IMDb's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Watchlist
by IMDb-Editors | created - 1 month ago | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicWe're celebrating the cinematic contributions of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States with a list of some iconic films, new classics, and hidden gems to add to your Watchlist.
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1. Minding the Gap (2018)
Not Rated | 93 min | Documentary, Sport
Filmmaker Bing Liu searches for correlations between his skateboarder friends' turbulent upbringings and the complexities of modern masculinity.
Director: Bing Liu | Stars: Kent Abernathy, Mengyue Bolen, Nina Bowgren, Keire Johnson
Votes: 10,493 | Gross: $0.01M
2. Chan Is Missing (1982)
Not Rated | 76 min | Drama, Mystery
Two cab drivers search San Francisco's Chinatown for the mysterious Chan, who disappeared with their $4000.
Director: Wayne Wang | Stars: Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi, Laureen Chew, Peter Wang
Votes: 1,857
3. The Way of the Dragon (1972)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A man visits his relatives at their restaurant in Italy and has to help them defend against brutal gangsters harassing them.
Director: Bruce Lee | Stars: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Nora Miao, Ping-Ou Wei
Votes: 41,142 | Gross: $4.06M
4. The Joy Luck Club (1993)
R | 139 min | Drama
The life histories of four East Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other.
Director: Wayne Wang | Stars: Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao, Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin
Votes: 18,317 | Gross: $32.86M
5. Mississippi Masala (1991)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
An ethnic Indian family is expelled from Idi Amin's Uganda in 1972 and lives in Mississippi 17 years later. The dad sues Uganda to get his property back. The grown daughter falls in love with a Black man.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore
Votes: 6,221 | Gross: $7.31M
6. Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A group of over-achieving East Asian American high school seniors enjoy a power trip when they dip into extracurricular criminal activities.
Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, Sung Kang, Shirley Anderson
Votes: 10,470 | Gross: $3.80M
7. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A teenager becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.
Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Lucas Black, Zachery Ty Bryan, Shad Moss, Damien Marzette
Votes: 300,712 | Gross: $62.51M
8. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
PG-13 | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
This contemporary romantic comedy based on a global bestseller follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family.
Director: Jon M. Chu | Stars: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan
Votes: 190,516 | Gross: $174.53M
9. Minari (2020)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama
A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Director: Lee Isaac Chung | Stars: Steven Yeun, Han Yeri, Alan Kim, Noel Cho
Votes: 97,517
10. Finding 'Ohana (2021)
PG | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A summer in rural O‘ahu takes an exciting turn for two Brooklyn-raised siblings when a journal pointing to long-lost treasure sets them on an epic adventure with new friends, and leads them to reconnect with their Hawaiian heritage.
Director: Jude Weng | Stars: Kea Peahu, Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson, Owen Vaccaro
Votes: 11,676
11. The Farewell (I) (2019)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
Director: Lulu Wang | Stars: Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu
Votes: 71,301 | Gross: $16.88M
12. Driveways (2019)
83 min | Drama
A lonesome boy accompanies his mother on a trip to clean out his late aunt's house, and ends up forming an unexpected friendship with the retiree who lives next door.
Director: Andrew Ahn | Stars: Lucas Jaye, Hong Chau, Brian Dennehy, Laurent Rejto
Votes: 6,543
13. The Half of It (I) (2020)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
When smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock, she doesn't expect to become his friend - or fall for his crush.
Director: Alice Wu | Stars: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire, Wolfgang Novogratz
Votes: 43,450
14. Fire Island (I) (2022)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A group of queer best friends gather in Fire Island Pines for their annual week of love and laughter, but a sudden change of events might make this their last summer in gay paradise.
Director: Andrew Ahn | Stars: Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Margaret Cho, Conrad Ricamora
Votes: 13,671
15. Gook (2017)
Unrated | 94 min | Drama
Two Korean-American brothers run a shoe store in L.A. county. Their friend, black eleven-year-old Kamilla, drops in and helps. On this day, the Rodney King verdict ignites the 1992 L.A. riots.
Director: Justin Chon | Stars: Simone Baker, Justin Chon, Curtiss Cook Jr., David So
Votes: 2,754 | Gross: $0.25M
16. Searching (III) (2018)
PG-13 | 102 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After his teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate father tries to find clues on her laptop.
Director: Aneesh Chaganty | Stars: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michelle La
Votes: 180,231 | Gross: $26.02M
17. The Invitation (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
When a man accepts an invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife, the unsettling past reopens old wounds and creates new tensions.
Director: Karyn Kusama | Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard
Votes: 119,282 | Gross: $0.23M
18. Just Mercy (2019)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton | Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Charlie Pye Jr.
Votes: 75,905
19. After Yang (2021)
PG | 96 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down.
Director: Kogonada | Stars: Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Justin H. Min
Votes: 23,079
20. Always Be My Maybe (2019)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
Everyone assumed that Sasha and Marcus would wind up together, except for Sasha and Marcus. Reconnecting after 15 years, the two start to wonder--maybe?
Director: Nahnatchka Khan | Stars: Ali Wong, Randall Park, James Saito, Michelle Buteau
Votes: 62,784
21. Saving Face (2004)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A gay Chinese-American and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.
Director: Alice Wu | Stars: Joan Chen, Michelle Krusiec, Lynn Chen, Jin Wang
Votes: 13,467 | Gross: $1.19M
22. Tigertail (2020)
PG | 91 min | Drama
In this multigenerational drama, a Taiwanese factory worker leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in America, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and new-found responsibilities.
Director: Alan Yang | Stars: Tzi Ma, Christine Ko, Hong-Chi Lee, Queenie Yu-Hsin Fang
Votes: 3,848
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