Latin American directors are creating films that are receiving more recognition than ever. Guillermo del Toro won best picture and best director at the 90th Academy Awards for his film “The Shape of Water.” This win not only makes it easier for inclusion of Latin American talent, but also pushes for a higher appreciation of world cinema.
World cinema is a term for films made in non-English speaking countries. Films have always existed outside of the Hollywood machine, but they aren’t given the same recognition. Now, technology has made it easier than ever to distribute films across the world, allowing us to hear unique stories told by foreign directors. Oftentimes these refer to European films, French ones in particular, but del Toro’s win makes a case for Latin America and pushes for a view of cinema without borders.
This marks the third time a Latin American has received the award for best director. The other two directors happen to be del Toro’s friends. Known as the “Three Amigos of Cinema,” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and del Toro have known each other for most of their careers. The three hail from Mexico and they frequently go to each other for input, as Cuarón put it in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: “There’s no film I do that doesn’t go through them, their eyes and their hands.”
Despite their connection, each has developed their own unique style. Iñárritu is known for his complex stories, del Toro for his dark fantastical backdrops and monsters and Cuarón for his science-fiction films. Together they hold nine Oscars. Cuarón was the first Latin American to win the Academy Award for best director in 2014 for “Gravity.” This was followed by Iñárritu earning best picture and best director for “Birdman” and best director for “The Revenant” in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
The success of the group marks a gradual shift in the world of cinema. This year’s Academy Awards also saw Oscars for “Coco” and “A Fantastic Woman.” “Coco” was co-directed by Adrian Molina, had an all-Latino cast and based its animation off Mexican culture. “A Fantastic Woman” by Sebastián Lelio was the first Chilean film to win an Oscar.
However, film still has a long way to go — it’s no secret that inclusion of minorities on screen has been an issue. A 2016 study by the University of Southern California found that out of the top 100 films of the year, only 3 percent of the speaking roles went to Latinos. Latinos comprise roughly 18 percent of the U.S. population. And if we keep it in terms of Hollywood, 47.7 percent of Los Angeles is Latino, so it’s not like there’s a shortage of us.
The media has a lot of influence on people’s perceptions, and sometimes the only exposure people have to minorities is through what they see either on television shows or in the news. From a young age we develop ideas of others and ourselves from what media tells us, and if you see the same group of people typecast over and over as criminals, you’d probably find yourself apprehensive to them.
Specifically, as a person of color, if you grow up seeing all the heroes as white men and the occasional woman you may start to crave the complexion yourself. But despite marginalization, our voices remain loud. Receiving recognition for our art is one of the steps toward inclusion and regaining control over how we are perceived in society. More importantly, we regain control over how we perceive ourselves, from the child smiling ear to ear because their favorite movie hero looks just like them to a student inspired by a director with the same brown skin as him.
Del Toro summed all these points up in his Oscars acceptance speech.
“I am an immigrant like many of you,” he said. “The greatest thing that our art does is erase the lines in the sand. We should continue doing that when the world tells us to make it deeper.”
The “Three Amigos” have chipped away at borders to receive worldwide praise for their wonderful films. In a market that prefers Eurocentric films, they boldly shout that Latin America is here to stay.