January 23, 2024
Statement on Behalf of Brenda Victoria Castillo, President and CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition on 2024 ACADEMY AWARDS Nominations
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) congratulates the nominees of the 2024 Academy Awards, with a special acknowledgment to our actors and artists of color being recognized for their incredible work.
Congratulations to America Ferrera, an actress of Indigenous Lenca ancestry, for her first ever Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Barbie, and to Colman Domingo for being the first Afro-Latino to receive an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Actor, Rustin, yet also for being the second openly gay man to earn a nomination for playing a gay character. This is the history we love to see!
A special congratulations to Lily Gladstone who was nominated for Best Actress, Killers of the Flower Moon, at the Academy Awards. Along with Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon received several distinctive recognitions including Mexican cinematographer, Rodrigo Prieto, and his nomination for Cinematography.
More congratulations are in order when it comes to Phil Lord and the team of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for their nomination for Best Animated Feature Film along with celebration for the team behind Flamin’ Hot for their nomination for Best Original Song, “The Fire Inside”.
In 2023, we saw more people who looked like us on the big screen telling our stories, by us and for us to all audiences - and this time around, we weren’t simply “coming to America.”
Last year, Eva Longoria’s directorial debut Flamin Hot’ demonstrated that Latine audiences can break records by becoming the most-watched streaming premiere ever from Searchlight Pictures and a symbol of Latine perseverance in more ways than one - featuring a stellar brown cast. Eugenio Derbez captivated international audiences in Radical, Gael García Bernal took us into the heart of Cassandro and showed a story we’ve never seen before, and we saw the true story of astronaut José Hernández take us to space in A Million Miles Away.
We look forward to these and many more tremendous stories from Latine creatives coming to more screens while being celebrated by our peers in Hollywood and reaching audiences far and wide. With Latine moviegoers making up almost 29% of viewership during the pandemic, as well as a tremendous portion of the streaming audience, it’s clear: we are an audience that loves to consume and create great content.
Yours in the Movement,
Brenda Victoria Castillo
President and CEO
National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)
