The Imagen Foundation announced the nominees for the 27th Annual Imagen Awards (Spanish for “image"), which honors positive portrayals of Latinos and Latino cultures in entertainment. Girl in Progress, the mother/daughter dramedy leads the race with five nominations including Best Feature Film and Best Director (Patricia Riggen), along with acting honors for Eva Mendes for Best Actress, Eugenio Derbez for Best Supporting Actor and Cierra Ramirez for Best Supporting Actress.
The outlandish comedy, Casa de mi Padre received four nominations including Best Feature with the remaining nominations going to Will Ferrell for Best Actor, Diego Luna for Best Supporting Actor and Genesis Rodriguez for Best Supporting Actress. Also nominated for Best Feature was the the Hip Hop-driven drama, Filly Brown. The film’s lead actress and rapper, Gina Rodriguez received a nomination for Best Actress, while her father played by Lou Diamond Phillips was selected for the Best Actor category. Directors Youssef Delara and Michael Olmos will also compete for the Best Director award.
In a three way tie for second place is Without Men, an adaptation of James Cañón’s novel “Tales From the Town of Widows.” Three of the four nominations are for acting honors including Best Actress (Eva Longoria) and Best Supporting Actress for both Kate Del Castillo and Mónica Huarte with the final nomination going to Gabriela Tagliavini for Best Director.
Cruz Reynoso: Sowing the Seeds of Justice chronicling the remarkable life of Cruz Reynoso was nominated for Best Documentary for Film or Television along with Harlistas: An American Journey about the Latino motorcycling culture. Also, fighting for the Best Doc prize is Immigrant Nation: The Battle for the Dream, the modern telling of the immigrant rights movement; and the critically acclaimed, Paraiso For Sale, from filmmaker, Anayansi Prado.
Five selections were made for the Best Theatrical Short or Student Film category including Ruben Avita’s Inglés; MADDOGGIN set in East L.A.; the short Our Vows; Rusted Chrome and The Violinist.
The awards will be presented at a gala black-tie dinner on Friday evening, August 10th, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel International Ballroom. The Imagen Awards will air as a one hour special on PBS SoCal on Sunday, September 23rd.
