Welcome to the February 2021 edition of the Minority Film Beat!

We’re less than 60 days into 2021 and the road to access is widening for minority storytellers in animation, streaming platforms, and digital spaces. Despite pandemic woes and production shutdowns, the year is off to a promising start. From Regina King’s directorial feature debut, One Night in Miami to Lee Isaac Chung’s critically-acclaimed Korean-American coming of age indie film, Minari, women along with filmmakers of color are driving Hollywood’s biggest narratives. Although Golden Globe TV nominations fell short in acknowledging Black and Brown entertainers from 2019’s breakout shows, the presence of minority filmmakers is undeniable as proven through record breaking views and leaders at the international box office.

-The Minority Film Institute Team

170 Industry Leaders Sign Unity Statement to Launch Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance

By Rebecca Sun | The Hollywood Reporter

“Jewish and Black artists, musicians and entertainers in some ways share a parallel history in their respective communities,” says Propagate Content chairman and CEO Ben Silverman, one of the signatories alongside Billy Porter, Sherry Lansing, Tiffany Haddish and at least 165 more. Before he died, Larry King also signed the unity statement. “After having been blocked from entering other industries, both independently turned to different aspects of show business as a refuge and outlet, and became pioneers and partners driving evolution and transformation in the creative fields.”

Rita Moreno Documentary Profiles Latina Legend who Fought Racism, Sexism

By Max Gao | NBC

Directed by the award-winning filmmaker Mariem Pérez Riera, the 90-minute documentary chronicles Moreno’s extraordinary life and career, detailing the highs of her rise to stardom in Hollywood and the lows of the pernicious sexual abuse and relentless racism that she endured along the way. After bursting onto the scene in 1961 with her Oscar-winning performance in “West Side Story,” Moreno’s struggles as a Latina performer as well as her unabashed activism for gender and racial equality seem more relevant now than ever.

Hollywood’s Union Leaders Call On Congress To Enact Laws Advancing Diversity And Equity In The Arts, Entertainment & Media

By David Robb | Deadline

“As unions, we hold a fundamental belief that diversity is a strength,” the leaders of SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, IATSE, Actors’ Equity, the WGA East and several other union leaders said in a joint statement. “We work inside and outside the traditional collective bargaining process to create more and better opportunities for underrepresented people. Smart policy solutions aimed at creating diverse talent pipelines, incentivizing diversity in hiring, and supporting collective bargaining will help our workplaces and our industries move forward.”

The Year in Film From Black Filmmakers

By Nina Metz  | Tampa Bay Times

Robert Daniels, who also works as a freelance critic, has a theory as well: “When it comes to the major studio prestige stuff, it seems like they try to stay away from contemporary introspection as much as possible. White people are very good at calling out obvious racism and stories set in the past, which allows that comfort and that terra firma to talk about race.”

A Vision of Asian-American Cinema That Questions the Very Premise

By Brandon Yu | The New York Times

The last few years have heralded a rush of bracing works helmed by a new generation of so-called Asian-American auteurs. But these films — like Justin Chon’s “Gook,” about the friendship between a Korean-American shoe store owner and a young Black girl, or Bing Liu’s “Minding the Gap,” a 2018 documentary about the hidden traumas of his Rockford, Ill., skateboarding friends — tell vastly different stories, some seemingly unconcerned with what we might consider Asian-American themes. The notion of Asian-American cinema, in short, has always been a bit of a flimsy concept. What makes these movies Asian-American?