Minari's Oscar Nominations Spark Debate on American Identity in Film

Lee Isaac Chung's film 'Minari' has received six Academy Award nominations for the 2021 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Steven Yeun, Best Supporting Actress for Yoon Yeo-jeong, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Score. The film, produced by Brad Pitt, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020. It follows a Korean-American family moving from California to Arkansas in the 1980s to start a farm. The dialogue is predominantly in Korean, leading to debate over whether it qualifies as an American film, especially after its Golden Globe nomination in the foreign language category. Steven Yeun is the first Asian-American actor nominated for Best Actor, and Yuh-Jung Youn received her first Oscar nomination for her American feature debut. The film is inspired by Chung's own life. It has not yet been widely distributed and is unavailable in Italy.