Santiago Mitre’s “Argentina, 1985” Sweeps This Year’s Platino Awards

Santiago Mitre has picked up another award…

The 42-year-old Argentine film director and screenwriter’s Argentina, 1985 swept the top prizes for Best Picture on Saturday night at the 2023 Platino Awards.

Santiago MitreNews of a Kidnapping, created by Andrés Wood and Rodrigo García, is another top award winner.

One highlight of the ceremony, dedicated to films and television shows in the Spanish-speaking world, was Benicio del Toro’s acceptance speech of a honorary Platino in which he reflected on being typecast for many years in Hollywood as a Latino actor.

“If I had to play stereotypes, I tried to find the character’s humanity, a sense of complicity, so that audiences felt what my character felt and whilst they’re watching, don’t forget who I am and where I come from.,” he said. “What’s important is to share more than be divided,” he added.

Del Toro received a standing ovation by an audience made up of some of the best actors in Spain, which hung on his every word.

Directed by Mitre, who broke out to attention with The Student, then conquered Cannes with Paulina, the Academy Award-nominated “Argentina, 1985,” produced by Amazon Studios, Infinity Hill, Mitre’s label Unión de los Rios and star Ricardo Darín’s Kenya Films swept best picture, screenplay (Mitre, Mariano Llinás) actor (Darín), among five awards.

Commissioned by Prime Video in 2020, in the same funding round that included “Iosi, the Repentant Spy,” “News of a Kidnapping” scooped best series, creators (Wood, García), series actress (Cristina Umaña) and supporting actress (Majida Issa).

Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios and Chile’s Invercine & Wood produce.

It may or may not be a coincidence that both titles, as well as Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts, which swept four prizes including best director, talk about how individuals or institutions – the Colombian senator husband of an abduction victim in “News,” Darin’s crusading public prosecutor in “Argentina, 1985,” a French couple in deep Galicia in “The Beasts” – confront violence, whether the institutionalized torture and murder under Argentina’s Junta,  endemic drug gang coercion in  “News” and wounded machismo in “The Beasts.”

“Thank you to the thousands and thousands of Colombians who, silently, without any show, try to make peace and a country, despite all the obvious difficulties,” said Umana.

“Memory is important. We can’t allow violence to be the innate solution in any part of the world,” said Infinity Hill’s, Axel Kuschevatzky, a producer of “Argentina, 1985.”

In other Awards highlights, Spain’s Laia Costa and Susi Sánchez repeated their Goya plaudits taking best film actress and supporting actress as daughter and mother in “Lullaby.”

FILM

Best Feature
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)

Director
Rodrigo Sorogoyen, “The Beasts”

Lead Performance
Laia Costa, “Lullaby”
Ricardo Darín, “Argentina, 1985”

Screenplay
Mariano Llinás, Santiago Mitre, “Argentina, 1985”

First Feature
“1976” (Chile, Argentina)

Best Feature Comedy
“Official Competition,” (Argentina, Spain)

Original Score
Sergio Prudencio, “Utama”

Supporting Role Performance
Susi Sanchez, “Lullaby” (Spain)
Luis Zahera, “The Beasts” (Spain, France)

Animated Feature
“The Eagle and the Jaguar: the Legendary Warriors” (Mexico)

Documentary Best Feature
“El Caso Padilla,” (Cuba, Spain)

Editing
Alberto del Campo, “The Beasts”

Art Direction
Micaela Saiegh, “Argentina, 1985)

Cinematography
Barbara Álvarez, “Utama”

Sound Direction
Aitor Berenguer, Fabiola Ordoyo, Yasmina Praderas, “The Beasts”

Film & Education In Values
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina, U.S)

HONORARY AWARD
Benicio del Toro

TV

Best Series Or Mini-Series
“News of a Kidnapping” (Colombia, Chile, U.S.)

Best Series Or Mini-Series Creator
Andrés Wood, Rodrigo García, “News of a Kidnapping”

Actor In A Series Or Mini-Series
Guillermo Francella, “The One in Charge”

Actress In A Series Or Mini-Series
Cristina Umaña, “News of a Kidnapping”

Supporting Actor In A Series Or Mini-Series
Alejandro Awada, “Iosi, The Regretful Spy”

Supporting Actress In A Series Or Mini-Series
Majida Issa, “News of a Kidnapping”

Yalitza Aparicio Among the Latino Professionals Invited to Join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS)

Yalitza Aparicio’s joining The Academy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has released its annual list of invitations to join the organization, with the 26-year-old Mexican actress and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples among the 819 extended an invite.

Yalitza Aparicio

Aparicio, one of Time magazine’s100 most influential people in the world in 2019,earned an Oscar nod in the Best Actress category for her performance in Alfonso Cuarón‘s 2018 Spanish-language drama Roma. With the nomination for her actig debut, she became the first Indigenous American woman and the second Mexican woman to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

But Aparcio isn’t the only Latino/a to make the list…

Other invitees in the Actors branch include Bobby Cannavale, who appeared in The IrishmanOverboard’s Eva LongoriaKnives Out star Ana de Armas and Gringo actor Yul Vazquez.

Invitees in the Music branch include Andrea Guerra (Hotel Rwanda) and Cuban-American jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who worked on the music for Clint Eastwood’s films Richard Jewell and The Mule.

The Directors branch sent out invitations to Latino filmmakers Icíar Bolláin (Spanish), Felipe Cazals (Mexican), Sebastián Cordero (Ecuadorian), Luis Estrada (Mexican), Alejandro Landes (Colombian-Ecuadorian),Jorge Alí Triana (Colombian) and  Andrés Wood (Chilean).

This year’s new class demonstrates The Academy’s commitment to erasing the stigma of not being inclusive, particularly in terms of women, international members and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities.

The organization reports this year’s class breakdown is 49% international, 45% women, and 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial. 

The overwhelming number of those invited to join the Academy end up accepting. 

The total active membership in 2019 was 8,946, with 8,733 eligible to vote. Total membership including active, voting and retired was 9,794.  Today’s additions will take the membership count past the 10,000 mark.

AMPAS says members can voluntarily  disclose their race/ethnicity, sex or can choose “prefer not to.” So, demo stats may not be 100% accurate. AMPAS also “recognizes and respects” the personal choice in identification, but doesn’t track LGBTQ+ or differently abled, although a source says, while protecting privacy and not forcing answers, they are “working towards it.” In other words this is no longer your father’s Academy.

 “We take great pride in the strides we have made in exceeding our initial inclusion goals set back in 2016, but acknowledge the road ahead is a long one,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “We are committed to staying the course.”

“The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travelers in the motion picture arts and sciences.  We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now,” said Academy President David Rubin.

Here’s a look at some of this year’s Latino invitees:

Actors
Yalitza Aparicio – “Roma”
Bobby Cannavale – “The Irishman,” “The Station Agent”
Ana de Armas – “Knives Out,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Eva Longoria – “Overboard,” “Harsh Times”
Yul Vazquez – “Gringo,” “Last Flag Flying”

Casting Directors
Libia Batista – “Eres Tú Papá?,” “Viva”
Javier Braier – “The Two Popes,” “Wild Tales”
Eva Leira – “Pain and Glory,” “Biutiful”
Yesi Ramirez – “The Hate U Give,” “Moonlight”
Yolanda Serrano – “Pain and Glory,” “Biutiful”

Cinematographers
Óscar Faura – “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “The Imitation Game”

Directors
Icíar Bolláin – “Even the Rain,” “Take My Eyes”
Felipe Cazals – “El Año de la Peste,” “Canoa: A Shameful Memory”
Sebastián Cordero – “Europa Report,” “Crónicas”
Luis Estrada – “The Perfect Dictatorship,” “Herod’s Law”
Alejandro Landes – “Monos,” “Porfirio”
Jorge Alí Triana – “Bolívar Soy Yo,” “A Time to Die”
Andrés Wood – “Araña,” “Violeta Went to Heaven”

Documentary
Cristina Amaral – “Um Filme de Verão (A Summer Film),” “Person”
Violeta Ayala – “Cocaine Prison,” “The Bolivian Case”
Julia Bacha – “Naila and the Uprising,” “Budrus”
Almudena Carracedo – “The Silence of Others,” “Made in L.A.”
Paola Castillo – “Beyond My Grandfather Allende,” “Genoveva”
Paz Encina – “Memory Exercises,” “Paraguayan Hammock”
Mariana Oliva – “The Edge of Democracy,” “Piripkura”
Iván Osnovikoff – “Los Reyes,” “La Muerte de Pinochet (The Death of Pinochet)”
Tiago Pavan – “The Edge of Democracy,” “Olmo and the Seagull”
Bettina Perut – “Los Reyes,” “La Muerte de Pinochet (The Death of Pinochet)”
Marta Rodriguez – “Our Voice of Earth, Memory and Future,” “Campesinos (Peasants)”

Executives
Ozzie Areu
Barbara Peiro
Frank Rodriguez
Mimi Valdes

Film Editors
Alejandro Carrillo Penovi – “Heroic Losers,” “The Clan”
Alex Marquez – “Snowden,” “Savages”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Mari Paz Robles – “I Dream in Another Language,” “Cantinflas”
David Ruiz Gameros – “Tear This Heart Out,” “Amores Perros”
Susana Sánchez – “The Liberator,” “Goya’s Ghosts”

Marketing and Public Relations
Inma Carbajal-Fogel
Emmanuelle Castro
Fernando Garcia
Dustin M. Sandoval

Music
Andrea Guerra – “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Hotel Rwanda”
Arturo Sandoval – “Richard Jewell,” “The Mule”

Producers
Edher Campos – “Sonora, the Devil’s Highway,” “The Golden Dream”
Nicolas Celis – “Roma,” “Tempestad”
Alex Garcia – “Kong: Skull Island,” “Desierto”
Enrique López Lavigne – “The Impossible,” “Sex and Lucia”
Álvaro Longoria – “Everybody Knows,” “Finding Altamira”
Mónica Lozano – “I Dream in Another Language,” “Instructions Not Included”
Gabriela Maire – “Las Niñas Bien (The Good Girls),” “La Caridad (Charity)”
Luis Manso – “Champions,” “Binta and the Great 
Gabriela Rodríguez – “Roma,” “Gravity”
Mar Targarona – “Secuestro (Boy Missing),” “The Orphanage”
Luis Urbano – “Letters from War,” “Tabu”

Production Design
Sandra Cabriada – “Instructions Not Included,” “The Mexican”
Estefanía Larraín – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Neruda”

Short Films and Feature Animation
José David Figueroa García – “Perfidia,” “Ratitas”
Oscar Grillo – “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsieur Pett”
Otto Guerra – “City of Pirates,” “Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock’n’Roll”
Isabel Herguera – “Winter Love,” “Under the Pillow”
Summer Joy Main-Muñoz – “Don’t Say No,” “La Cerca”
Juan Pablo Zaramella – “Luminaris,” “The Glove”

Sound
David Esparza – “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Equalizer”

Visual Effects
Leandro Estebecorena – “The Irishman,” “Kong: Skull Island”

Members-at-Large
Daniel Molina
Carlos Morales
Jesse Torres

Pablo Larrain’s “No” Earns Another Film Festival Award

Pablo Larrain’s No, Chile’s Foreign Oscar hopeful starring Gael Garcia Bernal, continues to win praise throughout the world…

Pablo Larrain

The 36-year-old Chilean filmmaker’s latest film, which won the Art Cinema Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, has claimed the 1st Choral Award for Fiction Films at the Havana New Latin American Film Festival.

Based on a true story, No stars Bernalas a brash young Chilean advertising executive who spearheads a campaign that helps topple Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet’s regime

Also from Chile, Andres Wood’s Violeta Went to Heaven came in second in the same competition, and also won Best Art Direction, while the 3rd Choral Award went to Claudio AssisRat Fever from Brazil.

The Jury granted a Special Prize for Carlos Sorin’s Fishing Days (Argentina) and a Special Mention for Brazil/France co-production Once Upon a Time Was I, Verônica, directed by Marcelo Gomes

The fest’s First Film competition was topped by William Vega’s La Sirga (Colombia), followed by Alejandro Fadel’s The Wild Ones (Argentina) which also picked the Choral Award for Best Artistic Contribution. The 3rd Choral prize went to Fernando Guzzoni’s Dog Flesh (Chile)

Local documentary El evangelio según Ramiro by Juan Carlos Calahorra picked the 1st Choral in the Documentary competition, while Maria Veronica Ramirez’s Anima Buenos Aires topped the Animation category.

The FIPRESCI Award went to Nicolas Pereda’s Greatest Hits (Mexico)

Here’s the complete list of awards:

FICTION

Short Films
Jury Mention: Detras del espejo – Julio O. Ramos (Peru)

Choral Award to Best Short Film: Los anfitriones – Miguel Angel Moulet (Cuba)

Feature Length Films

First Choral Award: No – Pablo Larrain (Chile, USA, Mexico)

Second Choral Award: Violeta Went to Heaven – Andres Wood (Chile, Argentina, Brazil)

Third Choral Award: Rat Fever – Claudio Assis (Brazil)

Special Jury Prize: Fishing Days – Carlos Sorin (Argentina)

Jury Mention: Once Upon a Time Was I, Veronica – Marcelo Gomes (Brazil, France)

Best Direction: Michel Franco – After Lucia (Mexico)

Best Script: Eduardo del Llano and Daniel Díaz Torres – La película de Ana (Cuba)

Best Actor: Andres Crespo – Pescador (Ecuador, Colombia)

Best Actress: Laura de la Uz – La película de Ana (Cuba)

Best Editing: Pablo Trapero and Nacho Ruiz Capillas – White Elephant (Argentina, Spain, France)

Best Original Score: Jacobo Lieberman, Leonardo Heiblum – The Delay (Uruguay, Mexico)

Best Soundtrack: Gilles Laurent – Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico, France, Germany, The Netherlands)

Best Cinematography: Alexis Zabe – Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico, France, Germany, The Netherlands)

Best Art Direction: Rodrigo Bazaes – Violeta Went to Heaven (Chile, Argentina, Brazil)

Best Film about Latin America by a non-Latin American filmmaker: Here and There – Antonio Mendez Esparza (USA, Spain, Mexico)

FIRST FILMS

First Choral Award: La Sirga – William Vega (Colombia, France, Mexico)

Second Choral Award: The Wild Ones – Alejandro Fadel (Argentina)

Third Choral Award: Dog Flesh – Fernando Guzzoni (Chile)

Mention: El limpiador – Adrian Saba (Peru)

Choral Award to the Best Artistic Contribution: The Wild Ones – Alejandro Fadel (Argentina)

ANIMATED FILMS

First Choral Award: Anima Buenos Aires – Maria Veronica Ramirez (Argentina)

Second Choral Award: Luminaris – Juan Pablo Zaramella (Argentina)

Third Choral Award: Fat Bald Short Man – Carlos Osuna (Colombia, France)

Special Jury Prize: Selkirk, el verdadero Robinson Crusoe – Walter Tournier (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile)

Mention: La luna en el jardin – Adanoe Lima and Yemelí Cruz (Cuba)

DOCUMENTARY FILMS

First Choral Award: El evangelio segun Ramiro – Juan Carlos Calahorra (Cuba)

Second Choral Award: Con mi corazon en Yambo – Fernanda Restrepo (Ecuador)

Third Choral Award: Cuentos sobre el futuro – Patricia Bustos (Chile)

Best Film about Latin America by a non-Latin American filmmaker: Escenas previas – Aleksandra Maciuszek (Cuba, Poland)

Special Prize: De agua dulce – Damian Sainz (Cuba)

Parra Biopic “Violeta Went To Heaven” to Be Released in the US

The story of Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval—the woman who ushered in la Nueva Canción chilena, a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk-inspired music and socially committed music—will soon be making its way to the big screen in the United States.

Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights to Violeta Went To Heaven, Andrés Wood’s biopic of the Chilean composer, songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist, who died in 1967 at the age of 49.

Violeta Parra

Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Wood’s film was recently screened in New York City, as part of the Latinbeat series organized by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and programmed by Richard Peña and Marcela Goglio.

The film, which was awarded the World Cinema Jury Prize (Dramatic) at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is a portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes.

The film’s cast: Francisca Gavilán, Thomas Durand, Luis Machín, Gabriela Aguilera and Roberto Farías.

Kino Lorber plans release the film nationally in November or December of this year, then offer Violeta Went To Heaven via video on demand.