Isabel Merced, Diego Luna, J. Lo & More Win Big During Virtual 35th Annual Imagen Awards

The 35th Annual Imagen Awards were presented to Latinx talent and Latinx film and TV productions during a virtual awards show Thursday night. The Imagen Awards are hosted by the Imagen Foundation, an organization that has recognized positive portrayals of Latinx people in the entertainment industry since 1985.

The big winner Thursday evening was Paramount Pictures’ family adventure Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which took home three awards, including Best Feature Film and Best Director – Feature Film for James Bobin. Isabela Merced, who played the title character, a young Latina explorer searching for her missing parents and a lost Inca city of gold, won back-to-back Imagen Award for Best Actress–Feature Film. Last year, Merced won the award for her role in the comedy Instant Family. This year, she tied with Jennifer Lopez for her role in Hustlers, a performance many awards insiders believed should have landed J.Lo an Oscar nomination.

“The industry sees us as party favors,” Merced said on a video posted on her Instagram Thursday night. “[The Imagen Awards] strive to change that. It’s more important than ever that our voices are heard.”

This year, the award for Best Actor–Feature Film went to Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (TV’s Narcos) for playing the title role in the biographical drama Sergio. The film tells the story of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, a United Nations diplomat who was killed in a hotel bombing in Iraq in 2003.

On the TV side, NBC’s Law & Order: SVU won Best Primetime Program: Drama, and Netflix’s Mr. Iglesias starring comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias won Best Primetime Program: Comedy. The Best Actor and Best Actress awards for television went to Diego Luna for his role as a drug cartel boss on Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, and to Jearnest Corchado for her role as an undocumented teenager who becomes a squash player in the anthology series Little America on AppleTV+. See the moment Corchado won the award here.

All full list of Thursday night’s winners is here.

Best Feature Film
Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Best Director – Feature Film
James Bobin, Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Best Actor – Feature Film
Wagner Moura, Sergio

Best Actress – Feature Film
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Isabela Moner, Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Best Primetime Program: Drama
Law & Order: SVU

Best Primetime Program: Comedy
Mr. Iglesias

Best Primetime Program: Special, Movie or Limited Series
Into the Dark: Culture Shock

Best Director – Television
Norberto Barba, Better Call Saul

Best Actor – Television
Diego Luna, Narcos: Mexico

Best Actress – Television
Jearnest Corchado, Little America

Best Supporting Actor – Television
John Ortiz, Little America

Best Supporting Actress – Television
Manni Perez, Law & Order: SVU

Best Young Actor – Television
Izabella Alvarez, Collisions

Best Variety or Reality Show
Pati’s Mexican Table

Best Children’s Programming
Elena of Avalor

Best Informational Program
VOCES: Raul Julia: The World’s a Stage

Best Documentary
Sea of Shadows

Best Commercial Advertisement or Social Awareness Campaign
Chain of Heroes

Best Music Composition for Film or TV
Angélica Negrón, Independent Lens

Best Music Supervision for Film or TV
Javier Índice Nuño and Joe Rodriguez, Los Espookys

Best Short Film
Acuitzeramo

Best Web Series
Thanks a Million

Best Student Film
Milk Teeth