Latin American cinema, as you should know by know, is killing it. And while much of it has been nurtured at the national level, there’s no denying that the increase in international co-productions across the continent (and the pond!) has played a role in raising the quality of cinema from the region. As a reminder of this transnational network of producers, directors, and distributors, we find ourselves now sharing this year’s nominees for the Premios Fénix which focus on films from the Ibero-American region (that’s Latin America plus Spain and Portugal). Organized by Cinema23, the awards hope to further shed light on the cultural exchanges that are happening across national and regional borders. You can check out the full list below but trust us, it’s a beauty featuring some of our favorite films from the past year.
Leading the nomination tally are Pablo Larraín’s trippy anti-biopic Neruda and Pablo Trapero’s chilly thriller The Clan. Not far behind are the sensuous rural drama Neon Bull, the Sonia Braga star-vehicle Aquarius, and the Golden Lion-winning gay Venezuelan feature From afar. Even just a cursory look at those titles — which were joined by the Mexican black-market blood flick I Promise You Anarchy and Albert Serra’s historical epic La mort de Louis XIV in the Best Picture category — should give you a sense of the varied work being cited by the three-year old awards body.
Not content with merely putting on an awards show, Cinema23 is also hard at work on Semana Fénix which has scheduled screenings, talks, and workshops to celebrate 18 of the nominated films this December. So if you’re in Mexico City and want to impress your friends at your next holiday party with your ample knowledge of the best of Ibero-American cinema, look no further.
The Premios Fénix are awarded at a special ceremony in Mexico City on December 7, 2016.
Best Picture (Fiction)
El clan / The Clan (Pablo Trapero, Argentina, 2015)
Te prometo anarquía / I Promise You Anarchy (Mexico, 2015)
Desde allá / From Afar (Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela, 2015)
Boi neon / Neon Bull (Gabriel Mascaro, Brazil, 2015)
Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil, 2016)
La mort de Louis XIV (Albert Serra, France, Portugal, Spain, 2016)
Neruda (Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2016)
Best Picture (Documentary)
Todo comenzó por el fin / It All Started At the End (Luis Ospina, Colombia, 2015)
El viento sabe lo que vuelvo a casa (José Luis Torres Leiva, Chile, 2016)
327 cuadernos (Andrés Di Tella, Argentina, Chile, 2015)
Tempestad (Tatiana Huezo, Mexico, 2016)
Cinema novo (Eryk Rocha, Brazil, 2016)
Best Female Performance
Juana Acosta, Anna (Colombia, 2015)
Erica Rivas, La luz incidente / Incident Light (Argentina, 2015)
Sonia Braga, Aquarius (Brazil, 2016)
Jana Raluy, Un monstruo de mil cabezas / A Monster with a Thousand Heads (Mexico, 2015)
Magaly Soler, Magallanes (Peru, 2015)
Best Male Performance
Ricardo Darín, Truman (Spain, Argentina, 2015)
Alfredo Castro, Desde allá / From Afar (Venezuela, 2015)
Guillermo Francella, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
Gael García Bernal, Neruda (Chile, 2016)
Luis Gnecco, Neruda (Chile, 2016)
Best Director
Pablo Trapero, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
Gabriel Mascaro, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Kleber Mendonça Filho, Aquarius (Brazil, 2016)
Albert Serra, La mort de Louis XIV (France, Portugal, Spain, 2016)
Pablo Larraín, Neruda (Chile, 2016)
Best Production Design
Sebastian Orgambide, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
Ailí Chen, La luz incidente / Incident (Argentina, 2015)
Maíra Mesquite, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Sebastián Vogler, La mort de Louis XIV (France, Portugal, Spain, 2016)
Estefanía Larraín, Neruda (Chile, 2016)
Best Editing
Alejandro Carrillo Penovi, Pablo Trapero, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
Isabela Monteiro de Castro, Desde allá / From Afar (Venezuela, 2015)
Fernando Epstein, Eduardo Serrano, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Jose Luis Guerin, La academia de las musas / The Academy of Muses (Spain, 2015)
Hervé Schneid, Neruda (Chile, 2016)
Best Cinematography (Fiction)
Fernando Lockett, Oscuro animal (Colombia, 2016)
João Ribeiro, Cartas da guerra / Letters from War (Portugal, 2016)
Iván Gierasinchuk, Eva no duerme / Eva Doesn’t Sleep (Argentina, 2015)
Diego García, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Sergio Armstrong, Neruda (Chile, 2016)
Best Cinematography (Documentary)
Cristian Soto, El viento sabe lo que vuelvo a casa (Chile, 2016)
Luis Armando Arteaga, Eldorado XXI (Portugal, France, 2016)
João Ribeiro, Treblinka (Portugal, 2016)
Carmen Torres, Oleg y las raras artes / Oleg and Strange Arts (Spain, 2016)
Ernesto Pardo, Tempestad (Mexico, 2016)
Best Screenplay
Pablo Trapero with Julian Loyola & Esteban Student, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
Lorenzo Vigas, Desde allá / From Afar (Venezuela, 2015)
Gabriel Mascaro, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Jose Luis Guerin, La academia de las musas / The Academy of Muses (Spain, 2015)
Laura Santullo, Un monstruo de mil cabezas / A Monster with a Thousand Heads (Mexico, 2015)
Best Original Score
Sebastián Escofet, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
João Lobo, John From (Portugal, France, 2015)
Otávio Santos, Nascinegro, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Oleg Karavaychuk, Oleg y las raras artes / Oleg and Strange Arts (Spain, 2016)
Leo Heiblum, Jacobo Lieberman, Tempestad (Mexico, 2016)
Best Sound
Leandro de Loredo, Vicente D’Elia, El clan / The Clan (Argentina, 2015)
Ricardo Cutz, Nicolas Hallet, Aquarius (Brazil, 2016)
Sergio Diaz, Vincent Arnardi, Raúl Locatelli, Desierto (Mexico, 2015)
Miguel Hormazábal, Roberto Zuñiga, Ivo Moraga, Rubén Piputto, Neruda (Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2016)
Roberta Ainstein, Jan Schermer, Césas Salazar, Oscuro animal (Colombia, 2016)
Best Costume Design
Julio Suárez, El clan / The Clann (Argentina, 2015)
Flora Rebollo, Boi neon / Neon Bull (Brazil, 2015)
Nina Avramovic, La mort de Louis XIV (France, Portugal, Spain, 2016)
Mónica Toshi, La luz incidente / Incident (Argentina, 2015)
Muriel Parra, Neruda (Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2016)