ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE (2019)

Comedians Ali Wong and Randall Park’s answer to WHEN HARRY MET SALLY…, ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE centers on two childhood friends who reconnect and rekindle a romance after 15 years of estrangement. Reuniting with director Nahnatchka Khan after collaborating on FRESH OFF THE BOAT, Wong and Park write – alongside Michael Golamco, star in and produce this funny and authentic romantic comedy that also gives voice to an array of Asian American experiences. The film, which co-stars Daniel Dae Kim and Keanu Reeves, also features the work of veteran cinematographer and AFI Alum Tim Suhrstedt (AFI Class of 1976). Learn more about ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE in the AFI Catalog.

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (2002)

Marking the solo feature directorial debut of Justin Lin, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW follows a group of overachieving high school seniors in a wealthy Orange County suburb who become involved in a world of petty crime, drug dealing and self-destructiveness. Debuting at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, the film earned both critical and box office success and gained attention for turning the “model minority” myth on its head. AFI Alum Patrice Lucien Cochet (AFI Class of 1998) partnered with Lin as the cinematographer behind the film’s distinct visuals. Learn more about BETTER LUCK TOMORROW in the AFI Catalog.

THE BIG SICK (2017)

THE BIG SICK, written by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon and loosely based on their own love story, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. This dramedy follows a Pakistan-born comedian who falls for an American grad student (Zoe Kazan) only for her to contract a mysterious infection and be put into a medically induced coma. Throughout the film, he must confront her parents’ reticence about the relationship and manage his own family’s expectations of an arranged marriage. In addition to being honored with an AFI AWARD as one of the top 10 movies of the year, the film earned an Oscar® nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Watch Kumail Nanjiani talk about THE BIG SICK at AFI FEST in 2017.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018)

Adapted from the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, CRAZY RICH ASIANS is an opulent delight from director Jon M. Chu, penned by writers Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli. A critical and commercial success, the film stars a creative ensemble including Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong and Oscar® winner and AFI Honorary Degree Recipient Michelle Yeoh, exploring the challenges and culture shock an Asian American woman faces when she travels to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family in Singapore. AFI Alum Ashley Eakin (AFI DWW Class of 2020) served as Chu’s assistant on the film. Learn more about CRAZY RICH ASIANS in the AFI Catalog.

ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)

ENTER THE DRAGON, which stars iconic Chinese American actor Bruce Lee and celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer, brought mixed martial arts into the mainstream – breaking barriers and revolutionizing the way Asian Americans, African Americans and traditional martial arts are portrayed onscreen. The film showcases Lee’s prowess and charisma against an imaginative backdrop of vengeance, intrigue and criminal brutality and is considered one of the most influential action films of all time. ENTER THE DRAGON inspired a multitude of kung fu films and in 2004 was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress. Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more about the AFI Movie Club selection ENTER THE DRAGON.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)

The Daniels’ mind-bending EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE has been celebrated for its creativity, ingenuity and the dynamic performances of its ensemble cast including AFI Honorary Degree Recipient Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu. Centered around the multiverse that is the Asian immigrant experience, the film chronicles a mother’s journey to repair her strained relationship with her gay daughter before it’s too late. Featuring the work of Assistant Editors Zoe Mao and Aashish D’Mello (both AFI Class of 2017) and executive producer Todd Makurath (AFI Class of 2005), the film was honored with a 2022 AFI AWARD and won seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. Watch co-directors and co-writers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert discuss EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE at the AFI Conservatory.

THE FAREWELL (2019)

Written and directed by Lulu Wang and starring Awkwafina, THE FAREWELL chronicles a Chinese American family who travel to China to visit their grandmother Nai Nai after learning she only has a short while left to live and ultimately decide to keep her diagnosis a secret. The official AFI AWARDS rationale states that Wang “finds a rich vein of humor in the dark mines of mortality, a rare feat illuminated by the sparkling star turn of Awkwafina, whose performance looks to the future as a bond between East and West, comedy and drama, and generations young and old.” Watch Lulu Wang talk about how she achieved the tone of THE FAREWELL and her surprising source of inspiration.

GOOK (2017)

GOOK chronicles the surprising friendship forged between a pair of Korean American brothers and a young Black girl who lives in their neighborhood. Set in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, the film takes place on the first day of the 1992 LA uprising which notoriously resulted in the destruction of Koreatown at the expense of many immigrant business owners. The film features the work of actor/writer/director Justin Chon as well as his frequent collaborator – editor and AFI Conservatory Alum Reynolds Barney (AFI Class of 2016). At the Sundance Film Festival where the film premiered, it won the NEXT Audience Award as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actress for Simone Baker. Watch this exclusive AFI Movie Club video in which Barney talks about editing GOOK.

THE HALF OF IT (2020)

THE HALF OF IT marks the sophomore feature from writer/director Alice Wu, who broke into filmmaking with her critically acclaimed directorial debut SAVING FACE. Her follow-up is a coming-of-age story that reimagines Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” with her script landing on The Black List in 2018. Leah Lewis stars as Ellie Chu, a Chinese American teenaged girl living in a conservative, small town in Washington who helps a desperate high school football player (Daniel Diemer) impress the girl (Alexxis Lemire) they both secretly admire. In this heartfelt bildungsroman, Wu broadens the depiction of Asian Americans onscreen through Chu’s multifaceted identity as a queer Chinese American. Watch filmmaker Alice Wu talk about making THE HALF OF IT, which was programmed for AFI Movie Club.

THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1993)

Adapted from Amy Tan’s bestselling novel, THE JOY LUCK CLUB is a beautiful narrative tapestry that weaves together the stories of four Chinese mothers and their first-generation Chinese American daughters. Following 1961’s FLOWER DRUM SONG, THE JOY LUCK CLUB was the second Hollywood film to feature a majority Asian cast telling a contemporary Asian American story and its culturally specific, yet universal, narrative is one of familial duty, sacrifice and love. AFI Alum and AFI Conservatory Faculty Heidi Levitt (Class of 1987) worked as a Casting Director on the film, establishing a close collaboration with director Wayne Wang, whom she would later work with on projects including SMOKE and BLUE IN THE FACE. Watch a video from the AFI Archive in which Wayne Wang talks about THE JOY LUCK CLUB.

MINARI (2020)

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung and featuring the production design of AFI Alum Yong Ok Lee (AFI Class of 2013), MINARI was honored with an AFI AWARD in 2020, recognizing it as one of the top 10 movies of the year. According to the official AFI AWARDS rationale, “MINARI blossoms with hope in the beating heart of America. Lee Isaac Chung’s deeply personal saga is an ode to the unrelenting pressure of the pioneer spirit. Universal questions about home, pride and identity drive the narrative to touch both hearts and minds, as the Yi family dreams for more in a field of uncertainty.” The film scored six Academy Award® nominations with Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung winning the Oscar® for Best Actress – becoming the first Korean to earn an Academy Award® for acting. Watch Lee Isaac Chung speak about a scene he almost cut from MINARI.

MOANA (2016)

Premiering at AFI FEST in 2016, the animated feature MOANA charts a young girl’s quest across the ocean to save her people from the island village of Motunui from an impending catastrophe and fulfill the ancient quest of her ancestors. The film marked the debut of Hawaiian teenager Auliʻi Cravalho – who voices the title character opposite Dwayne Johnson as Polynesian trickster demi–god Maui. Johnson has said he was inspired to be a part of the film to showcase Pacific Islander culture in a way that hadn’t previously been depicted onscreen. The film was also informed by the Oceanic Trust, which consisted of a group of historians, anthropologists, cultural practitioners and linguists from islands including Samoa, Tahiti, Mo’orea, and Fiji, who helped advise and shape the film. Learn more about MOANA in the AFI Catalog.

THE NAMESAKE (2006)

Based on the bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri, THE NAMESAKE follows a young Indian American played by Kal Penn who is caught between his family roots in Calcutta and life in America. The film was shot by acclaimed cinematographer and AFI Conservatory Alum Frederick Elmes (AFI Class of 1972) and directed by Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair who has previously spoken at the AFI Conservatory and been honored with a tribute at AFI FEST. Watch THE NAMESAKE director speak about her path to becoming a filmmaker and how she decides which projects to undertake.

PACHINKO (2022)

Created by Soo Hugh and adapted from the acclaimed novel by Min Jin Lee, this sweeping epic chronicles four generations of a Korean immigrant family living in Japan and the reverberating impact of colonial rule in Korea. PACHINKO stars Academy Award® winner Youn Yuh-jung, as well as a new generation of talent including Minha Kim, Lee Min-Ho and Jin Ha. It also features the dynamic work of AFI Conservatory Alum Franklin Rho (AFI Class of 2004) who was a member of the writing staff and directors Justin Chon and Kogonada. AFI honored PACHINKO with an AFI AWARD, naming it one of the top 10 television programs of 2022. According to the official AFI AWARDS rationale, the show’s “global lens reminds us of the borderless commonality of sacrifices made, choices that change us and the eternal strive toward a better future.”

PICCADILLY (1929)

PICCADILLY is a 1929 drama directed by E.A. Dupont and written by Arnold Bennett which showcases the luminous talents of silent star Anna May Wong who is considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood. The film, in which she plays a dishwasher who becomes a West-End dancing sensation, was originally released in England as a silent film and later re-released with sound to capitalize on the emerging technology. A pioneer and an icon in early Hollywood, Wong not only appeared in more than 60 films during her remarkable career, but also created her own production company in 1924 to fight against typecasting. The 30th AFI FEST hosted a retrospective screening of PICCADILLY to honor her extraordinary contributions to the art form. Learn more about the AFI Movie Club selection PICCADILLY.

THE WEDDING BANQUET (1993)

THE WEDDING BANQUET follows a young closeted gay man from Taiwan (Winston Chao, in his film debut) who decides to marry a mainland Chinese woman to please his traditional parents and get her a green card. Directed by Ang Lee, this wonderful comedy explores the complications that dutiful son Wai-Tung faces as he attempts to stage a fake wedding for his parents. THE WEDDING BANQUET was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Academy Award® and won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. AFI also screened a retrospective of Lee’s second film at AFI FEST in 2001. Learn more about THE WEDDING BANQUET in the AFI Catalog.

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Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Viewing Guide