INTRO TO ASIAN-AMERICAN CINEMA

In the silent film era, a few Asian-Americans braved decidedly limited opportunities and even attempted to create a cinematic outlet for their voices. By the dawn of the sound era, Asian-American cinema disappeared and Hollywood once again controlled depictions and roles. In the post-war era, roles for Asian-American actors grew in number, if not diversity. As a result, Asian-American theater arose to fill the void, ultimately leading to the rebirth of an authentic Asian-American Cinema that grew slowly over the next two decades before expanding rapidly in the '90s and continuing in the 2000s.

APA DEMOGRAPHIC MILESTONES IN THE '90s

The 1990s were a time of tremendous growth in the Asian-American population, resulting in a notable demographic milestone when Monterey Park became the first Asian-American majority city on the US mainland. It was soon followed by several others, including Cerritos, Cupertino, Daly City, Milpitas and Rowland Heights in California as well as Millbourne in Pennsylvania.

       
           Chay Yew                      Diana Son                     Han Ong                      Ralph Pena                     Sung Rno
  
APA THEATER IN THE '90s

With Hollywood depictions of Asian-Americans surpsingly minimal and unsophisticated, not surprsingly APA theater exploded to exploit the ignored audience. Prominent new APA playwrights included Chay Yew, Diana Son, Euijoon Kim, Han Ong, Ji Hyun Lee, Mrinalini Kamath, Ralph Peña and Sung Rno. By the decade's close there were about forty APA theater companies. APA companies founded in the '90s included The Bay Area's Naatak; Chicago's Pintig Cultural Group; Nevada City's Community Asian Theatre of the Sierra; Los Angeles' 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, Propergander Theatre and TeAda Productions; Minneappolis's Mu Performing Arts; New York's In Mixed Company, Ma-Yi Theater Company Second Generation, National Asian American Theatre Company, PEELING,  The Slant Performance Group and Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America; Philadelphia's Asian Arts Initiative; Sacramento's InterACT, Sinag-tala Filipino Theater and Performing Arts Association; San Diego's Asian American Repertory Theatre; San Francisco's Bindlestiff Studio; San Jose's Contemporary Asian Theater Scene; Seattle's Aono Jikken Ensemble, Isangmahal Arts Kollective and Pork Filled Players.

APA TV IN THE '90s

On TV, Margaret Cho's All-American Girl became only the third TV series in American history with a predominantly Asian cast.

   
           Margaret Cho                                Henry Cho                               Stir-Fridays                                         OPM

APA COMEDY IN THE '90S
In the '90s, the concept of a mainstream APA comic was still novel, with Henry Cho and Margaret Cho undoubtedly the most visible. Meanwhile, new APA (and largely APA) groups like Chicago's Stir-Friday Night and Los Angeles' OPM nurture APA stand-up, sketch and improv comedy.

APA CINEMA AND ASIAN HOLLYWOOD IN THE '90s

Despite the revival of Asian-American Cinema in the 1980s, it wasn’t until the 1990s that it truly took off, part of the larger boom in independent film. Some films, like Joy Luck Club, enjoyed a great deal of crossover success with non-Asian audiences. In Hollywood, Rush Hour became one of the first mainstream films to star no white actors in decades. Perhaps an unintended consequence is that whilst Jackie Chan's performance opened doors for Hong Kong compatriots like Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh and others in Hollywood, it simultaneously closed doors for Asian-Americans and subconsciously reinforced notions about Asians as foreign martial artists from the exotic east.

APA ACTORS WHOSE CAREERS BEGAN IN THE '90s

   
      Bernadette Balagtas                    Charles Chun                           Christina Ma                               Cici Lau

   
            Cindy Cheung                         Colin Foo                         Constance Wu                            Corrine Hong Wu

     
              Derek Basco                              Elaine Kao                        Elizabeth Tsing                        Eugenia Yuan 

   
             Fann Wong                         Garrett Wang                                    Garz Chan                          Greg Watanabe

    
              Irene Ng                           Jade Wu                             James Sie                                 Jeanne Chinn 

   
        Jen Sung Outerbridge                      Jennifer Tung                         John Cho                         Joy Bisco   

  
                Kal Penn                            Kathy Shao-Lin Lee                Keiko Agena                           Keisuke Hoashi    

.   
          Ken Leung                            Kenneth Choi                             Kristy Wu                             Lee Wong

   
              Lela Lee                    Louis Ozawa Changchien               Lucy Liu                            Luoyong Wang

    
     Michelle Krusiec                Mina Shum                         Parry Shen                                     Peggy Ahn 

  
               Phil Young                         Ray Chang                                  Reggie Lee                        Richard Chang  

 
                  Rick Tae                              Robert Wu                                  Roger Fan                                Roger Yuan 

 
                  Sara Tanaka                      Sarita Choudhury                       Sharon Omi                           Shazia

 
           Sung Kang                         Susan Chuang                                  Suzy Nakamura                     Terry Chen     

   
                  Vivian Bang                                           Will Yun Lee                                                   Yi Ding