As K-Pop Demon Hunters continues to shine throughout awards season, Arden Cho, who voices Rumi, and Yoo Ji-young, who voices Zoe, attended the Unforgettable Awards in Beverly Hills, where the film won the Vanguard Award.
Director Yoo emphasized that the film is a love letter to Korean culture and a testament to the power of music. She said, “KPop Demon Hunters is about the pressures of perfectionism, generational trauma, and the struggle of who you are and what the world expects of you.”
Cho had come to San Francisco earlier in the day to speak at the “Asian Women are Strong 2026: Beyond the Spotlight” panel, and was able to make it to the event at the last minute due to a flight delay. She said, “This film is truly a celebration of culture and community. This film was brought to life by artists from all over the world who brought their voices and lived experiences to this project.”
Director Yoo added, “Like everyone in Huntr/X before us, I would like to think that everyone in this room passed on their wisdom, inspired the world with their talent, and helped create an industry where movies like K-Pop Demon Hunters can exist.”
The evening’s celebration began with GoldenTV CEO Takashi Cheng welcoming guests and highlighting the mission behind the Unforgettable Awards. He said, “‘Unforgettable’ not only celebrates an accomplishment, but also reminds us of our responsibility to continue to build opportunity, access and visibility for those who come after us.”
Charles Melton, who will appear in season 2 of Beef, presented the Global Icon Award to Academy Award nominee Chloe Zhao. In presenting the award, he called Zhao “one of our greatest storytellers” and said, “We need her movies. We need her voice. We need her way. Chloé Zhao for president.”
Reflecting on the power of storytelling, Chao said, “I am so lucky to be able to make a living telling stories. At the same time, I truly believe that it is every human being’s birthright to use their creativity to alchemize their life experiences, no matter how difficult it may be.”
Nodding to her heritage, Qiao said, “I am very proud to be Chinese. The wisdom of my ancestors has not been forgotten by me. I work hard every day to rediscover and remember it.”
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka presented Bowen Yang with the Best Motion Picture Actor Award for his performance in “The Wedding Banquet.” Okatsuka praised Yang’s “fearlessness, razor-sharp timing and rare ability to make even the most chaotic characters endearing.”
Yang reflected on the growing visibility of Asian and Pacific Islander artists in entertainment. He noted a change in which he became “immediately very conscious of himself” when he entered a room. He went on to say, “I’m so happy and lucky that that’s starting to change now because of rooms like this, and events like ‘Unforgettable’ where we can meet each other and go from third person to first person.” He added: “There’s a reason it’s called glow. We’re glowing from within. We’re incandescent.”
Also honored was Lawrence Shaw, who won the breakout film award for Rosemead. Te Ao O Hinepehinga for Chief of War won the Breakout in Television Award, Lloyd Lee Choi won the Writer’s Award for his film Lucky Loo, Lenda Dong won the Digital Influence Award and Jet Tila won the Culinary Excellence Media Award. Park Chan-wook won the director award for “No Other Choice,” and Daniel Dae Kim won the TV actor award. Neither was able to attend and sent prerecorded messages.
The ceremony will be streamed as a live special on GoldenTV on March 13th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm PT.
