The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA) announced their winners for the third annual Latino Entertainment Film Awards. The winners were revealed via the @LEJALatino social media channels on Sunday, March 7.
Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland” won the most awards with four including best picture, director, cinematography and editing. Chloé Zhao won three individual awards for producing, directing and editing the film.
Academy Award nominee Rosie Perez was the recipient of the 2021 Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2021 Latino Activism Award, the first person to receive both prizes in the same year. In a pre-taped video statement, she thanked the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association saying in part, “Thirty plus years in this industry. It’s been tough but so rewarding.”
The Brooklyn native and Puerto Rican actress spoke to her activism Perez saying in part, “It’s weird getting an award for it to be quite honest – because I don’t do it for that. I do it just to help make the world a better place for everyone.”
Perez will next be seen in “Clifford the Big Red Dog” and “With/In,” both due in 2021. She also starred in HBO Max’s hit series “The Flight Attendant.”
Afro-Latina breakout star Ariana DeBose was also honored with the 2021 Latino Activism Award after starring in Disney Plus’ “Hamilton” and Netflix’s “The Prom.”
In a pre-taped video statement, DeBose also thanked the members of LEJA stating in part, “I was wonderfully and beautifully surprised by it.” She continues saying, “I believe fervently in representation and I’m really proud to be even be a small part of the expansion of how we are viewed in this entertainment industry. We are a vast, beautiful spectrum of Latinos in this world.”
DeBose will be playing the iconic role of Anita in 20th Century Studios’ “West Side Story” from two-time Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg. Anita was the role that won Rita Moreno an Oscar for best supporting actress for the 1961 original film, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise.
Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and Pixar’s “Soul” both won three awards respectively. George C. Wolfe’s film adaptation of the August Wilson play won awards for best production and set design, best hair and makeup and a posthumous best actor prize for the late Chadwick Boseman for his performance as Levee. Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers’ “Soul” walked away with prizes for best animated feature, best musical score (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) and best voice or motion capture performance for Alice Braga.
A24’s “Minari” and Amazon Studios’ “One Night in Miami” both took home two awards. Lee Isaac Chung’s moving drama won best supporting actress for Yuh-Jung Youn and best original screenplay while Regina King’s historical project landed best adapted screenplay and song for the number “Speak Now,” written by Leslie Odom Jr and Sam Ashworth.
Daniel Kaluuya took home best supporting actor for his performance in Warner Bros’ “Judas and the Black Messiah” from co-writer, director and producer Shaka King.
Jayro Bustamante’s “La Llorona” from Guatemala won best international feature while Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch’s “Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado” nabbed best documentary feature.
Other winners from this year’s awards included Autumn de Wilde’s “Emma” in costume design, Thomas Kail’s “Hamilton” in ensemble casting, Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” in sound, Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man” in visual effects and Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” in stunt design.
In a previously released statement, LEJA founder and President Clayton Davis said, “It’s been an extremely difficult year for our industry and our Latinx community. While we are honored to highlight the stunning achievements from this cinematic year, our underserved and undervalued people have faced unprecedented challenges. The beautiful and extraordinary films are pieces of art and we share in their celebration. It’s also incredibly important that the same diversity we are beginning to see in our entertainment medium be adopted in the journalism industry. It is the responsibility of the studios, and their partner publications to seek, hire and welcome more Latinx voices onto the pages of their magazines and websites. Another vibrant and inclusive year is ahead of us, and we hope to no longer be overlooked.”
Best Picture
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) – Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloe Zhao
Best Director
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
Best Actor
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros)
Best Supporting Actress
Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari” (A24)
Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance
Alice Braga, “Soul” (Pixar)
Best Animated Feature
“Soul” (Pixar) – Pete Docter, Kemp Powers
Best International Feature
“La Llorona” from Guatemala (Shudder) – Jayro Bustamante
Best Documentary Feature
“Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado” (Netflix) – Cristina Costantini Kareem Tabsch
Best Original Screenplay
“Minari” (A24) – Lee Isaac Chung
Best Adapted Screenplay
“One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios) – Kemp Powers
Best Ensemble Casting
“Hamilton” (Disney Plus) – Bethany Knox, Bernard Telsey
Best Production & Set Design
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix) – Mark Ricker (production designer), Karen O’Hara (set designer)
Best Cinematography
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) – Joshua James Richards
Best Costume Design
“Emma.” (Focus Features) – Alexandra Byrne
Best Editing
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) – Chloé Zhao
Best Hair and Makeup
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix) – Mia Neal, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Jamika Wilson
Best Sound
“Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios) – Phillip Bladh, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, Carolina Santana
Best Visual Effects
“The Invisible Man” (Universal Pictures) – Marcus Bolton, Aevar Bjarnason, Jonathan Dearing, Matt Ebb
Best Stunt Design
“Tenet” (Warner Bros)
Best Musical Score
“Soul” (Pixar) – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Best Song
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios) – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award & Latino Activism Award
Rosie Perez
Oscar-nominated Puerto Rican actress Rosie Pérez has been named the 2021 recipient of the Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA). Pérez, who is a Brooklyn native, made her breakout in filmmaker Spike Lee’s 1989 dramedy “Do the Right Thing.” She went on to star in such favorites as “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Untamed Heart,” “The Take” and “Birds of Prey.” In 1993, Pérez was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Carla Rodrigo, the survivor of a plane crash suffering from survivor’s guilt in “Fearless.” Along with her successful career in film, Pérez starred in several TV series like “In Living Color”, “Lipstick Jungle” and “The Flight Attendant.” She will next be seen in the live-action/computer-animated family comedy “Clifford the Big Red Dog” later this year.
Latino Breakout Award
Ariana DeBose, star of “Hamilton” and “The Prom”
Newcomer and Afro-Latina actress Ariana DeBose has been named the 2021 recipient of the Latino Breakout Award by the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA). DeBose, born in North Carolina, had two memorable roles in 2020. She was a part of the chorus in Thomas Kail’s smash-hit “Hamilton,” the filmed adaptation of the Broadway musical that debuted on Disney Plus. The other was as Alyssa Greene, a high-school student who fears coming out to her overbearing mother and fears going to the prom with her girlfriend in Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom,” the joyful adaptation of the Broadway musical. DeBose will be playing the iconic role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story” from 20th Century Studios, due out in late 2021. She is a trailblazer for many Latinx young people, dreaming of acceptance.
