Playa del Carmen, Mexico, May 11 (EFE).- The Oscar-winning movie “Roma” by Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron and famed Spanish singer Raphael will be the stars of the 6th Platino Awards for Ibero-American Cinema this Sunday on the Mexican Riviera Maya.
After winning at the Oscars, the BAFTAs, the Goyas, the Golden Globes and the Venice Film Festival, Cuaron’s film will now be judged by the Ibero-American industry.
He’s started off with a bang, however, given that his work is nominated for nine statuettes, including those for Best Ibero-American Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress.
The Mexican production got a foretaste this Saturday of its probable victory, since it took the People’s Platino Awards for Best Film and Best Actress, the latter honoring Mexico’s Yalitza Aparicio.
After a vote on the awards Web site, the public decided to honor Spain’s Javier Bardem as well, for his acting in “Todos lo Saben” (Everyone Knows) by the Iranian Asghar Farhadi.
The other big star of the night will be Raphael, who at age 76 will receive the Platino Award honoring his film career for having appeared in more than 10 films, the last one “Mi Gran Noche” (My Great Night) in 2015, by Alex de la Iglesia.
At a press conference this Saturday, Raphael said he hopes to enjoy his “great night” during the awards ceremony this Sunday and said that he is ready to go back to making movies.
“I’m always agitated on the set and the fact that they give me a prize for my movie is a quite a surprise. I’m thrilled!” Raphael said during the press conference about the awards to be presented to the winners on the Riviera Maya on the Mexican Caribbean.
“I hope tomorrow will be my great night,” he added.
Despite being a long time away from the movie studios, the singer made it clear he hasn’t left them for good.
“I’ve had very many offers, but there’s never been a break in my schedule. What’s more, I don’t film movies, I learn scripts. I’ve left the movies to go onstage, and the thing is, whatever I do it’s for a lifetime. If not, I don’t do it,” he said.
The Platino Awards for Ibero-American Cinema aims to be more than just a prize-giver to become a meeting place for the industry and a transmitter of good values, the organizers said this Saturday.
“We don’t just want to be an awards gala,” said the director general of those honors, Miguel Angel Benzal, who explained that throughout the whole week they have organized activities to provide “meetings of the industry” and the media that will in turn promote the development of cinema in Ibero-America.
“Campeones” (Champions), “La Noche de 12 Años” (A Twelve-Year Night) and “Pajaros de Verano” (Birds of Passage) will compete with “Roma” (Rome) for the Best Film award, and their directors – Javier Fesser, Alvaro Brechner, Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, respectively – will be up for the Best Director prize.
Ana Brun for”Las Herederas” (The Heiresses), Marina de Tavira for “Roma,” Penelope Cruz in”Todos lo Saben” and Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma” will vie for Best Actress, while Antonio de la Torre in “El Reino” (The Kingdom), Javier Bardem in “Todos lo Saben,” Javier Gutierrez for”Campeones” and Lorenzo Ferro in “El Angel” seek to take home the Best Actor statuette.
In the television segment, Spain’s “Arde Madrid” (Madrid Burns) is the big favorite with three mentions, including Best Miniseries or TV Series and Best Ibero-American Film, where it will compete with Argentina’s “El Marginal II” (The Blighted II), Mexico’s “La Casa de las Flores,” and “Narcos: Mexico” (Drug Traffickers: Mexico).
Diego Boneta in “Luis Miguel: The Series,” Diego Luna in “Narcos: Mexico,” Javier Rey for “Fariña” and Nicolas Furtado in “El Marginal II” are nominated for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Series.
Best Actress in the same category will go to either Anna Castillo for “Arde Madrid,” Cecilia Suarez in “La Casa de las Flores,” Inma Cuesta in “Arde Madrid” or Najwa Nimri in “Vis a Vis.”
The Platino Awards, promoted by the Spain-based Audiovisual Producers’ Rights Management Entity (EGEDA) and the Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers (FIPCA), seek to promote and disseminate Ibero-American cinema.