Oscars: Latinos Make History with Academy Award Wins Throughout Time

MIAMI - Latino and Spanish filmmakers and actors have clinched 63 Oscars throughout the 96 years since the awards have been given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Mexico has emerged as a powerhouse, boasting the highest number of Oscar wins among Latin American countries, closely followed by Argentina and Chile.

Overall, eight movies in Spanish have won the Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Movie. And while no Latina or Spanish actress has won the award for Best Actress, Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer won Best Actor in 1953 for his leading role in the movie "Cyrano de Bergerac."

Javier Bardem and Benicio del Toro are Oscar winners for Best Supporting Actor. Anthony Quinn preceded them, winning twice in 1952 and 1956. Rita Moreno, Penélope Cruz, and Ariana de Bose did the same for Best Supporting Actress, as did Mexican-born actress Lupita Nyong'o.

Bardem and Cruz are among the six married couples who have been nominated to de Academy Awards in the same year, theirs being the case in 2022. De Bose and Moreno marked the first time that two actresses won for the same role, with Anita in the two versions of "West Side Story."

The three amigos

Directors Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu lead this extraordinary group with five and four Oscars, respectively. They are followed by their colleague Guillermo del Toro, along with cinematographer Emmanuel 'El Chivo' Lubezki.

The three amigos, as the directors call themselves, dominated the awards from 2013 to 2017, winning the Academy Award as Best Director every year, except 2016. González Iñárritu made history after winning back-to-back for "Birdman" and "The Revenant."

Thanks to his movie "Roma," Cuarón became the first Latin American and Mexican director to be nominated for Best Cinematography while serving as both director and cinematographer in 2018. He also became the first Latin American and Mexican director to win Best Director and Best Cinematography in the same year.

Here is the list of Latinos and Spanish artists who have won Oscars by category

Best picture

Alejandro González Iñárritu "Birdman" 2014
Guillermo del Toro "The Shape of Water," 2021

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón "Gravity," 2013
Alejandro González Iñárritu "Birdman," 2014
Alejandro González Iñárritu "The Revenant," 2015
Guillermo del Toro "The Shape of Water," 2017
Alfonso Cuarón "Roma" 2018

Best Actor

José Ferrer "Cirano de Bergerac," 1950

Best Supporting Actor

Anthony Quinn "Viva Zapata," 1952; "Lust for Life," 1956
Benicio del Toro "Traffic," 2000
Javier Bardem "No Country for Old Men," 2007

Best Supporting Actress

Rita Moreno "West Side Story," 1961
Penélope Cruz "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," 2009
Lupita Nyong'o "12 Years as Slave,"2013
Ariana de Bose "West Side Story," 2022

Cinematography

Nestor Almendros "Days of Heaven," 1978
Guillermo Navarro "Pan's Labyrinth," 2006
Claudio Miranda "The Life of Pi," 2012
Emmanuel Lubezki "Gravity," 2013; "Birdman," 2014; "The Revenant," 2015;
Alfonso Cuarón "Roma," 2018

Documentary Short

Manuel Arango "Sentinels of Silence," 1971

Film Editing

Alfonso Cuarón "Gravity," 2013

Costume Design

Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo "Nicholas and Alexandra," 1971

Makeup & Hairstyling

David Martí Montse Ribé, "Pan's Laberynth," 2006
Sergio López-Rivera, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," 2020

Foreign FIlm

"Volver a empezar," 1981
"La historia oficial," 1985
"Belle Epoque," 1993
"Todo sobre mi madre," 1999
"Mar adentro" 2004
"El secreto de sus ojos" 2009
"Una mujer fantástica" 2017
"Roma" 2018

Animated Film

"Pinocchio," Guillermo del Toro, 2022

Best Live Action Short Film

"Sentinels of Silence," Manuel Arango, 1971
"In the Region of Ice," André Gutffreund, 1976

Best Animated Short Film

"Logorama," Nicolas Schmerkin, 2009
"Bear Story," Pato Escala Pierart, Gabriel Osorio Vargas, 2015

"The Windshield Viper, Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sánchez, 2021

Original Score

"The Postman," Luis Bacalov, 1995
"Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla 2005
"Babel," Gustavo Santaolalla 2006

Best Original Song

"Al otro lado del río," Jorge Drexler "Motorcycle Diaries," 2004

Original Screen Play

"Hable con ella," Pedro Almodóvar, 2002
"Birdman," Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, and Nicolás Giacobone 2014

Production Design

Edward Carrere, "The Heiress," 1949; "Camelot," 1967
Emile Kuri, "20.000 Leagues Under the Sea," 1954
Eugenio Zanetti, "Restoration," 1995
Brigitte Broch, "Moulin Rouge," 2001
Eugenio Caballero, "Pan Laberynth," 2006

Best Sound of Sound Mixing

Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, "Sound of Metal," 2020

Honorary Academy Award

Lalo Schifrin, 2017

Special Achievement Academy Award

Alejandro González Iñárritu