"Gold List" Outstanding Asian and Pacific Islander (API) achievements

by Nathaniel R

Despite all the amazing advances in diversity in film over the past few years one group that remains extremely underrepresented in American cinema is people of Asian descent. Even when an Asian-centered film breaks through to major success, awards are compartmentalized. You've probably noticed that even if said film wins Best Picture (Parasite, Slumdog Millionaire, The Last Emperor) no actors are nominated in the acting categories. Only three actors of Asian descent have ever won Oscars: Miyoshi Umeki for Sayonara (1957), Ben Kingsley for Gandhi (1982), and Dr Haing S Ngor for The Killing Fields (1984). We hope Parasite's Oscar win at the start of 2020 was a fine omen of changes to come considering that the year that followed was actually a strong one for Asians in movies.

CAPE (Coalitions of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) and Gold House have teamed up for a first, we hope annual, group of awards called the "Gold List" honoring Asian Achievements in (mostly) English language cinema. Please note that is not a critics group, but an industry-group (creatives, executives, and "other entertainment leaders"). Their list of ten categories (with two winners in each) is after the jump... 

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Showbiz History: Olivier Assayas, MASH, Streep's Angels win, etc...

5 random things that happened on this day, January 25th, in showbiz history...

1949 The first Primetime Emmys ever were held at the Hollywood Athletic Club. But the Emmys then were not as we know them today. They were purely local celebrating Los Angeles television programs and stations. Over the first decade they morphed into the national TV celebration we have today... albeit with far fewer categories.

1961 Disney's 101 Dalmations came out on this day. We had a lot of fun writing about it for its 50th anniversary...

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Best International Feature: France, Portugal, Spain

by Cláudio Alves

Europe is the most represented continent in the history of the Best International Feature Oscar. However, while some of its countries are regularly honored, others have been submitting for decades without luck. France, for instance, is the reigning champion of the category, having been nominated forty times. In contrast, Portugal - my country – holds the record for the most submissions without a single nod. For this chapter in our trip through world cinema, we arrive at these two nations' 2020 submissions as well as Spain's Netflix contender…

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Showbiz History: Whoopi's win, Haji's legacy, and Aaron's scars

8 random things that happened on this day, January 24th, in showbiz history...

Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, and Monica Vitti in "La Notte"

1936 Anything Goes, the musical comedy hits movie theaters with Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman in the classic roles of Billy Crocker and Reno Sweeney.

1961 Michelangelo Antonioni's star-laden classic La Notte has its world premiere in Milan...

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Best International Feature: Lesotho, Morocco, Sudan

by Cláudio Alves

Our first voyage through the Best International Feature contenders took us to the films of the latest Oscar champions: South Korea, Mexico, and Chile. Now, we shall turn our attention to nations that haven't been nearly as lucky with AMPAS. The entire African continent, in fact, has been chronically ignored by the Academy ever since the genesis of this award. Shining a light on the African cinema in contention this year, we find the first-ever submissions from Lesotho and Sudan, as well as a deadpan comedy from Morocco…

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