‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,’ ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘Flee’ top The Gold List awards recognizing Asian filmmakers and talent

Gold House and CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) announced the winners of the 2022 Gold List, which highlights outstanding work by Asian filmmakers and talent in the past year to ensure they receive due recognition ahead of the high-profile awards race.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings led with wins for Best Picture, Director (Destin Daniel Cretton), Supporting Actor (Tony Leung), and Supporting Actress (Awkwafina), while Japanese film Drive My Car, animated documentary Flee, and independent fantasy film The Green Knight were recognized across multiple categories as winners or honorable mentions.

The Gold List spans 13 categories (including two new categories since the inaugural 2021 list) and serves as an extension of the successful #GoldOpen movement, which propels multicultural films to the top of the box office, including hits like Crazy Rich Asians and Parasite. While notable Asian-helmed films have reached massive commercial success (4 of the top 10 movies at the 2021 domestic box office were led by Asian writer-directors), the future of these films continuing to be greenlit also relies on creative acclaim—which has been glaringly lacking for Asian projects and their creators.

“Many Asian-led films, particularly independent films, don’t receive budgets or backing to run expensive For Your Consideration campaigns—or benefit from certain levels of access that are essential in ensuring nominations and eventual wins. Gold List, voted on by top Asian leaders and creatives in Hollywood—celebrates our community’s most outstanding achievements in the film industry and encourages voters to Consider Gold. In another pandemic year when so much gets lost and blended together, it’s even more imperative that we help worthy art break out,” said Jeremy Tran, Executive Director of Gold House.

“From elevating writers and creative executives, we’ve been focused on systemic changes that enable great creativity. But that’s only half the battle—we must also ensure that our projects are recognized, particularly in forums where our communities have often been overlooked. We hope the Gold List prompts voters to consider Asian films and creatives when deciding awards recognition,” said Michelle K. Sugihara, Executive Director of CAPE.

Several Gold List winners are prominent contenders in several Oscar races with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings the frontrunner for visual effects (it’s earned Critics’ Choice, Annie Awards and Visual Effects Society nominations), Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car leads the field for International Feature Film and is a contender for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay while Flee is poised to make Academy Awards history if it’s nominated for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film.

Here is the full list of Gold List winner and honorable mentions.

Best Picture: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Honorable Mentions: Drive My Car and The Green Knight

Best Director: Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
Honorable Mentions: Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time To Die) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car)
Honorable Mentions: Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Dev Patel (The Green Knight)

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Gemma Chan (Eternals)
Honorable Mentions: Patti Harrison (Together Together) and Maggie Q (The Protégé)

Best Supporting Actor in a Supporting Role: Tony Leung (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
Honorable Mentions: Benedict Wong (Nine Days) and Steven Yeun (The Humans)

Best Supporting Actress in a Supporting Role: Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
Honorable Mentions: Sarita Choudhury (The Green Knight) and Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections)

Best Original Screenplay: Flee
Honorable Mentions: Nine Days and Raya and the Last Dragon 

Best Adapted Screenplay: Drive My Car 
Honorable Mentions: Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Best Animated Feature: Raya and the Last Dragon
Honorable Mentions: Belle and Flee

Best Documentary Feature: The Rescue
Honorable Mentions: Ascension and Flee

Best Animated Short: Namoo
Honorable Mentions: Step Into The River and Us Again

Best Live Action Short: The Long Goodbye
Honorable Mentions: Americanized and The Little Prince(ss)

Breakout Independent Film: India Sweets and Spices

Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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