award Winners and Nominees, highlighted by the feature film, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (EEAAO), which went on to top the night with seven awards. From Michelle Yeoh winning Best Actress (the first woman who identifies as Asian ever to be nominated in this category), to Ke Huy Quan for winning Best Supporting Actor, to the writing/directing duo The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Director, and to producer Jonathan Wang winning Best Picture – this was the most Oscars wins for any movie since GRAVITY equaled that total in 2009. EEAAO was also film studio A24’s biggest box office hit.
Michelle Yeoh: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me... this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams do come true. And ladies don’t let anyone ever tell you, you are ever past your prime.”
Ke Huy Quan: “My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. This is the American Dream. Dreams are something you have to believe in. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive!”
Director Daniel Kwan and producer Jonathan Wang:
AAMA Vice Chair, Kavneet Singh comments, "This year the broader AAPI community saw huge success with the seven wins for EEAAO. On top of that, The Elephant Whisperers, a film from South Asia, won for Best Short Documentary. While the AAPI community had unprecedented victories and success this year, showcasing the depth of talent of the community, we still see opportunities for representation.
One example from this year's show was the dance performance for Best Original Song Naatu Naatu, where not a single South Asian performer was included in the dance ensemble. To not have a single South Asian representing on stage during a performance of a Telegu (a language primarily spoken in South India) song, is a huge miss by the casting directors for the performance and the show's decision makers."
"We are beyond excited to see EEAAO make history at the Oscars, winning more top awards than any other film in the 95 years of the awards show's history," states AAMA Org Member David Inoue (Executive Director of JACL). "Not only that but Michelle Yeoh's historic win as the first Asian American woman for best actress and Ke Huy Quan's comeback win after he left acting for over 20 years. Don't think we missed the shoutout to Little Tokyo either! But the success of EEAAO proves what we've known all along, that Asian American stories and storytellers matter. In a year where we are still reeling from anti-Asian hate and further xenophobic rhetoric, this moment of representation matters. To all of us, whether we're 100 or 10 years old, seeing someone that looks like us, up on that big stage, and winning that award matters. We hope this will open new doors for AANHPI creators to be able to our stories and encourage others to support us in telling them. We also hope that studios big and small will work with our community to ensure that representation happens in front of the camera and beyond."
“While the AAMA endeavors to elevate and celebrate the achievements in Asian and AAPI representation especially with this year’s Oscars,” AAMA Interim Executive Director Milton Liu stated, “there is still much work that needs to be done – not only in the theatrical space, but also in television, cable, streamers and unscripted media. From our recent Annual Assessment of the Broadcast Network TV Season, there still remains a dearth of representation in lead roles and upper-level creative positions. Our stories need to be told and heard. Our faces and our images must be seen.”
CONTACT
Milton Liu, milton@aamediaalliance.org
https://www.aamediaalliance.org/
Linked here is the AAMA’s full Assessment for the 2020 – 21 Broadcast TV Season.
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The Asian American Media Alliance (AAMA) Member Organizations include Asian Americans Advancing Justice— AAJC, East West Players, Japanese American Citizens League, National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, National Federation of Filipino American Associations, OCA—Asian Pacific American Advocates, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Visual Communications.
AAMA Affiliate Organizations include Asian American Documentary Network, Asian CineVision, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Center for Asian American Media, Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment, Hawai’i International Film Festival, Pacific Arts Movement, and Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association.