Oscars 2015 Results, Winners & Analysis: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" Makes Latin American History
One of the big stories to circulate after the announcement of the Oscar nominations was the lack of diversity.
Most prominently, "Selma," a film about civil rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was shut out in all but two categories. There was no diversity in the acting categories, either.
And yet, Latin Americans had solid representation at the 87th Academy Awards. One Best Picture nominee was helmed and shot by Mexicans and also had a few Argentine nominees, as well. Another Argentine film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film.
So, how did Latin Americans do at the big ceremony?
Argentina's "Wild Tales," which was produced by Pedro Almodovar, was seen by many as a major contender to take home the Best Foreign Language Film award. But alas, the film was not able to overtake Poland's "Ida," which had tremendous momentum heading into the evening.
In the short documentary category, "The Reaper," directed by Nicaraguan Gabriel Serra Argüello, also lost out in its category.
But the bigger contender for Latin America on the night was "Birdman," which had nominations for Latin Americans in such categories as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Editing.
Mexican Martin Hernandez lost in the Best Sound Editing category, but Emmanuel Lubezki made history by winning his second straight Oscar for Best Cinematography. He won last year for his work on "Gravity." With the victory, not only did Lubezki win his second Oscar in seven tries, but he also continued Latin America's streak of victories in this category. In 2012, Chilean-born Claudio Miranda's work on "Life of Pi" was given the big award. Lubezki has also been nominated for "A Little Princess" (1995), "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), "The New World" (2005), "Children of Men" (2006) and "The Tree of Life" (2011). He is also a front-runner to win his third straight Oscar for his upcoming work on Alejandro Gonzalo Inarritu's "The Revenant."
And then the evening turned in favor of "Birdman." The film, directed by Inarritu, would go on to win the Best Original Screenplay, which was written by Inarritu in collaboration with Argentines Nicolas Giacobone and Armando Bo. It was Inarritu's first Oscar of his career, but it would not be his last.
A few minutes later, the Mexican auteur would pull off his first win as Best Director, making him the second consecutive Latin American director to lift the trophy. Last year, Alfonso Cuaron became the first Latin American to win the award for his work on "Gravity."
But it would not end there as Inarritu was honored for a third time in the evening when "Birdman" picked up the Best Picture statuette, making the first time that a film directed by a Latin American filmmaker won the award. Other films directed by Latin Americans in the category include "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985), "Babel" (2006) and "Gravity" (2013).
Inarritu's two victories in the Best Director and Best Picture categories also broke a significant streak in which the Best Director and Best Picture categories were split between two different films. In 2013, "12 Years a Slave" won best picture, but Cuaron won director for "Gravity." A year earlier, Ang Lee took home the top director award for his work on "Life of Pi" while "Argo" took home the Best Picture award.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!