53rd Premios Ariel (Ariel Awards) for Mexican film - nominations

The Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, A.C. (Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences) have announced their nominations for the 53rd Premio Ariel (Ariel Awards). The dark drug-crime satire El Infierno (Hell) led overwhelmingly with 14 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Luis Estrada, the latter with co-writer Jaime Sampietro. It also picked up nominations for Best Actor (Damián Alcázar), Best Supporting Actress (María Rojo) and Best Supporting Actor (Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Joaquín Cosio).

Next with eight nominations was Felipe Cazals' Chicogrande. Tied with seven nominations each were Diego Luna's Abel and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful. To the surprise of many, however, Chicogrande and Abel were each nominated for Best Picture and Director, while Best Foreign Language Film Oscar-nominee Biutiful was not.

Año bisiesto (Leap Year) followed with with six nominations, while the most expensive film in Mexican cinema history El atentado (File of Attempted Murder) received five nominations in the more technical categories. La mitad del mundo (Half the World) was next with four nominations.

The Best Latin American Film nominees were Argentina's Premio Sur-winning El hombre de al lado (The Man Next Door) by Mariano Cohn, Cuba's José Martí: el ojo del canario (José Martí: the Eye of the Canary) by Fernando Pérez, and Spain's También la lluvia (Even the Rain) by Iciar Bollaín.

The winners of the Ariel de Oro (Gold Ariel) prizes are actress Ana Ofelia Murguía who was in La reina de la noche (The Queen of the Night), and director Jorge Fons who is known for El callejón de los milagros (Midaq Announcer) and Rojo amanecer (Red Dawn). The Premio Medalla Salvador Toscano (Salvador Toscano Medal) goes to critic Jorge Ayala Blanco.

121 films competed this year for the 23 categories of the Premios Ariel. Nominations were selected by AMACC's 788 members.

The Awards ceremony will take place on May 7 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
---

Complete list of nominations for the 53rd Premios Ariel

Best Picture
Abel
Chicogrande
El infierno (Hell)

Best Director
Felipe Cazals, Chicogrande
Luis Estrada, El infierno (Hell)
Diego Luna, Abel

Best Actress
Karina Gidi, Abel
Mónica del Carmen, Año bisiesto (Leap Year)
Maricel Álvarez, Biutiful
Úrsula Pruneda, Las buenas hierbas (The Good Herbs)

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Damián Alcázar, El infierno (Hell)
Demián Bichir, Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada (Hidalgo, the Untold Story)
Hansel Ramírez, La mitad del mundo (Half the World)

Best Supporting Actress
María Rojo, El infierno (Hell)
Carolina Politti, Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada (Hidalgo, the Untold Story)
Luisa Huertas, La mitad del mundo (Half the World)
Ofelia Medina, Las buenas hierbas (The Good Herbs)

Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Martínez, Chicogrande
Ernesto Gómez Cruz, El infierno (Hell)
Joaquín Cosio, El infierno (Hell)
Juan Ignacio Aranda, Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada (Hidalgo, the Untold Story)

Best Newcomer
Cristopher Ruiz-Esparza, Abel
Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza, Abel
Natan Machado Palombini, Alamar (To the Sea)Iván Rafael González, Chicogrande

Best Original Screenplay
Agusto Mendoza and Diego Luna, Abel
Michael Rowe and Lucía Carreras, Año bisiesto (Leap Year)
Luis Estrada and Jaime Sampietro, El infierno (Hell)

Best Cinematography
Rodrigo Prieto, Biutiful
Damián García, Chicogrande
Guillermo Granillo, El atentado (File of Attempted Murder)
Damián García, El infierno (Hell)

Best Editor
Miguel Schverdfinger, Abel
Stephen Mirrione, Biutiful
Mariana Rodríguez, El infierno (Hell)
Mario Sandoval and Antonio Serrano, Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada (Hidalgo, the Untold Story)

Best Original Music
Gustavo Santaolalla, Biutiful
Alejandro Giacomán, Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada (Hidalgo, the Untold Story)
Enrico Chapela, Somos lo que hay (We Are What We Are)
Rodrigo Garibay and Matías Barberis, Vaho (Becloud)

Best Sound
Rodolfo Romero and Manuel Carranza, Alamar (To the Sea)
Samuel Larson and Santiago Núñez, Chicogrande
Pablo Lach and Santiago Núñez, El infierno (Hell)

Best Art Direction
Lorenza Manrique, Chicogrande
Sandra Cabriada and Ezra Buenrostro, El atentado (File of Attempted Murder)
Salvador Parra and María José Pizarro, El infierno (Hell)
Lorenza Manrique, Las buenas hierbas (The Good Herbs)

Best Costume Design
Paco Delgado, Biutiful
Gilda Navarro and Adolfo Ramírez, El atentado (File of Attempted Murder)
Mariestela Fernández, El infierno (Hell)
Josefina Echeverría, La mitad del mundo (Half the World)

Best Makeup
Alessandro Bertolazzi, Biutiful
Carlos Sanchez, Chicogrande
Eduardo Gómez, El atentado (File of Attempted Murder)
Roberto Ortiz, El infierno (Hell)

        
Best Visual Effects
Sergio García Francia and Raúl Luna, De día y de noche (The Day and Night)
Alejandro Valle, Las buenas hierbas (The Good Herbs)
Ángel M. Huerta and Armando Guajardo, Seres génesis

Best Special Effects
Daniel Cordero, El atentado (File of Attempted Murder)
Alejandro Vázquez, El infierno (Hell)
Sergio Jara, Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada (Hidalgo, the Untold Story)
Alejandro Vázquez y Efeccine Mobile, Somos lo que hay (We Are What We Are)

Best First Work
Alamar (To the Sea), Pedro González Rubio
Año bisiesto (Leap Year), Michael Rowe
La mitad del mundo (Half the World), Jaime Ruiz Ibáñez

Best Documentary
El árbol olvidado (The Forgotten Tree), Luis Rincón
La cuerda floja (The Tightrope), Nuria Ibáñez
La historia en la mirada (History in the Eyes), José Ramón Mikelajáuregui
La vida loca, Christian Poveda
Un día menos (One Day Less), Dariela Ludlow

Best Short Fiction Film
Busco empleo (Seeking Employment), Francisco Valle
El último canto del pájaro Cú (The Cu Bird´s Last Song), Alonso Ruiz Palacios
La mina de oro (The Gold Mine), Jacques Bonnavent
En aguas quietas (In Still Water), Astrid Rondero

Best Documentary Short Film
Casa Cuna, Alicia Segovia Juárez
Extravíos (Misplacements), Adriá Campmany Buisán
Hasta la punta de los dedos (To the Fingertips), Alejandro Murillo Martínez
Río Lerma, Esteban Arrangoiz

Best Animated Short Film
Luna, Raúl Cárdenas y Rafael Cárdenas
Martyris, Luis Felipe Hernández
Moyana, Emiliano González
Xochimilco 1914, Colectivo Viumasters

Best Latin American Film
El hombre de al lado (The Man Next Door), Mariano Cohn (Argentina)
José Martí: el ojo del canario (José Martí: the Eye of the Canary), Fernando Pérez (Cuba)
También la lluvia (Even the Rain), Iciar Bollaín (Spain)