Tag Archives: Anthony Quinn

Critics Choice Association to Honor Rita Moreno at Inaugural “Celebration of Latino Cinema”

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It’s a special celebration for the legendary Rita Moreno…

The 89-year-old Puerto Rican actress, dancer and singer will be honored alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda and Demián Bichir at the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of Latino Cinema.

Rita MorenoMoreno, Miranda and Bichor will be honored alog with a group of additional honorees, many associated with upcoming 2021 films, still to be announced.

The Celebration of Latino Cinema, to be presented virtually, will take place on Thursday, December 9, 2021 and aims to put a spotlight on the contributions of great Oscar-winning and -nominated artists like Moreno, Miranda and Bichir, but also Latino filmmaking in general, a facet of the motion picture industry that doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves during awards season.

Among other things, the CCA’s Celebration of Latino Cinema aims to change that.

“We are thrilled to be launching the first annual Celebration of Latino Cinema which recognizes the talented performers and skilled professionals who create the acclaimed films we are so proud to honor,” said Claudia Puig, a CCA member and co-programmer of the event.

“Films by our honorees represent the diverse and multi-faceted Latino community, and reflect our increasingly inclusive industry” said CCA board member and event co-programmer Clayton Davis.

The Celebration of Latino Cinema will be produced by Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante of Madelyn Hammond & Associates. Stagedge will be responsible for transforming the show into an immersive virtual experience.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to LA Collab, whose mission is to accelerate Latino access, visibility and representation in the entertainment industry.

Moreno has won all four of the most prestigious awards in show business: an Oscar, a Tony, two Emmys, and a Grammy. She recently co-starred in the Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s classic sitcom One Day at a Time, and her documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival before being released in theaters; it will be broadcast on PBS’ American Masters in October. Moreno also co-stars in and executive produces Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story.

She is a recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Arts.

Miranda is a Pulitzer-, Grammy-, Emmy– and Tony Award-winning songwriter, actor and director, and creator and original star of Broadway’s Hamilton and In the Heights. A recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Award, a Kennedy Center Honor and the Portrait of a Nation Prize, he received an Emmy with Tom Kitt for their song “Bigger” from the 67th Tony Awards. Upcoming projects include Disney’s Encanto and his directorial film debut, tick, tick… BOOM!

Bichir received a Best Actor Oscar nomination in 2012 for his role in Chris Weitz’s A Better Life, becoming the first Mexican-born actor to be nominated in that category by the Academy since Anthony Quinn in 1957. He more recently received rave reviews for his performance in the film Land, directed by Robin Wright. His film credits include Steven Soderbergh’s Che, Oliver Stone’s Savages, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills, Paul Feig’s The Heat, Richard Shepard’s Dom Hemingway, Ridley Scott’s Alien, George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky, and Adam Wingard’s Godzilla Vs. Kong.

Demián Bichir to Star in Showtime’s Vampire Drama Pilot “Let the Right One In”

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Demián Bichir is sinking his teeth into a new project…

Showtime has given a formal pilot green light to Let the Right One In, a vampire drama starring the 57-year-old Mexican Oscar-nominated actor.

Demian Bichir

The project hails from Andrew Hinderaker, who’ll serve as showrunner, Seith Mann, who will direct, and Tomorrow Studios, which has been the driver behind the project in its various incarnations for more than six years.

Inspired by the best-selling 2004 novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist and its 2008 Swedish film adaptation, the series centers on a father, Mark (Bichir) and his 12-year-old daughter whose lives were changed forever 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire. Locked in at age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life, able to go out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the minimal amount of human blood she needs to stay alive.

Bichir’s Mark is a husband and father who had the perfect life until it was turned upside down by a mysterious creature who bit his daughter (Eleanor) and then vanished into the night.

Let the Right One In, which had been in the works at Showtime for awhile and recently started casting the male lead, is described as an elevated genre drama, which is turning a naturalistic lens on human frailty, strength and compassion.

“Let the Right One In quickly establishes itself as a thrilling, high-stakes drama that asks the question: How far would you go to save your child from the monsters out there – would you risk becoming a monster yourself?” said Amy Israel, Showtime’s EVP, Scripted Programming. “Demián Bichir is one of the world’s most dynamic and engrossing actors, and his charisma and vulnerability will surely bring Andrew Hinderaker’s exquisite script to life, guided by Seith Mann’s deft direction. We couldn’t be more excited about the potential of this show.”

Bichir will serve as a producer on the potential series.

“The series is both a love letter to the original film, and a story entirely our own,” said Hinderaker. “And casting a true artist like Demián epitomizes our bold aspiration to be one of the most terrifying shows on TV, and one of the most moving.”

Let the Right One In was originally developed by Tomorrow Studios and set up at A&E and A+E Studios in 2015. A year later, it moved to TNT where a pilot was ordered and cast but did not go to production. That version was closer to the original source material and was described as an eerie drama about a young boy, long tormented by his classmates, who finds solace in a friendship with a charismatic female vampire who appears to be near his age. Tomorrow Studios shopped the project and it ultimately landed at Showtime for redevelopment with a new writer.

Bichir received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film A Better Life, becoming the first Mexican-born actor to be nominated in that category since Anthony Quinn.

His most recent films include starring in George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky, Robin Wright’s Land and the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong.

Bichir Receives First-Ever Oscar Nomination…

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Demián Bichir is following in the footsteps of legendary actor Anthony Quinn…

The 48-year-old former telenovela star has become only the second Mexican actor to receive a lead actor Academy Award nomination; nearly 50 years after Quinn won an Oscar for his role in Zorba the Greek.

Demian Bichir

Bichir received the nod for his starring role in A Better Life where he played Carlos Galindo, an illegal immigrant gardener living in East Los Angeles. Struggling to remain employed but undetected by immigration authorities, Galindo attempts to provide a better life for his American-born son.

“I’m overwhelmed for having my name among those incredible actors,” Bichir tells Us Weekly in a statement. “This could have never happened if Chris Weitz had not been the head of this film. He is my brother and I thank him deeply.”

Bichir’s performance—which led to a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and Independent Spirit Awards nod, has simmered on Hollywood’s back burner since awards season began.

Demian Bichir A Better Life Spirit Award Nomination

“You know, when you encounter a character like this and a project like this, the first reaction is how lucky I am,” said Bichir in a recent interview with USA Today. “Because this is my Hamlet. This is my King Lear… It’s a bigger-than-life character that any actor would fight for it, would die to do it.”

Bichir will face-off against George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and
Brad Pitt (Moneyball).

Berenice Bejo The Artist

Meanwhile, Bérénice Bejo is also a first-time Oscar nominee. The 35-year-old Argentine star—who was the best-dressed Latina at this year’s Golden Globes—received a Best Supporting Actress nod for her star-making role in The Artist.

Bejo is up against Jessica Chastain (The Help), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) and
 Octavia Spencer (The Help). 

Here’s a look at the other Latinos nominated for an Academy Award this year:

Music (Original Score):
Alberto Iglesias,
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Music (Original Song):
Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown & Siedah Garrett, “Real in Rio” from Rio

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo was this year’s most nominated film with 11 nods, followed by Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist, with 10.

The 84th Academy Awards will be televised on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 26.