“Minari” has just won the award for best foreign language film. The director was worried about having to make the film in English

“Minari” writer-director Lee Isaac Chung told CNN in a recent interview that he knew he wanted to tell the story in Korean. But he feared it was going to be a tough sell – not for audiences, who he said would connect with a good story when they saw one – but for future supporters.

Fortunately, says Chung, producer Christina Oh, also Korean American, supported his vision.

“She was very adamant from the start that we had to do this in Korean, the way we grew up. … She said that as a producer, she was going to go out and champion this cause, and do this fight. And I just trusted him, ”he says.

The fact that the family at the heart of the story speaks Korean at home added nuance and complexity to the film, he said.

“It adds, I think, a layer of what this family is actually going through and that kind of island feeling you get when the reality at home is different from the outside,” he said, “and that you are really trying to keep some of that reality within your own family when you feel it fading away. ”

Why the Golden Globe nomination sparked controversy

In recent months, a controversy has erupted over the Golden Globes rules, which made “Minari” eligible for Best Foreign Language Film but not Best Picture as more than 50% of the film is not in English.

This raises serious questions about racism in Hollywood and calls on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to reconsider its language requirements.

“Sounds personal to me. … It’s like where are you from?” question that Asian Americans always get, ”Nancy Wang Yuen, sociologist and author of“ Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism ”told CNN. “The assumption is that if you have an Asian face, you don’t have to be from here.”

“Over 350 languages ​​are spoken in American homes today. So what does a “foreign” language mean? ” said Charlene Jimenez, director of entertainment partnerships and advocacy for the nonprofit Define American.

“This is a really important time for us as an American society to investigate our own biases on movies like this, on stories like this, on immigrant stories – which resonates and doesn’t sound like “American” to people. “

Minari director says’ Minari ‘language goes beyond any’ American ‘or foreign label’

Chung thanked the association for the honor in his acceptance speech Sunday night while hinting at the larger conversation.

“I just want to say ‘Minari’ is family,” Chung said, accepting the award with her daughter’s arms around her neck. “It’s a family trying to learn to speak a language of its own. It goes beyond any American language and any foreign language. It is a language of the heart. And I try to learn it myself and pass it on. And I hope we all learn to speak this language of love to each other, especially this year. “

Chung recently told CNN that he didn’t feel like competing in the Best Foreign Language Film category that dishonored his work, but he understands the frustration many have expressed.

“I understand this in the context of being Asian American and having sometimes felt situations in which you feel treated like a foreigner, and that includes when you speak Korean or another language and, you know, you hear comments, ”he says.

But Chung also sees another aspect.

“My grandmother, if she was still alive, she would be very proud that I held on and made a movie in Korean and didn’t compromise and started to to use that foreign language, English, ”he said.