Critics Choice Association’s 3rd Annual Celebration of AAPI Cinema & Television

The Critics Choice Third Annual Celebration of AAPI Cinema and Television took place on Nov. 12, 2024, at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles.

This year’s honorees included the following:

Actress and filmmaker Joan Chen was honored with the Career Achievement Award for her incredible work throughout her career and, most recently, her performance in Focus Features’ film Dìdi (弟弟), which took home the Audience Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Actor Lee Jung-jae was awarded with the Trailblazer Award for his remarkable career, and particularly his work on Netflix’s series Squid Game, which will return for a second season in December. Lee is the first Asian man to win an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and the first to win the award for a non-English-language role. 

Host, comedian, and actor Ronny Chieng received the Comedy Award for his work on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. The Daily Show recently won the award for Outstanding Talk Series at the 76th Emmy Awards for the second year in a row. 

Samantha Quan was honored with the Producer Award for her work on NEON’s film Anora, which earned the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film, which opened theatrically on October 18, had the best per-screen opening of 2024 and will continue to expand through the end of the year.

BAFTA-nominee Dolly de Leon accepted the Supporting Actress Award – Film for her performance in IFC Films and Sapan Studios’ Ghostlight. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to critical acclaim and is considered to be one of the best reviewed films of the year.

Utkarsh Ambudkar received the Actor Award – Series for his performance in CBS’ Ghosts. The show celebrated the premiere of its fourth season earlier this month. 

Ken Leung was honored with the Supporting Actor Award – Series for his work on the third season of HBO’s Industry. The critically acclaimed drama series was recently renewed for a fourth season.

The Animation Award recognized directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller and producers Christina Chen and Yvett Merino for their work on Disney’s Moana 2. The trailer for this sequel film broke the record for the most-viewed animated trailer launch in Disney and Pixar history.

Director/producer Sue Kim accepted the Documentary Award on behalf of her film The Last of the Sea Women from Apple Original Films. The documentary recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. STARZ bestowed Sue Kim’s award with a special STARZ #TakeTheLead designation as part of its ongoing commitment to amplifying narratives by, about, and for women and underrepresented audiences.

Jimmy O. Yang was awarded with the Breakthrough Actor Award for his performance in Hulu’s series Interior Chinatown. This series is based on the National Book Award-winning novel of the same name, written by Charles Yu.

Hawaiian native Kekoa Scott Kekumano accepted the Rising Star Award for his performance on Fox’s series Rescue: HI-Surf, which is filmed on the North Shore of Oahu and produced by Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment.

Julia S. Gouw, a trustee of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, received the Industry Leadership Award for her continuous advocacy for Asian representation in entertainment.

Check out our interviews with the honorees above by PPLA host Marc Anthony Nichols!