Camila Vega
The annua Academy Awards recognize the brightest and most brilliant individuals in the world of film and entertainment. Latinos with Oscars worked hard to get there, as they were previously overlooked because the Awards were mostly geared toward American productions.
That’s why today we bring you a list of Latin American Oscar winners who have made history at the Academy Awards.
Who Are the Most Influential Latino Oscar Winners in Recent Years?
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is a 57-year-old Mexican director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. His first Oscar nomination came in 2006 for Pan’s Labyrinth in the categories of Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. However, in none of these categories did he win. Now, in 2017, he won in two of the three categories for which The Shape of Water was nominated: Best Picture and Best Director.
Emmanuel Lubezki
In second place is Emmanuel Lubezki, who is a Mexican director and photographer. He has three Oscars, making him one of the Latin Americans with the most wins. The three awards were for the Best Cinematography category for the films Gravity, Birdman and The Revenant in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. He has worked with directors such as Tim Burton, Alfonso Cuarón and the Coen brothers.
Lupita Nyong’o
Next in line is Lupita Nyong’o, who is Mexican-Kenyan. She studied at the Yale School of Drama and is a one-time Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in 2014 for her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. She is one of the Latin American performers at the Oscars who has wowed audiences with her incredible talent and abilities.
Alejandro González Iñárritu
The fourth Mexican on this list is Alejandro González Iñárritu, a filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and broadcaster who has won five times. He took home three awards with Birdman in 2014 (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), one with The Revenant in 2015 (Best Director) and one with Flesh and Sand in 2017 (Best Director).
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno, the Puerto Rican actress, singer and dancer, has won Oscars once in 1961 for Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story. She is one of only a few actresses and artists who have won an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony).
Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón is the Latin American with the most Oscars, together with González Iñárritu. In 2013, he won in two categories (Best Director and Best Film Editing) with Gravity and in three categories with Roma in 2018 (Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film). He is regarded as one of Mexico’s most influential filmmakers and completes the list of Latino directors at the Oscars.
Jorge Drexler
The only Latin artist to win the Original Song category is Uruguay’s Jorge Drexler. In reality, this honor has an unusual backstory: there was a performance of his award-winning song Al otro lado del río during the ceremonies, but it was not sung by Drexler since the American Academy thought no one would recognize him.
That’s why they chose Antonio Banderas to perform it. Instead of delivering a speech, Jorge Drexler sung the first line of the song as he accepted the award.
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