Diego Luna to Receive 2021 Platino Award of Honor

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Diego Luna is being celebrated for his platinum career.

This year’s seventh edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) will honor the 41-year-old Mexican actor, director, producer and festival organizer with the Platino Award of Honor.

An itinerant award show by design, this year’s Platinos will be held on October 3 in Madrid.

Luna will be the youngest recipient of the career achievement honor, joining previous winners Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez, often simply referred to as Raphael, one of Spain’s most iconic entertainers of the 20th century; Adriana Barraza, the Oscar nominated Spanish-English-language crossover star of Alejandro Iñárritu’s Babel and Amores Perros; Oscar and three time Primetime Emmy nominee Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver); Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory); and Primetime Emmy (The Burning Season) and BAFTA (“Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) nominee Sonia Braga.

A child actor who excelled from an early age, Luna’s first film appearance was in Javier Bourges’ 1991 Mexican Academy Award-nominated short The Last New Year.” He appeared in several telenovelas throughout the ‘90s, joined on screen for the first time by his longtime collaborator and close friend Gael García Bernal in El abuelo y yo in 1992. Alternating between film and television over the next decade, his international breakout came with García Bernal and Spain’s Marbel Verdú in Alfonso Cuarón’s seminal coming-of-age road trip film “Y Tu Mamá También.”

Shortly after, Luna began his Hollywood career appearing alongside Bon Jovi in John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos and in Salma Hayek’s Oscar-winning biopic Frida.

In the decades since, Luna has continued to work on both Latin American and U.S. productions while also taking turns as a producer, writer and director. He also, again with García Bernal, launched the nomadic documentary film festival Ambulante, as well as their own production label, first Canana in 2005 and now La Corriente del Golfo.

Most recently, he created and hosts the Amazon Original conversation series Pan y Circo and is starring in the Disney+’s Andor, a spinoff series following his Rogue One: A Star Wars Story character Cassian Andor.

He was also recently confirmed as a voice actor for Netflix’s upcoming animated series Maya and the Three, where he will team with frequent collaborator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life).

Last year’s ceremony was, like so many, forced online by the COVID-19 pandemic. But this time around, the Platinos are planning an in-person event to celebrate the best offerings from the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American screen industries.

At 11 nominations each, the two standout titles are Fernando Trueba’s Colombian drama Memories of My Father and Jayro Bustamante’s Guatemalan thriller La Llorona.

The Platino Awards are promoted by EGEDA (Spain’s Entity for the Rights Management of Audiovisual Producers) and FIPCA (the Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers) and have the support of the Ibero-American film academies and institutes as well as numerous sponsors in Europe and Latin America.

Mexico Enters Fernando Frías de la Parra’s “I’m No Longer Here” into International Feature Film Oscar Race

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Fernando Frías de la Parra is representing…

The Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences has chosen the Mexican filmmaker’s I’m No Longer Here as Mexico’s official entry for the International Feature Film Oscar race.

The film centers on the young leader (Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino) of a small Monterrey street gang from the Cholombiano subculture who longs for home after being forced to move to Jackson Heights, Queens, after an altercation with a local cartel. It premiered at the 2019 Morelia Film Festival, where it won Best Feature and was a selection of this year’s truncated Tribeca Film Festival.

The film received 10 Ariel Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and is Mexico’s official submission for Spain’s Goya Awards.

Netflix acquired worldwide rights back in 2018, and it bowed on the streamer on May 27.

“The news took me by surprise, and I am overwhelmed with happiness and excitement,” said Frias. “I am enormously grateful to the Academy and its members and the entire industry that has supported us, such as Netflix and IMCINE, but also to the people. The public has shown us that they are ready to connect with our stories here in Mexico. That fills me with pride.”

Mexico has seen nine film nominated for the Academy Awards’ International Feature race (it was formerly known as Outstanding Foreign-Language Feature) with films from the likes of Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro. It’s only one the top prize once, however, for Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, also from Netflix, in 2018.

Carolina Rivera Signs Deals with Verve and Netflix

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Carolina Rivera has a new deal…

The Mexican screenwriter and producer has signed with Verve and entered an overall deal at Netflix.

Under the Netflix agreement, Rivera will serve as the executive producer of the television series Madre Solo Hay Dos, which she created.

Rivera is the co-executive producer of the CW’s sci-fi drama Roswell: New Mexico, which recently wrapped.

She also worked on Jane the Virgin.

Marc Cherry’s production company purchased Rivera’s “Ellas son… la alegría del hogar,”which was originally created for Televisa. The series was the basis for Cherry’s Lifetime series Devious Maids, starring Roselyn Sanchez.

Rivera studied screenwriting at the UCLA Extension Writers Program and wrote her first feature Cilantro y Perejil, which went on to win three Ariel Awards— Mexico’s equivalent of the Oscars— for Best Original Screenplay, Best Story and Best Original Song. Cilantro y Perejil made history in the Mexican film industry as the first Mexican title to be screened at commercial movie theaters throughout the country.

Her writing credits include more than 15 feature films. In 2005, Rivera received the Motion Picture Association Award for Best Hispanic Screenplay for her screenplay Enemigos Íntimos.

In addition, she worked as head writer for the serial telenovela Lucho en Familia and worked on Amor Cautivo. She headed the children’s television development team at Channel 11, Latin America’s largest public television network. While there, she created and served as head writer for Bizbirije and El Divan de Valentina.She has also served as an International Emmy AwardsJuror for Dramatic Series and TV movies.

Adriana Paz Cast in Paramount Network’s “Coyote”

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

The huntis over for Adriana Paz.

The 39-year-old Mexican actress and dancer has been cast as a series regular opposite Michael Chiklis and Juan Pablo Raba in Coyote, Paramount Network’s one-hour scripted drama series.

Written by David Graziano, Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert, Coyote is the story of Ben Clemens (Chiklis), who, after 32 years as a border patrol agent, is forced to work for the very people he spent his career trying to keep out of America. Now exposed to life on the other side of the wall, Ben will start to question his black-and-white views of the world, challenging his ideology and his loyalties.

Paz joins a cast of series regulars that includes Kristyan Ferrer, Octavio Pisano, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams and Julio Cedillo.

Paz will play Silvia, the proprietor of the local taqueria. Ferrer will portray Chayo, a member of the Cartel and has a very personal ax to grind. Pisano will play Sultan, member of the Cartel, he is a second generation Mexican American who has fled to Mexico. McWilliams will portray Holly Vincent, the smart, savvy, and streetwise HSI Agent. Cedillo will play Neto, a seasoned, local cop in a small Mexico town.

The project hails from Emmy-winning executive producer and director Michelle MacLaren, Dark Horse Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television. It’s slated to premiere in 2020.

MacLaren will direct the pilot and executive produce the series. Graziano serves as showrunner. Graziano, Carnes and Gilbert are writers and executive producers.

Paz’s previous credits include her Ariel Award-winning performance in La Tirisia, as well as roles in Rudo y Cursi, Spectre, Hilda and El Autor.

Ferrer, a 24-year-old Mexican actor, previously appeared in Sin Nombre, Ramon and600 Millas.

Pisano previously appeared in New York Undercover, iLove and If Loving You is Wrong.

Cedillo, a 49-year-old Mexican American actor, previously appeared in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Sicario and Narcos: Mexico.

Esquivel’s “Like Water For Chocolate” to Get Television Adaptation

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no water shortage for Laura Esquivel…

The 66-year-old Mexican author’s popular novel Like Water For Chocolate is getting a television adaptation.

Endemol Shine Studios, the scripted division of Endemol Shine North America, has acquired the rights Esquivel’s best-selling novel Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua Para Chocolate) to adapt as a global television franchise.

The classic story is being developed as an English language series with plans to adapt it in other languages, as well.

Like Water for Chocolate was first published in 1989 by Esquivel, a first-time Mexican novelist and quickly became a global sensation. The use of magical realism alongside a raucous family drama made the book an instant classic.

To date, Like Water for Chocolate has sold 3.5 million copies in the U.S. through publishers Knopf Doubleday (English) and Vintage Espanol (Spanish). The novel spent a year and a half on the New York Times Bestseller list and has been published in 45 languages.

In 1992, a film based on Esquivel’s screenplay adaptation of the novel was successfully released in Spanish, earning critical acclaim and numerous honors. The film earned 11 Ariel Awards from the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including the Ariel for Best Picture and at the time became the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever released in the United States. It also was the Mexican entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards.

“It fills me with joy to know that Like Water for Chocolate will be brought to television screens throughout the world by a studio that bets on quality in producing content for each of its projects,” says Esquivel. “Of all the companies that offered to create the series, Endemol Shine Studios stood out in sharing a vision of Like Water for Chocolate closest to my own: leading from the heart.”

“The opportunity to adapt this beloved novel is a privilege, added Endemol Shine Studios President Sharon Hall. “Laura’s epic love story has all the ingredients of a breakthrough drama.”

Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpent” Sweeps Platino Ibero-American Film Awards

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Ciro Guerra continues to slither his way to the awards stage…

The 35-year-old film director and screenwriter’s critically acclaimed Embrace of the Serpent, which earned an Academy Award nomination, swept the 3rd Platino Ibero-American Film Awards on Sunday night in Uruguay, taking home seven of the eight categories for which it was nominated.

Although the awards had no clear favorite, Embrace of the Serpent, with Ixcanul, had scored the most nominations and its plaudit sweep did not seem to surprise many.

Shot in widescreen in 35 mm and in black and white Serpent claimed best picture, director, editing (Etienne Boussac, Cristina Gallego), art direction (Angélica Perea), original music (Nascuy Linares), cinematography (the film was shot by David Gallego) and sound (Carlos García, Marco Salavarría).

The story of Karamakate, a shaman who is the last survivor of his tribe and asked, 30 years apart, by two explorers – based on the figures of Theodor Koch-Gruenberg and Richard Evans Schultes – to help them discover the yakuna plant, Embrace of the Serpent charts the devastation of the Amazon by colonial powers, whether Colombian rubber companies or a crazed Spanish priest, but more particularly the loss of indigenous knowledge as whole peoples disappeared under the influx of invasion.

“The ravages of colonialism cast a dark pall over the stunning South American landscape in Embrace of the Serpent, he latest visual astonishment from the gifted Colombian writer-director Ciro Guerra,” Variety wrote in its Cannes Film Festival review.

Ciro Guerre’s third movie has won a string of significant festival, Academy and pan Latin American awards, including a Mexican Silver Ariel, Fénix Film Awards, and plaudits at the Mar del Plata and Palm Springs fests, among others.

Platino acting awards went to two Argentine talents who most certainly deserve wider recognition, Dolores Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes Critics’ Week winner Paulina, who plays a young lawyer who refuses to compromise her principles when raped while working as a rural teacher, and Guillermo Francella, who portrays a real-life family patriarch and psychopath in Pablo Trapero’s The Clan, who continues for personal profit Argentina’s Dirty War practice of kidnapping and murder after the fall of Argentina’s military junta.

A third Argentine actor, Ricardo Darin, took the Platino Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We have the talent. We just need to have confidence in ourselves,” Darin said on stage, receiving the plaudit. ”That’s why we and Ibero-America need these awards,” he added.

A searing but crafted indictment of the tribulations of a young pregnant and unmarried girl in rural Guatemala, Berlin Silver Bear winner Ixcanul, the feature debut of Jayro Bustamante, once more confirmed its audience appeal, at least with the who have seen it, taking the Platinos’ Audience Award, plus best first feature.

BEST PICTURE
“Embrace of the Serpent,” (Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela)

BEST DIRECTOR
Ciro Guerra (“Embrace of the Serpent”)

BEST ACTOR
Guillermo Francella (“The Clan,” Argentina, Spain)

BEST ACTRESS
Dolores Fonzi (“Paulina,” Argentina)

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Nascuy Linares (“Embrace of the Serpent”)

BEST ANIMATION MOVIE
“Capture the Flag,” (Enrique Gato, Spain)

BEST DOCU FEATURE
“The Pearl Button,” (Patricio Guzmán, Chile, Spain)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Pablo Larraín, Guillermo Calderón, Daniel Villalobos (“The Club”)

FIRST FEATURE
“Ixcanul” (Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala, France)

EDITING
Etienne Boussac, Cristina Gallego (“Embrace of the Serpent”)

ART DIRECTION
Angélica Perea (“Embrace of the Serpent”)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
David Gallego (“Embrace of the Serpent”)

SOUND
Carlos García, Marco Salavarría (“Embrace of the Serpent”)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Ricardo Darín

PLATINO AWARD FOR FILM AND EDUCATION IN VALUES
“The Second Mother,” (Anna Muylaert, Brazil)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

FEATURE
“Ixcanul,” (Guatemala, France)

ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz (“Ma ma,” Spain)

ACTOR
Ricardo Darín (“Truman,” Spain, Argentina)

Pablos’ “Las Elegidas” Picks Up Five Ariel Awards

Posted on May 29, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

David Pablos is the chosen one…

The 32-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s Las Elegidas, a drama about a teenage girl forced into prostitution, proved to be the big winner at the 58th Ariel Awards, Mexico’s version of the Oscars.

Produced by Canana Films, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna’s production company, Las Elegidas earned Pablos the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay awards.

The film, which had its world premiere last year in the Cannes Film Festival‘s Un Certain Regard, was also named Best Picture.

In all, writer-director Pablos’ film won five Ariels on Saturday night in Mexico City, including cinematography and breakthrough performance for actress Nancy Talamantes.

Also winning five awards was Gloria, Christian Keller‘s biopic about controversial Mexican pop icon Gloria Trevi. Gloria won best actor and actress for performances by Marco Perez (Amores Perros) and Sofia Espinosa.

Best Ibero-American picture went to Ciro Guerra‘s Amazon jungle-set Embrace of the Serpent, which made history last year when it became Colombia’s first film to ever receive an Oscar nomination.

Lifetime achievement awards were handed to veteran filmmaker Paul Leduc and Rosita Quintana, an actress known for her work during Mexico’s golden age of cinema.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: Las Elegidas
Director: David Pablos (Las Elegidas)
Actor: Marco Perez (Gloria)
Actress: Sofia Espinosa (Gloria)
Supporting Actor: Noe Hernandez (600 Millas)
Supporting Actress: Adriana Paz (Hilda)
Breakthrough Performance (Actor): Martin Castro (El Jeremias)
Breakthrough Performance (Actress): Nancy Talamantes (Las Elegidas)
Cinematography: Las Elegidas
Original Screenplay: Las Elegidas
Adapted Screenplay: Un Monstruo de Mil Cabezas
Ibero-American Picture: El Abrazo de la Serpiente
Documentary: El Hombre Que Vio Demasiado
Animated Picture: La Increible Historia del Nino de Piedra
First Work: 600 Millas
Production Design: Mexican Gangster
Costume Design: Mexican Gangster
Makeup: Gloria
Original Score: El Hombre Que Vio Demasiado
Sound: Gloria
Editing: Gloria
Special Effects: Mexican Gangster
Visual Effects: Mexican Gangster
Short Fiction Film: Tremulo
Short Documentary: Ausencias
Short Animated Film: Zimbo

Kino Lorber Acquires North American Distribution Rights to Ruiz Palacios’ “Güeros”

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Alonso Ruiz Palacios’ latest project is headed north of the border…

Kino Lorber has picked up North American distribution rights to the Mexican filmmaker’s Güeros.

The comedy, set in 1999, centers on three teens who, during a student strike, kill time searching for folk-rocker Epigmenio Cruz on the streets of Mexico City.

Written, directed and produced by Ruiz Palacios, the black-and-white feature took the best first film award at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival.

Gueros also won three awards at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival including Best New Narrative Director.

More recently Gueros garnered a dozen Ariel Award nominations.

Ruiz Palacios’ 2010 short El último canto del pájaro cú won an Ariel for Best Short Fiction Film.

Kino Lorber will debut the movie at New York’s Film Forum on May 20, with additional key markets and digital platforms to follow.

Cinema Libre to Release Huerta’s “Days of Grace” in the U.S.

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Tenoch Huerta’s work is heading north of the border…

Cinema Libre Studio has picked up Days of Grace, starring the Mexican actor, who is considered one of his country’s fast-rising stars.

The feature debut of Mexican director Everardo Gout, who also wrote the script, is a tale of police and government corruption in Mexico City. The ambitious multi-threaded movie unfolds over a dozen years amid multiple kidnappings during successive World Cup tournaments. It centers on a cop, a hostage and a wife who fight to survive during the futbol events.

Days of Grace will go out day-and-date May 1 in U.S. theatres and on HBO, and via DVD/Blu-ray and On Demand starting May 5.

The film took eight Ariel Awards including best first film, best actor and supporting actress following its April 2012 debut in its home country.

In addition to Huerta, the film also stars Dolores Heredia, Kristyan Ferrer, Carlos Bardem and Eileen Yañez.

Rodriguez’s “La isla mínima” Wins Big at the Goya Awards

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Alberto Rodriguez is a ten…

The 43-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s latest film, the thriller La isla mínima, performed up to expectations at the 29th Goya Awards, winning in 10 of the 17 categories in which it competed, including Best Film and Best Director.

The film’s stars, Javier Gutierrez, and Nerea Barros, won the Best Actor and Best New Actress awards, respectively, during Saturday night’s show.

La isla mínima also won in the Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Music Score, among other categories.

“El Niño,” which received 16 nominations, won four Goyas.

La isla mínima was selected to represent Spain at Mexico’s Ariel Awards, according to the Spanish Motion Picture Academy.

Argentina’s Relatos Salvaje took home the Goya for Best Ibero-American Film.

The movie, a Spanish-Argentine production directed by Damian Szifron, beat out “Conducta” (Cuba), “Kaplan” (Uruguay) and “La Distancia Mas Larga” (Venezuela) for the prize.

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas received a Goya of Honor for his achievements in the movie industry.

“The only way to fight mediocrity is to focus on our cultural values,” Banderas said, referring to the achievements of illustrious Spaniards such as Pablo Picasso, Francisco de Goya, Antonio Machado and Federico Garcia Lorca.

“Our artists, our intellectuals are the best way to know what we are, how we got here,” Banderas said, adding that mediocrity had become “the best business of our times.”

Banderas thanked director Pedro Almodovar for helping him professionally.

“I can’t understand my career without the seven films with him, including my American career, I almost have to say that I owe it to him,” Banderas said.

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