Golden Globes dubs US-made Minari a foreign-language film, sparking Hollywood outrage
- The decision means the movie, featuring an Asian-American cast and director, will not compete in the more high-profile best drama category
- The film’s dialogue is predominantly Korean, but the organisers’ rules say contenders for best drama must feature at least 50 per cent English dialogue
Asian-American filmmakers on Wednesday expressed dismay that South Korean drama Minari will compete for honours at next year’s Golden Globes in the foreign language category, rather than the more high-profile best drama field.
Minari, the story of a Korean family that moves to Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s, won the top prize at the Sundance film festival earlier this year and is expected to be a strong contender in the 2021 awards season.
Its cast and director are all Asian-Americans and the dialogue is predominantly Korean but under long-standing rules drawn up by the organisers of the Golden Globes, contenders for its best drama award must feature at least 50 per cent English dialogue.
“It’s a story about an immigrant family, in America, pursuing the American dream. We really need to change these antiquated rules that characterizes American as only English-speaking,” tweeted Lulu Wang, the Chinese-American director of The Farewell.
Former Hawaii Five-0 actor Daniel Dae Kim said on Twitter the rule felt like “the film equivalent of being told to go back to your country when that country is actually America”.
“Just for the record, Minari is an American movie written and directed by an American filmmaker set in America with an American lead actor and produced by an American production company,” tweeted actor Simu Liu, who is set to star in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.