Nominations for the 61st Arieles Are Announced

by Jorge Molina

Award season is a misnomer. Movie awards are a year-long, worldwide affair. At the end of last month the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences (AMACC) announced its nominees for the 61st annual Ariel awards, celebrating the films of 2018.

As you undoubtedly would expect, Alfonso Cuarón’s multi-celebrated, Oscar-winning Roma garnered the most nominations, with 15. It was followed by Museo, by Alonso Ruizpalacios, and The Good Girls by Alejandra Márquez Abella (still awaiting US distribution), with 14 each.

You can see a full list of the nominees after the jump with a bit of trivia and commentary [UPDATED IN JULY: WE'VE ALSO NOTATED WHICH FILM WON EACH PRIZE AT THE CEREMONY. WINNERS ARE MARKED WITH A STAR]...

Best Picture

• La Camarista (The Chambermaid)
• Las Niñas Bien (The Good Girls)
• Museo
• Nuestro Tiempo (Our Time)
• ★ Roma

Nuestro Tiempo (Our Time) from Carlos Reygadas stars his own family

Best Director

• Lila Avilés – The Chambermaid
• Alejandra Márquez Abella – The Good Girls
• Alonso Ruizpalacios – Museo
• Carlos Reygadas – Nuestro Tiempo
• ★ Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

Surprisingly, this is Alfonso Cuarón’s first ever nomination in this category. This is Carlos Reygadas third nomination in the category. Reygadas previously won for 2008’s Luz Silenciosa (Silent Light), and was nominated in 2004 for Japón. Alonso Ruizpalacios won this award back in 2015 for his film Gueros. Two female directors were nominated for this award, something rare in award bodies elsewhere. However, only one woman has ever won this category (Tatiana Huezo por Tempestad in 2017).

Best Actor

• Luis Gerardo Méndez – Bayoneta
• Damián Alcázar – De la infancia
• Baltimore Beltrán – Mente revólver
• Gael García Bernal – Museo
• ★ Noé Hernández – Ocho de cada diez

This is Gael García Bernal’s third nomination. He won in 2001 for Amores Perros and was nominated again in 2017 for Me Estás Matando Susana (You’re Killing Me Susana).

Concepción Márquez stars in Cría puercos (Esmeralda's Twilight) about a widow who comes back to loving life when she cares for a pig named "Queenie"

Best Actress

• Concepción Márquez – Cría puercos
• Gabriela Cartol – The Chambermaid
• ★ Ilse Salas –The Good Girls
• Sophie Alexander-Katz – Los días más oscuros de nosotras
• Yalitza Aparicio – Roma

Best Supporting Actor

• Ernesto Gómez Cruz – De la infancia
• Flavio Medina – The Good Girls
• Hoze Meléndez – Mente revólver
• ★ Leonardo Ortizgris – Museo
• Jorge Antonio Guerrero – Roma

It’s really good to see Jorge Antonio Guerrero recognized as his work for playing Fermín, Cleo’s asshole boyfriend in Roma. Every small performance really got a chance to be properly acknowledged in this ceremony. 

Best Supporting Actress

• Cassandra Ciangherotti – El club de los insomnes
• Teresa Sánchez – The Chambermaid
• Cassandra Ciangherotti – The Good Girls
• Paulina Gaitán – The Good Girls
• ★ Marina de Tavira – Roma

Best Documentary

• Ayotzinapa, el paso de la tortuga – Dir. Enrique García Meza
• ★ Hasta los dientes – Dir. Alberto Arnaut
• Rita, el documental – Dir. Arturo Díaz Santana
• Rush Hour – Dir. Luciana Kaplan
• Witkin y Witkin – Dir. Trisha Ziff 

Nancy García and Yaritza Aparicio in Roma

Breakthrough Performance 

• Agustina Quinci –The Chambermaid
• Alan Uribe – The Chambermaid
• ★ Benny Emmanuel – De la infancia
• Bernardo Velasco – Museo
• Nancy García – Roma 

Just as with Jorge Antonio Guerrero, it’s good to see Nancy García in this particularly category, as opposed to Yalitza Aparicio (since she's nominated for lead). Adela is such a nuanced, but vital part of Cleo’s routine and it’s good to see her get her due.

El Angel

Best Iberoamerican Film 

• Champions (Spain) – Dir. Javier Fesser
• El Ángel (Argentina) – Dir. Luis Ortega
• A 12 Year Night (Uruguay) – Dir. Álvaro Brechner
• The Heiresses (Paraguay) – Dir. Marcelo Martinessi
• ★ Birds of Passage (Colombia) – Dir. Cristina Gallego y Ciro Guerra 

All five of these were Oscar submissions for their countries this past season.

Best Cinematography

• Carlos F. Rossini – The Chambermaid
• Dariela Ludlow – The Good Girls
• Damián García – Museo
• Diego García – Nuestro tiempo
• ★ Alfonso Cuarón – Roma 

La Camarista (The Chambermaid) - up for Best First Feature AND Best Feature

Best First Feature

•  Ayotzinapa, el paso de la tortuga – Dir. Enrique García Meza
• Cría puercos – Dir. Ehécatl Garage
• Hasta los dientes – Dir. Alberto Arnaut
• ★ The Chambermaid – Dir. Lila Avilés
• Los días más oscuros de nosotras – Dir. Astrid Rondero Martínez

Best Animated Short Film

• ¡Justicia! – Brandon Axel López
• 32-Rbit – Víctor Orozco Ramírez
• Gina – David Alejandro Heras
• Primos – Federico Gutiérrez Obeso
• ★ Viva el rey – Luis Téllez 

The director of Viva el Rey has a stop-motion animated feature in production, reportedly a first for Mexico.

Best Documentary Short

• 19 de septiembre – Santiago Arau Pontones, Diego Rabasa
• Autora – Laura García
• Las visitadoras – Sergio Blanco
• M – Eva Villaseñor
• ★ Sinfonía de un mar triste – Carlos Morales 

Best Live Action Short

• ★ Arcángel – Ángeles Cruz
• B-167-980-098 – Santiago Arriaga, Mariana Arriaga
• El aire delgado – Pablo Giles
• El último romántico – Natalia García Agraz
• Velvet – Paula Hopf
• Videotape – Sandra Reynoso Estrada

On location with one of Roma's most memorable scenes

Best Editing 

• Pedro G. García – Hasta los dientes
• Omar Guzmán –The Chambermaid
• Miguel Schverdfinger – The Good Girls
• Yibrán Asuad – Museo
• ★ Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Gough – Roma

Best Special Effects

• Yoshiro Hernández – Cygnus
• Ricardo Arvizu – El día de la unión
• Luis Eduardo Ambriz – El habitante
• Roberto Flores – La gran promesa
• ★ Alejandro Vázquez – Roma

Best Visual Effects 

• Raúl Prado – Bayoneta
• Charlie Iturriaga, Cynthia Navarro – De la infancia
• Marco Rodríguez – El día de la unión
• Adriana Benítez – Museo
• ★ Sheldon Stopsack, David Griffiths – Roma 

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Daniel Emil, Flavio González Mello – Ana y Bruno
• ★ Silvia Pasternac, Carlos Carrera, Fernando Javier León Rodríguez – De la infancia 

Best Original Screenplay 

• Lila Avilés, Juan Márquez – The Chambermaid
• Alejandra Márquez Abella – The Good Girl
• Alonso Ruizpalacios, Manuel Alcalá – Museo
• Carlos Reygadas – Nuestro tiempo
• ★ Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

Las niñas bien (The Good Girls)

Best Costume Design

• Anna Terrazas – Bayoneta
• Mariestela Fernández – De la infancia
• ★ María Annai Ramos Maza – The Good Girls
• Malena de la Riva – Museo
• Anna Terrazas – Roma 

Best Production Design

• Salvador Parra – De la infancia
• Claudio Ramírez Castelli – The Good Girls
• Sandra Cabriada – Museo
• Alisarine Ducolomb – Restos de viento
• ★ Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enríquez, Oscar Tello, Gabriel Cortés – Roma

Ana Y Bruno

Best Animated Feature 

• Ahí viene Cascarrabias – Andrés Couturier
• ★ Ana y Bruno – Carlos Carrera
• El ángel en el reloj – Miguel Ángel Uriegas
• La leyenda del Charro Negro – Alberto “Chino” Rodríguez 

Best Makeup 

• Adam Zoller – Bayoneta
• Roberto Ortiz – El día de la unión
• ★ Pedro Guijarro Hidalgo – The Good Girls
• Itzel Peña García – Museo
• Anton Garfias – Roma 

Best Original Score

• Víctor Hernández Stumpfhauser – Ana y Bruno
• Topias Tiheasalo – Bayoneta
• ★ Tomás Barreiro – The Good Girls
• Tomás Barreiro – Museo
• Jacobo Lieberman – Witkin y Witkin

 Bayonet, streaming on Netflix, is about a retired boxer

Best Sound

• Alejandro de Icaza – Bayoneta
• Alejandro de Icaza, Anuar Yahya – The Good Girls
• Javier Umpierrez, Isabel Muñoz Cota, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc – Museo
• Raúl Locatelli, Carlos Cortés, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc – Nuestro tiempo
• ★ José Antonio García, Sergio Díaz, Skip Lievsay, Craig Henigham – Roma

The 61st Arieles will take place on June 24th at the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City.

Comments

[Fer]

Last year, three female directors were nominated in that category. I think thats a world record.

[César Gaytán]

Thank you so much Jorge for that post

You just forget to mention the Golden Arieles to screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego, sound designer Nerio Barberis and the exquisite actor Héctor Bonilla.

Is great to see that they nominated Yalitza Aparicio after the rumors against her. So glad to watch Damián Alcázar 13th nomination (one of our greatest actors) and also for the second nomination of Luis Gerardo Méndez and Ilse Salas.

But what surprise me so much for good is the double nomination of Cassandra Ciangherotti. I always been think that if in one year an actor play two great performances could compete against him/her in one category for diferent films.

Is one of the reasons why i like more the Ariel than the Oscar.

[César Gaytán]

I am also very happy to watch the Rita documentary nominated. Rita Guerrero really deserves to be more known and remembered for the audiences

[Richter Scale]

I find it exciting that I've actually seen all five of the nominees for Best Picture (well, almost, I couldn't finish Nuestro Tiempo, Carlos Reygadas is not my thing). While Roma is still my favorite of those, Museo is an exquisite piece of filmmaking, as is La Camarista. I had to watch Las Niñas Bien twice to fully appreciate it, but I wound up loving it. I actually think Cassandra Ciangherotti's nomination for Las Niñas Bien is a bit wasted, since I thought she was so much better in El Club de los Insomnes (for which she is also nominated and she's easily the best thing about that film), and she's up against Paulina Gaitán in Las Niñas Bien (she's the best thing in THAT movie, most of you may remember her from Sin Nombre). It probably won't matter since that award will go to Marina de Tavira anyway (it's hard to argue against a performance for which one also got an Oscar nomination), but it's a lineup worth talking about.

I do wish these were the movies that were making money at the Mexican box office (most people in Mexico sadly don't care about most of these films, so, yeah, Mexico is really not that much different from the U.S., we even have a tantrum-prone President here for crying out loud).

[César Gaytán]

@Richter Scale
Even when the possibility that Marina wins is very high is not THAT sure. Remember that Javier Bardem, even winning in Cannes and being Oscar nominated for Biutiful he loses to Damián Alcázar for El Infierno.

I'll say it again, thats what i like about this awards. Not like the last years of Bafta, Globes and Spirit awards when most of the winners have to be an Oscar nominated performance.

[NATHANIEL R]

Thrilled to see MUSEO with so many nominations. Loved that movie. Now really want to see "The Good Girls" and "The Chambermaid"

[Pedro]

If anybody knows, what is the difference between the two visual effects categories ?

[César Gaytán]

@Pedro

Visual effects are the ones who are edited after the film was recorded, in general are images added with computer, like the buildings that were digitally restored in Roma.

Special effects are made at the time the movie is filmed, an example can be the car crash in Amores Perros or the bullets shooted in Miss Bala.

[Tony Smith]

Me identifico con su lucha por encontrar una casa de apuestas confiable. El sitio https://www.apuestaes.tv/ad/casas-apuestas/futbol/ está aquí para hacerlo más fácil. Proporcionan una lista curada de las principales casas de apuestas, consejos perspicaces para elegir sitios de apuestas deportivas y reseñas concisas de varias plataformas. Es un cambio de juego para los apostadores que buscan confiabilidad y conveniencia.