UCLA Recs
- AAPI Month 2023 quick picks: Read, watch, followIn collaboration with members of the Asian Pacific Coalition, its Board of Representatives, and Asian American Studies students, the UCLA Library has assembled a list of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) content.
- AANHPI Heritage Month 2023: Read, watch, listenUCLA staff recommend books, films, music and more to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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Selected Images
Actress Anna May Wong and children at tree planting ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif., 1938
From the Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection, UCLA Library Digital Collections
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Actors Gedde Watanabe and Ned Eisenberg on set of television series "Gung Ho," Los Angeles, Calif., 1986
From the Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection, UCLA Library Digital Collections
Poster for Everything Everywhere All At Once (dir. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert 2022)
Film still of Mindy Kaling as Ms. Who in A Wrinkle in Time (dir. Ava Duvernay, 2018)
Raya and the Last Dragon (dir. Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, 2021)
Film poster from Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Introduction and Scope
This guide was created in 2022-2023 by UCLA Arts Library Research Assistant Jenny Le, in collaboration with Diana King. It identifies major resources on Asian American and Pacific Islander film and television at UCLA and via online sources. Scope includes representation of Asians and Asian Americans in U.S. cinema and media, Asian creative artists who contributed significantly to Hollywood and U.S. independent media, and the creative work of Asian American artists and media companies.
Reference Sources
- AFI Catalog This link opens in a new window
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The online AFI (American Film Institute) Catalog draws its content from printed volumes that document every American feature film from 1893 to 1974. Also includes some short films from the first era of filmmaking, 1893–1910. Provides detailed filmographic information, including music credits, release dates, plot descriptions, and bibliographies. See also the AFI web version of the catalog. - Gale E-Books (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
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Online encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized reference sources, primarily in the social sciences and humanities.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Cinema and Media Studies This link opens in a new window
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Annotated bibliographies for topics in the field of Cinema and Media Studies. Combines encyclopedia-style introductions with expert recommendations of the most important reference works, books, journals, and primary sources on the topic. - Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
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Oxford Handbooks, now a part of Oxford Academic, provide review articles which summarize and analyze current research and trends in a given discipline. UCLA subscribes to most Oxford Handbooks Online, excluding a few individual titles. - Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
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Handbooks covering a wide range of humanities, social sciences, psychology and some science topics, published by Routledge, Ashgate and other imprints. Some CRC Press handbooks can also be accessed via this particular site.
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans by ISBN: 9781587658600Date: 2012-08-30Covers prominent individuals from colonial times through the present, offering a fascinating perspective on Asian and Pacific Islander American history in the United States.
Distinguished Asian Americans: A Biographical Dictionary by ISBN: 9780313289026Date: 1999-12-30This reference work celebrates the contributions of 166 distinguished Asian Americans. Most people profiled are not featured in any other biographical collection of noted Asian Americans. The Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Filipino Americans, Korean Americans, South Asian Americans (from India and Pakistan), and Southeast Asian Americans (from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) profiled in this work represent more than 75 fields of endeavor.
The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films by ISBN: 9781442269057Date: 2018-04-12Whether subtle or blatant, racially biased images and narratives erase minorities, perpetuate stereotypes, and keep alive practices of discrimination and marginalization. The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Film documents one facet of racism in the film industry, wherein historically underrepresented peoples are misrepresented--through a lack of roles for actors of color, stereotyping, negative associations, and an absence of rich, nuanced characters.
Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography by ISBN: 9780824087333Date: 1987-02-01Bibliography of publications on ethnic and racial images. Use index to identify publications by ethnicity.- A Guide to Films About the Pacific Islands by Date: 1986Filmography from University of Hawaii at Manoa Pacific Islands Studies Program.
- Hawaii in the Movies, 1898-1959 by ISBN: 9780945048015Date: 1988-01-01From Hawaiian Historical Society, a filmography that includes bibliographical references (pages 77-87) and indexes.
Lives of Notable Asian Americans: Arts, Entertainment, Sports by ISBN: 9780791021880Date: 1995-05-01Short biographies of 10 Asian Americans who have made contributions in the arts, entertainment and sports.- Moving Images of the Pacific Islands: A Guide to Films and Videos by Fourth edition from Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian, & Pacific Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Held at UCSD Library.
Within our gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960 by ISBN: 9780520209640Date: 1997-10-01Special volume of the AFI Catalog that arranges historical American feature films by broad ethnicity categories.
- Hollywood Diversity Report (UCLA Bunche Center)A yearly report (2014-present) on diversity in the industry from the UCLA Bunche Center for African American Studies.
- Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media: Research ReportsThe Institute compiles reports on industry topics related to gender disparity both on screen and behind the camera.
- Hollywood Writers ReportFrom the Writers' Guild of America, this report "provides new information on the progress of women, minority, and older writers on the television employment front."
- The State of Social Impact Entertainment (SIE)From March 2019, this report from the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment at UCLA and Participant Media includes facts and figures, as well as industry overviews.
Connecting from Off-Campus: VPN and Proxy Tutorials
The Library's online subscription resources can always be accessed from computers and wireless networks on campus. However, off-campus access is restricted to current UCLA, students, faculty, and staff who have set up their computer using one of the methods below. Click on the other tabs to see how four Bruins got their computers set up and ready to go for remote access!
If you still need help, you can contact the UCLA IT Support Center at (310) 267-4357 or help@it.ucla.edu. They provide 24/7 phone support.
- Virtual Private Networking (VPN)A program you can download and install, or use the built-in version on many computers or mobile devices. VPN software must be logged on manually before you access a restricted site, but works for all programs on your computer. It stays connected until you log off.
- UCLA Online Proxy ServerA simple browser setting which will automatically divert you to a UCLA logon page when you first access a restricted site.
VPN on Mac with Natalie
"I chose VPN for my mac because I need to be able to access the full text of articles on different browsers." - Natalie, Environmental Science
VPN on Windows with Michael
"I chose VPN because I like the security it provides and the control it gives me as a user to manually enable or disable it when I'm browsing online." - Michael, Public Affairs
VPN on Chromebook with Nadia
"I chose VPN because it is really simple to use!" - Nadia, Public Affairs
Proxy on Mac with Kate
"I chose Proxy because I prefer logging in through a web browser without having to download any software on my computer." - Kate, Ethnic Studies