 .. |
 Tuesday, February 09, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Academy Awards 2005: Only ‘Million Dollar’ Latinos Make It |
|
|
|
|
PRENSA LATINA
|
|
Monday, February 28, 2005 |
JORGE DREXLER is the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award, which he won for composing the song "Al Otro Lado del Río" from The Motorcycle Diaries. Though Drexler himself sang the song on the soundtrack, it was performed together by Antonio Banderas and Santana at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony. Photo: cantautoresdelmundo.com
|
{mosimage}ollowing tradition, the 2005 Oscar Awards gave Latin
America the cold shoulder once again, with the exception of those
artists blessed by Hollywood.The most evident example is the
prohibition of Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler of singing in
the ceremony his Oscar winner for Best Original Song "Al Otro Lado del
Rio." The piece was theme for Walter Salles´ blockbuster film The
Motorcycle Diaries.
For the organizers, it was better to
substitute him for a Hollywood-friendly face, Spanish star Antonio
Banderas. Drexler criticized the decision, saying, "They consider us a
homogeneous block of removable parts they can move at will."1
Mexican actor Gael Garcia and Salles, star and director of the film portraying the Latin American tour of the young Argentine-Cuban guerrilla Ernesto “Che” Guevara, respectively, protested from the very beginning and refused to attend the ceremony.
The box office hit and critically acclaimed Motorcycles Diaries was given two nominations: Best Cinematography and Best Original Song. It only got the latter. In the Kodak Theater, Drexler went up to receive his award, and instead of a speech, he revenged the faux pas by singing his own song.
Meanwhile, Colombian actress Catalina Sandino was included among the five nominees for Best Actress. She deserved it for her splendid performance in Maria Full of Grace, a Spanish-language independent film by US filmmaker Joshua Marston.
Winner of a Silver Bear in the Berlin Film Festival, the actress impersonates a young girl, who cornered by poverty, is recruited as a "mule" and uses her stomach to smuggle cocaine into the United States. [The film also received the Best First Film award in that same festival]
The second South American actress ever nominated for an Oscar, she follows Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro, nominated for Salles´ previous film Estacion Central do Brasil. She, like Montenegro, went home empty-handed from that ceremony.
The promotion machinery for the awards demands juicy investments to open doors to famous television shows and print press.
Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar learned the lesson well: to compete for Oscar, bold publicity campaigns were needed. The producers for The Sea Inside, starring Javier Bardem, oiled a clockwork marketing mechanism and their work was awarded for Best Foreign Film.
The Oscar ceremony, an “orgy of self-reverence,” according to New York Times writer Nick Madigan did nothing new this year for those who know the Academy well. Latinos seldom get an award. Quality is not enough.
PRENSA LATINA / mh/fx/ag/mf
1 Coincidently or not, two days after the Oscars, Tabare Vázquez was sworn in as Uruguay’s first socialist president in that country, adding to the continental shift toward social, labor, trade and economic reforms which may pave the way to new formulas of wealth distribution throughout major Latin American economies. Such policies, along with the growing resistance to US-sponsored "free trade" areas throughout Latin America, are conflicting with US government and corporate agendas for Latin America. NYLJ
|
|
|
|
Events Calendar |
 |
February 2010 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
New York Latino Journal, NYLatinoJournal.com and the red box with 'ny' device followed by the 'LATINO JOURNAL' text are service marks of grupoHuracan. All content is copyright 2005-2008 grupoHuracan or respective authors.
The New York Latino Journal is not responsible for content from external sites. The comments and opinions throughout this publication belong to their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the New York Latino Journal publication, grupoHuracan or any of their affiliates and/or partners. GrupoHuracan provides technical and marketing support to the New York Latino Journal and is not involved in its editorial process.
The New York Latino Journal is a non-profit venture. Please contact: info(at)nylatinojournal.com for any questions, comments, sponsor inquiries, or story submissions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
