"'Minari' Being Considered a Foreign Language Film Is Racial Discrimination"

Criticism Arises Over US Golden Globe Foreign Language Film Nominee Classification
Excluded from Best Picture Nominees Due to High Amount of Korean Dialogue

Director Lee Isaac Chung's film Minari has sparked criticism after being classified as a foreign language film at the American Golden Globe Awards. The film, produced by the US company Plan B, was excluded from the Best Picture category because it contains a large amount of Korean dialogue.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which organizes the Golden Globe Awards, recently categorized Minari as a foreign language film. They have a rule that classifies a film as foreign language if more than half of the dialogue is not in English. Last year, they similarly classified Lulu Wang's The Farewell, directed by a Chinese-American, as a foreign language film.

Asian filmmakers have strongly opposed this repetitive outdated practice. Director Lulu Wang wrote on social media, "I have not seen a film more American than Minari this year," and emphasized, "There is a need to change the old rule that only English can be used." Andrew Phung, an Asian actor appearing in the Canadian sitcom Kim's Convenience, said, "Minari is a film about the American Dream, starring and directed by Americans and produced in the US," adding, "This decision is nothing short of racial discrimination." Simu Liu, also appearing in the same sitcom, asked, "What could be more American than that (Minari)?"

Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim, who appeared in the American drama Lost, criticized the decision, saying, "This decision is no different from telling someone to 'go back to your country'." The American pop culture magazine Paste pointed out the hypocrisy of the HFPA by mentioning Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Alejandro Gonz?lez I??rritu's Babel (2006), which were nominated for Best Picture despite having a low proportion of English dialogue. The latter even won a trophy.

Minari is a work by Korean-American director Chung, who infused his autobiographical experiences into the film. It was produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B, known for Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave, and distributed by A24, which has led Oscar campaigns for Moonlight, Room, Lady Bird, The Lobster, and The Florida Project. The next Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held on February 28. Although it is usually held in January every year, the schedule was postponed due to the spread of COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.