Written by Dawn Valadez
Yes, the film Everything, Everywhere All At Once was written and directed by “the Daniels” – two cis-men, AND it had a number of strong female characters. It won for best picture and had a number of big wins. Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win for best actress. This acknowledgement was long over due!! If you don’t know her work, we recommend that you check out the incredible films she’s starred in over the years. Another big win for that film was Jamie Lee Curtis who also won her first Oscar for her supporting actress role. Both women are over 60 which is really cool for a film that’s had such great box office success. If you haven’t seen the film the themes of mother-daughter relationships and the endless possibilities of our lives are truly inspirational. Many Asian performers and makers were celebrated at the Oscars this year! Congrats to the entire team.
And as usual, there were some disappointments at the 95th Annual Academy Awards. There were no women directors nominated this year (two years running now), diverse representation still is uneven, and for some of us at Reel Stories, the snub against The Woman King was particularly egregious. We still have a long way to go to reach equity (or parity) and that’s more proof of the importance of Reel Stories and the programs we create for emerging young women and gender-expansive filmmakers.