Films with options to represent Latin America at the Oscars

Frame that shows a scene from the Mexican film 'Noche de Fuego'. Netflix (EFE / Netflix)

In less than a month, on February 8, the nominees for the Oscars are announced.

At the gala, which will be held at the end of March, the films that came out in 2021 are awarded. Latin Americans will have several candidates in very diverse categories and with representations ranging from Chile to Puerto Rico.

One of the options that is most speculated on is

, the latest Disney film, which is inspired by Gabriel García Márquez's novel

. Although it is an American commercial bet and its directors are from that country, the voice of the cartoons are Colombian actors such as María Cecilia Botero and John Leguizamo and several of its musical producers are Latin American.

recently won Best Animated Film at the Golden Globes, awards that often give a first taste of what will happen at the Oscars.

In

the Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel Miranda composed a good part of the original songs of the film, and is already one of the semifinalists in the Best Song category for his single

. The soundtrack is also at the top of the Billboard chart in the United States, a good sign to win in the Best Music category, where it is also a semifinalist. Miranda, additionally, could be nominated for Best Picture for

, a Netflix production about a musical composer in New York (a leading man like Miranda, who rose to fame several years ago with her musical

).

In the category of Best International Film is one of the most celebrated feature films in Mexico in 2021,

, by director Tatiana Huezo. Based on the novel

by Jennifer Clement, the film follows a girl named Ana and her two friends who grow up in a rural area where the main economy is poppies and the de facto power is held by the narcos. “It is a very feminine film, but I did not set out to make a feminist or militant film. My main objective was to be able to generate complex characters, real women, to escape the clichés at all costs of the female figure as has been drawn many times in Mexican cinema, ”the director told El PAÍS when her work was acclaimed at Cannes.

It is Huezo's first fictional shoot, but the director has previously represented Mexico at the Oscars with her 2016 documentary

.

In the same category of Best International Film, it is shortlisted for the

awards , by Panamanian director Abner Benaim and co-produced by the famous Panamanian singer Rubén Blades.

The film is about a 40-year-old woman, architect and migrant, traumatized by the death of her young son.

She moves to Panama where she meets a poor boy in a luxury residential building.

Benaim had previously been selected for the Oscars: in 2014 for his film

, and in 2018 for his documentary

.

Last year, one of the most celebrated Chilean films was

, by Maite Alberdi, which was nominated in the category of Best Documentary. This year, at least two Chileans could win awards. The first shortlisted is the famous director Pablo Larraín - known above all for his film

with Gael García, about the plebiscite that ended Pinochet's power. Larraín is now the director of

, a drama filmed in Germany that tells the story of Diana of Wales (

, played by Kristen Stewart) and her catastrophic story after marrying Carlos of England. The short film

in the Best Animated Short category, by director Hugo Covarrubias, which deals with the story of a woman who worked for Pinochet's secret service and, with her dog, committed torture against Chilean citizens.

In the category of Best Makeup and Hairstyle, for now, the latest suspense film by the famous Mexican director Guillermo del Toro,

(translated to

) is shortlisted. Based on a 1946 novel William Lindsay Gresham, the film stars Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett among other famous actors, and tells the story of a traveling fairground worker who apparently has the power to manipulate minds. The director's last fiction feature film was the highly awarded

- it won Best Film and Best Director at the 2018 Oscars, among other awards.

Those selected for Best Actor or Actress, Main or Supporting Role are not yet known. There the Puerto Rican Benicio del Toro could appear for his role as an imprisoned artist in

; the Mexican Eugenio Derbez for his role as a music teacher in the film

; or the Puerto Rican Rita Moreno for her performance in Steven Spielberg's version of the musical

(which also includes the Cuban-Canadian David Alvarez).

Last year, only four Latin Americans took the gold statuettes home: sound engineers Carolina Santana, from Venezuela, and Mexicans Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc, and Jaime Baksh, for their work on the film

.

On February 8, it will be known which Latin Americans, or which films that portray Latin America, are close to the most coveted award in the film industry.

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