There was more than a little unhappiness in Latino Hollywood on Thursday: virtually no U.S. Latinos in front or behind the camera were nominated for this year’s Academy Awards.
There were some familiar names listed as potential nominees that were overlooked, including Javier Bardem for his work in Skyfall, Penélope Cruz for Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, and Salma Hayek and/or Benicio del Toro for Savages. It’s interesting that even the ‘overlooked’ are more international stars than U.S. Latinos, whose work began (and often continues) in Spain, Mexico, or elsewhere in Latin America. The passed-over nominees for director Juan Antonio Bayona for The Impossible is European, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto for Argo is from Mexico, while Claudio Miranda, nominated for Best Photography for Life of Pi and Paco Delgado for Best Costume for Les Misérables come from Chile and Spain respectively. Jose Antonio Garcia, one of a three-man team who was nominated for Best Sound, hails from Mexico.
…Latinos born and raised in the U.S., and stories or themes about the U.S. Latino experience (like last year’s A Better Life) were painfully absent on screens and on the AMPAS ballot.
Of course congratulations are in order for all of the nominees, which includes Mexican actor, Gael Garcia Bernal for the Chilean film, No in the foreign film category. There were very few surprises to be seen in the nominations in general. In a year where Latino culture and marketing were on a major upward arc, 2012 was a remarkably weak year for Latinos in feature films in general, so even going into the nominating process, the choices were few and far between.
But it is worth noting that even the “short list” names, Latinos born and raised in the U.S., and stories or themes about the U.S. Latino experience (like last year’s A Better Life) were painfully absent on screens and on the AMPAS ballot. It serves as one final confirmation that 2012 will be remembered not as a year of fallback or triumph, but just simple treading water.
The Academy Awards ceremony, which promises to be livelier than usual with irreverent (to say the least) animator/performer Seth MacFarlane center stage, will be telecast Sunday, February 4 on ABC.
