The Mexican Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences hosted the 61st edition of their Ariel Awards on Monday evening, where Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” and Alejandra Márquez Abella’s “The Good Girls” stood out among the winners.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Cuarón’s “Roma” scooping best picture is that it’s only the second of his films to win an Ariel award, and the first to be nominated for best picture. In 1992 “Sólo con Tu Pareja” was nominated for best first work and screenplay, and won best original story. In 2001 he chose not to submit his Oscar-nominated classic “Y tu mamá también” in protest at the Academy’s voting practices.
By the end of the Monday evening however, “Roma” netted 10 prizes, including best director, supporting actress, photography, screenplay, editing, sound, art design, visual effects and special effects to go along with the best picture prize.
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A festival darling over the past year, Marquez’s “The Good Girls” turned heads in Toronto, Malaga and Miami and was nominated an eye-catching 14 times at the Ariel’s, scoring best actress, original music, costume design and makeup.
Actor Héctor Bonilla, screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego and sound editor Nerio Barberis were awarded with the Ariel de Oro, or Golden Ariel, a lifetime achievement award.
Bonilla, who confirmed in February that he is in treatment for kidney cancer, is best known for his role in Jorge Fons’ classic “Red Dawn,” which earned him one of his five previous Ariel nominations and one of two wins.
Alicia Garciadiego was a standout writer of Mexican cinema from the late ‘80s through to the ‘00s, with three of her films receiving Ariel nominations. She also penned Venice screenplay winner “Deep Crimson,” and San Sebastian winner “The Ruination of Men.”
For nearly half a century now Barberis has been a constant on the Mexican cinema scene, having done sound on more than 60 features which earned him eight Ariel nominations and three wins for his work. Best known among them is Carlos Carrera’s Oscar-nominated “The Crime of Padre Amaro.”
This year’s awards also paid special attention to the #YaEsHora (#TimesUp) initiative, an industry-wide push to increase visibility for women working in the industry. The Academy committed to work towards creating workspaces free of violence, equality and parity in audio-visual fields, and the promotion of women’s narratives.
CREDIT: Toronto Film Festival
2019 ARIEL AWARD WINNERS
BEST PICTURE
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez and Nicolás Celis
DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
ACTRESS
Ilse Salas, “The Good Girls”
ACTOR
Noé Hernández, “Eight Out of Ten”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Leonardo Ortizgris, “Museo”
BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
Benny Emmanuel, “De la infancia”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Hasta los dientes,” Alberto Arnaut
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Ana y Bruno,” Carlos Carrera
FIRST WORK
“The Chambermaid,” Lila Aviles
IBERO-AMERICAN FILM
“Birds of Passage,” Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra (Colombia, Denmark, Mexico)
PHOTOGRAPHY
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Silvia Pasternac, Carlos Carrera and Fernando Javier, “De la infancia”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
EDITING
Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Gough, “Roma”
SOUND
José Antonio García, Sergio Díaz, Skip Lievsay, Craig Henigham, “Roma”
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Tomás Barreiro, “The Good Girls”
ART DESIGN
Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enríquez, Oscar Tello, Gabriel Cortés, “Roma”
COSTUME DESIGN
María Annai Ramos Maza, “The Good Girls”
MAKEUP
Pedro Guijarro Hidalgo, “The Good Girls”
VISUAL EFFECTS
Sheldon Stopsack, David Griffiths, “Roma”
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Alejandro Vázquez, “Roma”
FICTION SHORT FILM
“Archangel,” Ángeles Cruz
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Long Live the King,” Luis Téllez
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
“Symphony of a Sad Sea,” Carlos Morales
GOLDEN ARIEL
Héctor Bonilla, Paz Alicia Garciadiego, Nerio Barberis