The data doesn’t lie. That’s the thing about statistics: they tell a story honestly and unflinchingly. And the story that the data around Asian representation at the Oscars tells is particularly galling.

Only three Asians have ever won acting awards. In fact, Asian actors have only made up 1% of the nominations in the history of the ceremony, and they have never, not once, been nominated in the category of Lead Actor. As far as the Oscars are concerned, Asian actors are largely invisible and unworthy of recognition. There have been six films in Oscars history with predominantly Asian casts that have been showered with recognition at the Academy Awards without receiving a single nomination for its cast.

That includes movies like The Last Emperor (nine nominations, none in acting), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (10 nominations, none in acting), Memoirs Of A Geisha (six nominations, none in acting), Slumdog Millionaire (10 nominations, none in acting), Life Of Pi (11 nominations, none in acting) and, this year, Parasite, which received six Oscar nominations. None in acting.

SAG Awards 2020: why that Parasite win means so much for Asian representation