'Reservation Dogs' creator, Han Oak duo among Portland's Cinema Unbound awardees
The 2024 ceremony will be held on Friday, June 21 in the Kridel Grand Ballroom.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Whether they’re producing film, photography or food, Portland is a city that attracts creative people. A few standouts in this community, both locally and nationally, will be honored at the Portland Art Museum’s Cinema Unbound Awards.
The annual event is hosted by PAM’s Center for an Untold Tomorrow, a media center that champions storytelling. This year’s awards ceremony will be held at the museum on Friday, June 21.
Ron Funches, a formerly Portland-based comic, will host the 2024 Cinema Unbound Awards.
Last year’s honorees included filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, Kann chef Gregory Gourdet and “Portlandia” creator Fred Armisen.
Here is more on the five honorees.
Mickalene Thomas - Astonishing Artist
Mickalene Thomas is being recognized for her contributions to visual arts, which recently included a cover shoot with WNBA player Brittany Griner for New York Times Magazine and a cover shoot with actress America Ferrera for W magazine.
Thomas’ resumé includes several artistic disciplines. She also co-produced the Broadway revival of “The Wiz.”
“Not only do her masterful mixed-media paintings, photographs, films and installations command space, they occupy eloquently while dissecting the intersecting complexities of black and female identity within the Western canon,” PAM said.
Sterlin Harjo - Spectacular Storyteller
Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo is best known as the co-creator and showrunner of “Reservation Dogs,” along with “Jojo Rabbit” director and actor Taika Waititi. The FX comedy-drama focuses on four Indigenous teens in Harjo’s home state of Oklahoma.
The series premiered in 2021, and went on to win in the Independent Spirit Awards, American Film Institute Awards and Gotham Awards.
Outside of the show, Harjo has created five feature films and helped found sketch comedy group the 1941s.
Irene Taylor - Creative Powerhouse
After relocating to Portland in 2006, Irene Taylor founded production company Vermilion Films. The company is behind multiple documentaries including HBO’s “Trees and Other Entanglements” and "Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements.”
Taylor also directed “Leave No Trace: A Hidden History of The Boy Scouts,” and based her investigation in Oregon.
Her newest documentary featuring Celine Dion will premiere on Amazon in June.
Peter Cho & Sun Young Park - Tastemaking Trailblazers
Peter Cho and Sun Young Park brought the Rose City two of its hottest Korean restaurants: Jeju and Han Oak. Over the years, both the husband and wife have been named as nominees or semifinalists in the prestigious James Beard Awards.
Han Oak has also been recognized by Esquire magazine and on Netflix show “Ugly Delicious.”