From left to right: Director Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), cinematographer Adolpho Veloso (Train Dreams), and actors Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent), and Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this morning the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards, which include several Latin American talents. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein received nine nominations, while Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent / O Agente Secreto received four.
In a historic feat, Brazil secured back-to-back nominations for both Best Picture and Best International Feature, with The Secret Agent following last year’s nominations of Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here / Ainda Estou Aqui.
This unprecedented consecutive showing marks a watershed moment for Brazilian cinema on the global stage, underscoring both the sustained international visibility of its filmmakers and the Academy’s growing openness to politically engaged, formally daring work from the region.
Additionally, Brazilian actor Wagner Moura earned a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Secret Agent, one year after Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Moura became the first Brazilian performer to receive a nomination for Best Actor. In total, The Secret Agent received four nominations, including a nod in the inaugural Best Casting category.
Even though he was not nominated for Best Director, Guillermo del Toro received a nomination for Best Screenplay for Frankenstein, which was also nominated for Best Picture. Other nominations for the adaptation of Mary Shelley’s landmark novel included Best Supporting Actor, Production Design, Costume Design, Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Original Score.
Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro earned a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Sergio St. Carlos in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Brazilian director of photography Adolpho Veloso received his first nomination for Best Cinematography for his work on the American period drama Train Dreams by Clint Bentley.
Three productions nominated for Best Animated Feature Film are driven by talents of Mexican origin: Pixar’s Elio, co-directed by Adrián Molina; Disney’s Zootopia 2, produced by Yvett Merino; and the French-Belgian co-production Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, produced by Nidia Santiago.
Other Latino nominees include Ken Diaz for Makeup and Hairstyling for Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler; Florencia Martin for Production Design for One Battle After Another; and Felipe Pacheco and José Antonio García, both nominated for Sound for Sinners and One Battle After Another, respectively. And Colombian-American filmmaker and photographer Juan Arredondo was one of the producers of HBO’s Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, nominated for Best Documentary Short Film.
The winners of the 98th Academy Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 15.
