The last time an asian film made waves was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which nabbed 10 Oscar nominations.  With a budget of $17 million, it raked in $213 million at the box office.  That was 20 years ago.  It did not win Best Picture though.  That honour would go to Parasite in 2020, setting the record for the first foreign language film to win the coveted Oscar.  With a budget of $11.5 million, it smashed the box office with $245.9 million.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/14/movies/gladiator-crouching-tiger-and-soderbergh-are-oscar-nominees.html
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-flashback-crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-captured-oscar-gold-20-years-ago
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/movies/oscars-best-picture-foreign-film.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2020/01/07/box-office-bong-joon-hosparasite-positioned-for-big-pre-oscars-run/?sh=190c3c4b4c18
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2020/03/09/box-office-parasite-petering-out-after-barely-cracking-1000/?sh=cba9590779ff)

That was then; this is now.  With “Stop Asian Hate” flashing on teleprompters above Toronto subway platforms, headlines of mass shootings in the States, the “Slap an Asian Challenge” in San Francisco (and an elderly woman fighting back!), can Asian cinema still command the same prowess as it did pre-pandemic?
(https://abcnews.go.com/US/atlanta-shooting-legacy-misogyny-racism-asian-women/story?id=76533776
https://abc7news.com/slap-an-asian-challenge-bay-area-san-francisco-stop-hate/10450222/
ABC 7 https://youtu.be/zA4Sr63f2EM)

In an oppressive year plagued by social distancing restrictions, show business has still managed to produce 8 films in the running for Best Picture.  Only one touches on an Asian theme – Minari, which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family trying to build a life in rural Arkansas.  The trailer is a tear-jerker.  The movie was released on February 26, 2021 via digital streaming.  With a budget of $2 million, it has managed to take back $10.3-11 million at the box office.(https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2021
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/minari-movie-review-2020)
A24: https://youtu.be/KQ0gFidlro8
https://www.vulture.com/article/youn-yuh-jung-minari-profile.html
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a35646054/how-to-watch-minari-online/
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1824084485/?ref_=bo_ydw_table_100
https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Minari#tab=summary)

In South Korea, Minari has “dominated the market share” and is the “third highest scoring film of the year in the country”.  But how is it doing in North America?  In the domestic market, it has struck $2.1 million.  

For comparative purposes, let’s look at Nomadland, also up for Best Picture.  Like Minari, Nomadland shares a common theme – the search for the American Dream.  It centres on a middle-aged woman living out of her van, who travels across the country in search of employment.  The protagonist is caucasian.  The movie does not have an Asian cast.  It does, however, have an Asian Director – Chloé Zhao.  Should this in any way sway viewers from not wanting to see this movie?  Does Asian Hate extend that far?  One would hope not.  So let’s take a look at the numbers.  Nomadland started off with a budget of $5 million.  It was released on February 19, 2021.  There are reports that box office numbers are being concealed to avoid bias during Oscar season, but it is noted that it has raked in $5 million worldwide, $2.1 million domestic.  

Revenue-wise, both Minari and Nomadland have barely broken even on the home front.  This is to be expected given digital streaming, theatre shutdowns and lockdown restrictions.  The loss in sales is evident, but not to the drastic extent of prompting one to be cynical in attributing this outcome to their asian connections.  

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the #BoycottMulan campaign and how Disney is haunted by China controversy.  Mulan had a budget of $200 million.  It made $60-90 million and was not received well in China.  It was “another flop”.  Another explanation provided is that it could have also been due to the fact that Disney+ was charging an extra $30 to subscribers.
(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/09/disney-mulan-controversy-issues
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/09/mulan-box-office-pandemic/616433/)

Minari has not been subjected to the same kind of swirling controversy as Mulan and it continues to champion the box office abroad, particularly in South Korea; understandably so, as the natural inclination is to support one’s own.  Abroad, Minari outperforms Nomadland and its strong support in Asia is a contributing factor.  But then again, it has been observed that box office winners do not necessarily equate to Oscar winners.  
(https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/minari-korean-box-office-weekend-success-1234935446/
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1824084485/?ref_=bo_ydw_table_100
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nomadland-movie-review-2020
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-16/-nomadland-is-disney-s-first-best-picture-front-runner-in-years
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/chloe-zhao-nomadland-release-date-1234854140/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/more-hollywood-studios-start-to-conceal-box-office-grosses
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt9770150/)

If you do a search of “Nomadland”, you will come across the Forbes headline:  “BAFTA 2021: Chloé Zhao Is The Big Winner With ‘Nomadland’”.  That, in itself, is one indication that Asian Hate has not blocked film makers from international recognition.  In fact, 2 out 5 nominees for Oscar Best Director are Asian:  Lee Isaac Chung for Minari and Chloé Zhao for Nomadland, yet another indication that Asian talent is not being snubbed.  73-year-old Yuh-Jung Youn was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Minari.  To command tears from an audience at the Sundance Festival is a clear signal that Minari is making a dent.  But so is Nomadland.  It is gaining so much publicity with its Director Chloé Zhao as being touted the “1st woman of color to win top Directors Guild Association (DGA) honor”.  It also doesn’t hurt to be aligned with the mega franchise Marvel and directing heavyweights Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek and Kit Harrington in the much anticipated “The Eternals” scheduled for release in November 2021.  Life is good for Chloé Zhao and being Asian has not stopped her from receiving critical acclaim.(https://www.forbes.com/sites/sheenascott/2021/04/11/bafta-2021/?sh=5e13debf6192
https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2021
https://variety.com/2021/film/features/yuh-jung-youn-minari-oscars-1234944863/
https://apnews.com/article/chloe-zhao-1st-woman-of-color-win-dga-top-award-5680ca5f57957cc4798d2e49078a76e4
https://www.marvel.com/movies/the-eternals)

Turning to Toronto now, on a slightly different note, the Award-winning Kim’s Convenience aired its series finale on CBC on April 13, 2021.  It was lauded as a “landmark show” for “the presence of Asians on screen remains an important part of normalizing Asians and diversity in popular culture”.  This analysis is key for it is in “normalizing Asians” on screen that we will be in a position to counter Asian Hate in our society.  We cannot allow this mentality to escalate in Toronto.  By sharing their personal stories, by humanizing them, we can expose the Canadian audience to a broader way of thinking.  And above all, acceptance.  

An Oscar does not define you as a film maker, whether you are Asian or not.  It did not even bother Boon Jong-Ho when interviewed about Parasite:  “It’s a little strange, but it’s not a big deal.  The Oscars are not an international film festival. They’re very local”.  That said, Asian films should not be limited in their success just because we are in the middle of a pandemic.  Stories of the human condition need to be told, regardless of whether it is up on the big screen or through digital streaming.  By going international, we are going big.
(https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/kims-convenience-series-finale-1.5985649
https://capitalcurrent.ca/a-landmark-show-for-asian-canadians-reflecting-on-the-legacy-of-kims-convenience/)