What made the sweeping success of the film so notable was the diversity of its cast and winners. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” features a predominantly Asian cast and tells a multiversal story surrounding an Asian American family.
What made the sweeping success of the film so notable was the diversity of its cast and winners. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” features a predominantly Asian cast and tells a multiversal story surrounding an Asian American family.
On March 12, the academy held the 95th Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. The ceremony honored films released in 2022, as well as the actors, directors, writers and others involved in the movie-making process.
Most notably, just over one year after its release last March, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” took home seven statuettes. The film saw success in Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Leading Role, Directing, Film Editing, Writing (Original Screenplay) and Best Picture.
The triumph of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” at the Oscars was unsurprising — the film has become A24’s highest grossing ever, with global ticket sales reaching $103 million, according to Deadline.
What made the sweeping success of the film so notable was the diversity of its cast and winners. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” features a predominantly Asian cast and tells a multiversal story surrounding an Asian American family.
In Michelle Yeoh’s acceptance speech for Actress in a Leading Role, she thanked her extended family in Hong Kong “for letting me stand on your shoulders, giving me a leg up so that I can be here today.”
“This is history in the making,” she said. “Thank you.”
And it was history. Yeoh became the first Asian actress to win an Oscar in the category. Since the awards began, only six Oscars have been awarded to Asian actors, according to the Associated Press.
Standing behind her and having helped present the award was Halle Berry who won the same award in 2002. She was the first Black actress to win the award, only 21 years ago.
Between 2000 and 2018, 72 actors won academy awards, only 12 of which were people of color, according to The Boston Globe.
In 2016, every single one of the 20 acting nominations was given to a white person, according to BBC. The magnification of the academy’s lack of diversity led to widespread criticisms and boycotts surrounding the awards.
While the increasing diversity of the academy winners is undeniably a step in the right direction, the disparity between nominations and awards given to white people and people of color remains a prominent issue in the entertainment industry.
Historically, women have also been overlooked in categories surrounding film production, primarily Directing. Since the first awards ceremony in 1927, a total of seven female directors have been Oscar nominated, according to Deadline.
This year, the lineup of nominees for the major category consisted entirely of men.
The celebration that ensued following the wins of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” should be a testament to the importance of representation in these award shows. Yeoh spoke on the historic nature of this moment in a backstage interview with the academy.
“This is for the Asian community and anyone who has been identified as a minority,” Yeoh said. “We deserve to be heard; we deserve to be seen; we deserve to have the equal opportunity so we can have a seat at table. That’s all we’re asking for. Give us an opportunity. Let us prove we are worth it.”
Featured image courtesy of Richard Harbaugh / A.M.P.A.S., Illustration by Austin Hojdar
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