Sunday, February 26, 2012

Nuestro Cine: And the Oscar Goes To...

As we mentioned earlier this month, Demián Bichir of Mexico and Argentine-French actress Bérénice Bejo received Academy Award nominations and they could win the coveted gold statuette this Sunday.

2011 was a banner year for films from Latin America and included action flicks (Mexico's Miss Bala), "gaucho westerns" (Argentina's Aballay) and innovative thrillers (Uruguay's The Silent House). Nonetheless, movies from the region where unfortunately overlooked when the Academy selected its finalists for Best Foreign Film.

Could Chico and Rita capture top honors tonight in the Best Animated Film category? The love story between two Cuban musicians has an outside chance of winning over the likes of bigger box office draws such as Rango and Puss in Boots. But as we pointed out in 2010, Chico and Rita has a wonderful plot, rich animation and a soundtrack scored by celebrated Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés.

Check out the following clip for Chico and Rita and decide for yourself if it deserves Oscar honors tonight:

Update: Bichir, Bejo, and Chico and Rita did not win in their respective categories at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony.

Online Sources - Wikipedia, IMDB.com, The Latin Americanist

Video Source - YouTube via VesCine1

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