“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” marked a major turning point for the franchise when it hit theaters 15 years ago. Not only did it bring a new visionary director and newfound level of critical acclaim, it also transformed the series from a whimsical, family-friendly story of child wizards to a darker story about a young man confronting his terrible destiny. So celebrate this big milestone by learning more about the making of the third movie in the Harry Potter series.
2. “The Prisoner of Azakaban” greatly expanded the scope of Hogwarts and the number of castle landmarks seen on-screen. Creator J.K. Rowling gave Cuarón a certain amount of freedom in that regard, but she did veto the idea of adding a graveyard, as she feared it would spoil upcoming books in the series.
3.Ian McKellen was offered the role of Albus Dumbledore following Richard Harris‘ death. He turned it down, not wanting to be faced with the pressure of bringing a second iconic wizard character to life.
4.Peter O’Toole was another major contender for the Dumbledore role, though concerns about his age and the cost of insuring the role caused the studio to look elsewhere.
Warner Bros.
5.Michael Gambon eventually won the Dumbledore part, despite the fact that he had never read the books and purposely avoided reading them for the remainder of the series.
6. The rival seeker who battles Harry for possession of the Golden Snitch during the Quidditch match is actually Cedric Diggory. Cedric is played by Joe Livermore in “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” but the part was recast when Cedric took on a much more prominent role in “The Goblet of Fire.”
8. Dudley Dursley actor Harry Melling was nearly replaced after losing a significant amount of weight in between the second and third films. Instead, Melling was given a fat suit for “Prisoner of Azkaban.”
9. “The Prisoner of Azkaban” is unusual in the series in that it features several shots of practical illusionist tricks. Illusionist Paul Kieve was hired to serve as a consultant for the film and coached several of the actors.
Warner Bros.
10. “The Prisoner of Azakaban” is the final film in the series with a score composed by John Williams.
11. It’s also the final film in the series to be released on VHS.
Warner Bros.
12. WB maintained strict secrecy surrounding the project, including referring to it by the codename “Radiator Blues” during post-production and providing night vision goggles to movie theater ushers to help combat digital piracy.
13. Despite being one of the most critically acclaimed entries in the Harry Potter series, “The Prisoner of Azkaban” is also the lowest-grossing of the eight. Huh.
Netflix may have missed out on winning its first Best Picture Oscar with “Roma,” but the company is already gearing up for a second attempt with Martin Scorsese‘s upcoming “The Irishman.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the iconic director wants a wide release for his $125 million gangster drama — and Netflix is talking to theater owners about giving it to him.
But that means the streaming service will finally have to subject itself to something it’s never experienced before: outsider knowledge of viewership numbers. Netflix would have to allow theater owners to report box office figures, which it did not do for the limited theatrical release of “Roma.”
This led to grumbling on the part of some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A contingent of directors led by Steven Spielberg is advocating for a rule that would require a movie to have an exclusive theatrical window of at least four weeks to be eligible for major Oscars.
Netflix reportedly spent over $25 million on its Oscar campaign for “Roma” and still came away short, though the film did win Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography.
Still, a black-and-white non-English language film with no stars is a hard sell for Best Picture. “The Irishman,” however, comes from a legendary director and features Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Netflix already aired a first, footage-less teaser during this year’s Oscars ceremony.
If Netflix was willing to go so far with “Roma,” it may have to change its ethos for a film with the pedigree of “The Irishman.”
“Netflix wants a big footprint for The Irishman,” an industry source told THR. “They’ve put themselves in a position by supporting these kinds of filmmakers where they have to come to grips with the theatrical business model and how it works.”
Now there are rumors that someone else is responsible for the film’s stunning black-and-white cinematography.
In a thread on Resetera, someone who “works in the industry” claims that it’s well known, at least in the Mexican media, that Galo Olivares was the real DP (director of photography/cinematographer). In dispute, according to this thread, is whether Olivares was simply a camera operator (as he’s credited on IMDb) or the film’s real DP.
Some “Roma” call sheets shared on the Spanish-language site ZoomF7 official list Olivares as “Director de fotografia.”
Either way, Cuarón neglected to mention him in his acceptance speech. (The director did mention his regular DP, Emmanuel Lubezki, who was unavailable for the film.)
A 2017 Filmstage article credits Olivares as Cuarón’s “new DP.” The article said, “As for the cinematographer, Cuarón handled director of photography duties with Galo Olivares, who has been working on Mexican productions since the start of this decade.”
According to IMDb, Olivares is currently shooting “Gretel and Hansel” with director Oz Perkins.
In a pre-Oscars “anonymous Academy voter” article on IndieWire, Cuarón was also called out for taking an editing credit on the film. Said the unnamed editor:
“I haven’t seen ‘Roma,’ because Alfonso Cuarón took an editing credit without ever having touched the Avid and that offended me so deeply that I won’t go near the film. It was non-union so he, not being a member of MPEG, was able to get away with it.”
Best editing went to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is also not without controversy if you’ve been on Twitter since Sunday.
No comment yet from the filmmakers or the Academy.
The Directors Guild of America held its annual awards ceremony this past weekend, revealing its picks for the best in film and television direction. And while the night’s biggest winner has been earning plenty of accolades in recent weeks, victors in other categories proved that there are no guarantees when it comes to awards season.
Alfonso Cuaron took home the DGA’s top prize, claiming the Best Feature Film Director award for “Roma.” The Netflix film — loved by critics and tied for the most Oscar nominations in this year’s field — now has a decent shot at winning the Best Director prize at the Academy Awards later this month, since the DGA frequently overlaps with the Oscars.
Cuaron beat out an impressive field that included Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”), Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”), Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”), and Adam McKay (“Vice”). Cooper was also nominated in the Best First-Time Feature Film Director category, but in a stunning upset, lost the prize to Bo Burnham (“Eighth Grade“). Looks like his Best Director Oscar snub may not have been a fluke after all.
In other surprises, both “Succession” (McKay) and “Barry” (Bill Hader) took home the top awards in the drama and comedy television categories, respectively, beating out buzzier fare like “The Americans” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
A list of winners in the major categories is below. The full list can be found here.
FEATURE FILM: ALFONSO CUARÓN
“Roma”
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: Ana Hernandez
First Assistant Director: Frederic Henocque Albino
Second Assistant Director: Patrick Heyerdahl
Second Second Assistant Directors: Luis Fernando Vásquez, Julián ‘Chico’ Valdés, Arturo Garcia
FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM : BO BURNHAM
“Eighth Grade”
(A24)
First Assistant Director: Dan Taggatz
Second Assistant Director: Vic Coram
Second Second Assistant Director: Evelyn Fogleman
DOCUMENTARY: TIM WARDLE
“Three Identical Strangers”
(Neon and CNN Films)
DRAMATIC SERIES: ADAM MCKAY
“Succession” – “Celebration”
(HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Regina Heyman
First Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
Second Assistant Director: Scott Bowers
Second Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Notte
Location Managers: Michael Kriaris, Patty Carey
COMEDY SERIES: BILL HADER
“Barry” –“Chapter One: Make Your Mark”
(HBO)
Unit Production Managers: Mark Tobey, Aida Rodgers
First Assistant Director: Dale Stern
Second Assistant Director: Michelle Gritzer
Second Second Assistant Director: Chris Riddle
Additional Second Assistant Director: Gary Cotti
MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND LIMITED SERIES: BEN STILLER
“Escape at Dannemora”
(Showtime)
Unit Production Managers: Adam Brightman, Bill Carraro
First Assistant Directors: Lisa M. Rowe, Lyda Blank, Phillip A. Patterson
Second Assistant Director: Kevin R. Shields
Second Second Assistant Director: Luke A. Crawford
Location Manager: Hyo Park
After announcing its nominations in the television and documentary categories earlier this week, the Directors Guild of America has now revealed its slate of nominees for its annual film awards — and with it, prognosticators may have a clearer shape of the Oscar race.
Recent Golden Globe winners “Roma” (Best Director Alfonso Cuaron) and “Green Book” (Best Comedy Film, helmed by Peter Farrelly) were both represented in the DGA’s lineup, as were “A Star Is Born” (Bradley Cooper), “BlacKkKlansman” (Spike Lee), and “Vice” (Adam McKay). Cooper also received a second DGA nomination in the first-time director category, as did newly-minted Writers Guild Awards nominee Bo Burnham (“Eighth Grade”).
Amazingly enough, this is Lee’s first ever DGA nomination. He seems all but a shoo-in to repeat for an Oscar nomination, too.
Speaking of the Oscars, the DGA picks typically have lots of overlap with the eventual Academy shortlists of both Best Director and Best Picture. Last year’s DGA champ, “The Shape of Water,” went on to claim both of those Oscar statuettes.
The full list of nominees is below. The DGA Awards will be handed out on February 2.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM:
BRADLEY COOPER A Star is Born
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Dohrmann
First Assistant Director: Michele “Shelley” Ziegler
Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
Second Second Assistant Director: Matthew R. Milan
ALFONSO CUARÓN Roma
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: Ana Hernandez
First Assistant Director: Frederic Henocque Albino
Second Assistant Director: Patrick Heyerdahl
Second Second Assistant Directors: Luis Fernando Vásquez, Julián ‘Chico’ Valdés, Arturo Garcia
PETER FARRELLY Green Book
(Universal Pictures)
Unit Production Managers: Alissa M. Kantrow, John Brister, Franses Simonovich (New York Unit)
First Assistant Directors: J.B. Rogers, Alejandro Ramia (New York Unit)
Second Assistant Directors: Paul B. Uddo, Jack McKenna (New York Unit)
Second Second Assistant Directors: Gerson Paz, Jonathan Warren
Location Manager: Louis Zuppardi
SPIKE LEE BlacKkKlansman
(Focus Features)
Unit Production Manager: Marcei A. Brown
First Assistant Director: Mike Ellis
Second Assistant Director: Tracey Hinds
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jason Perez, Christina Ann Walker, Anastasia Folorunso
ADAM MCKAY Vice
(Annapurna Pictures)
Unit Production Managers: Julie Hartley, Jeff Waxman
First Assistant Director: Matt Rebenkoff
Second Assistant Director: Joann Connolly
Second Second Assistant Directors: Yarden Levo, Dave Vogel (Washington D.C. Unit)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR:
BO BURNHAM Eighth Grade
(A24)
First Assistant Director: Dan Taggatz
Second Assistant Director: Vic Coram
Second Second Assistant Director: Evelyn Fogleman
BRADLEY COOPER A Star is Born
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Dohrmann
First Assistant Director: Michele “Shelley” Ziegler
Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
Second Second Assistant Director: Matthew R. Milan
CARLOS LÓPEZ ESTRADA Blindspotting
(Summit Entertainment)
Assistant Director: La Mar Stewart
Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Martin
Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Armin Houshmandi
MATTHEW HEINEMAN A Private War
(Aviron Pictures) Unit Production Manager: Louise Killin First Assistant Directors: George Walker, Peter Freeman (Jordan Unit)
Second Assistant Directors: Tom Mulberge (UK Unit), Tom Browne (Jordan Unit)
Second Second Assistant Director: Tarik Afifi (Jordan Unit)
BOOTS RILEY Sorry to Bother You
(Annapurna Pictures)
Production Manager: Chris Martin
First Assistant Director: Brian Benson
Second Assistant Director: Hilton Jamal Day
Second Second Assistant Directors: Sam Purdy, Nick Alvarez
As a director, writer, producer — and sometimes documentarian — Alfonso Cuarón seems like he’s been a fixture of the cinema for years. Indeed, it’s surprising to realize he’s only directed eight films since his 1991 debut, “Solo con Tu Pareja.” This is possibly because his last three –“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Children of Men,” and “Gravity” — all in one way or another became an immediate part of the pop culture firmament, earning accolades or box office glory or supplying the world with a prescient look at humanity, technology, and the magic in between — the magic of creation, if nothing else.
But even for a constant inventor and fearless experimenter, his latest, “Roma,” is something special, something unique — an intimate, even sometimes slight drama given poetry and emotional resonance as it’s projected against the backdrop of not just Mexican history, but his own. Shot in black and white, starring a nonprofessional actress, and set in a time and place seldom explored in mainstream cinema — that is, until a filmmaker like Cuarón has the personal investment, and perhaps more importantly, the authority to shine a light upon it — “Roma” tells a deeply humane, enchanting story that easily ranks among the best and most indelible of 2018.
Newcomer Yalitza Aparicio plays Cleo, a young maid in the household of a middle-class family living in Mexico City in the early 1970s. Obedient and sensitive, Cleo forms natural attachments with her employers Sofia (Marina de Tavira) and Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), not to mention their three children — and they with her. But the growing strain between Sofia and Antonio serves as a reminder that she should keep their family at arm’s length, at least until she becomes pregnant by Fermin (Jorge Antonio Guerrero), the cousin of her friend Adela’s (Nancy Garcia) boyfriend, Pepe (Marco Graf).
After Antonio leaves, Cleo grows closer to the children, as Sofia attempts to figure out how to explain to them that their parents are getting divorced. But when Fermin abandons Cleo and leaves her to give birth alone, they are forced to come together to make the best of their respective situations.
Cuarón’s film was reportedly inspired by his own upbringing, and as homage or recreation (or both), he chronicles these characters’ lives in ways that bring them vividly to life. Cleo’s tasks are menial and domestic, but they give her purpose, and make her feel a sense of belonging — except when Sofia reminds her that she is an employee, which happens occasionally, but never cruelly. It’s a distinction that blurs ever more dimly as both she and their family face adversity. First, it is when she fearfully reveals her pregnancy to Sofia, then later when Sofia invites her on a vacation with the children where she hopes to come clean about their father. Cuaron’s camera observes affectionately how these women band together in the face of unhelpful, indifferent men, and care for children, and each other, indicting their counterparts irrefutably but dispassionately.
The filmmaker also serves as his own cinematographer, astutely capturing both the routine of their lives and the details that seem at once mundane and magical. From the dog turds that never seem to wash away, to the carport where Antonio’s prized Galaxy will barely fit, his portrait feels both aspirational and delicately anchored in reality; planes fly distantly over the rooftops where maids across the city hang laundry. Weddings take place in the background as sad conversations unfold. As a New Year’s party gets underway, a fire breaks out in the hills beyond the hacienda grounds, and the partygoers, including the children, venture out to help smother the brush fires. The rhythms are those of real life, combining tragedy and triumph and coincidence and convergence with honesty and compassion, elevating it all to something more profound than the “mere” stuff of a maid bonding with the family she works for.
Aparicio is both the film’s tether to a documentary-style reality about the lives of maids in a middle-class Mexico City borough and its light source, its force for elevating the premise to something more meaningful. What happens to her, and to the family, is never pitying, and neither does it indulge in anachronistic clichés; these women have grander, or at the very least more honest dreams for their future, and part of this adventure involves them coming to terms with that. And it all goes back to Cuaron’s great gifts as a filmmaker, presented through his work time and again: To take worlds we think we know, or we feel we can imagine, and to immerse us in them, make them feel visceral, and to give that emotional dimension.
Ultimately, “Roma” aims for something so specific that it cannot help but feel universal. In doing so, it humanizes experiences that it seems easy to have distant, detached opinions about, and then elevating that humanity into the stuff of great art. In the end, it achieves something unique, relatable, and transcendent all at once.
The New York Film Critics Circle has unveiled its honorees for the best of film in 2018, hailing “Roma” as the year’s top picture.
The group, one of the first to announce winners during the annual awards season, met on Thursday to vote on its selections. Expect many of these films and performances to become familiar over the coming months, as other awards bodies hand out prizes.
“Roma” already seems like a shoo-in for more awards attention, having premiered to rave reviews at the Venice, Toronto, and Telluride Film Festivals earlier this year. The autobiographical film also took home the NYFCC’s Best Director prize for Alfonso Cuaron, the Best Cinematography award, and will also vie for the Best Foreign Language Film trophy at the Academy Awards. These wins certainly suggest it will be a big player in the Best Picture field, too.
One of the hallmarks of the NYFCC is its sometimes offbeat selections, and that’s especially true of its Best Actress honoree, Regina Hall, who nabbed the group’s prize for “Support the Girls.” The little-seen indie flick has been a critical darling this year, and now, Hall is effectively on the radar for a potential Oscar nomination for her work.
The entire list of honorees is below. The NYFCC will hand out its awards at a ceremony in January.
Best Picture: Roma
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Best Actress: Regina Hall, Support the Girls
Best Screenplay: First Reformed
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Cinematography: Roma
Best First Film: Eighth Grade
Best Foreign Language Film: Cold War
Best Nonfiction Film: Minding the Gap
Special Award: David Schwartz, stepping down as chief film curator at Museum of the Moving Image after 33 years
Special Award: Kino Classics box set Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers
In terms of the winter movie cycle, Thanksgiving is a great time to get caught up.
You have a couple of days off, are probably stuffed with, er, stuffing, and want to be prepared for the Christmas movie onslaught that is just around the corner, when both Mary PoppinsandSpider-Man will be vying for your attention (amongst many, many others). So we’ve prepared a handy viewing guide for the Thanksgiving break, for when you want to escape to the theater with your loved ones, or leave them behind while they digest their turkey and watch whatever football game is on. And don’t worry, if you want to watch Netflix instead, we’ve got that covered, too.
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald‘
Warner Bros/Wizarding World
Remember “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” 2016’s ambitious but somewhat confusing fantasy romp that was supposed to serve as an extension of the lucrative Warner Bros. franchise but instead was kind of just huh? Well, they made another one! And this one is much better.
With Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, again) dispatched to Paris to track down the powerful Credence (Ezra Miller) and foil the plot of villainous wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), the movie adds some international intrigue, a more admissibly knotty plot and, thanks to an appearance by sexy young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), some concrete connections between the various strands of this franchise. Just be warned — before you pile the family into the station wagon, it might be a good idea to re-watch the first movie. Consider that your magic spell for understanding “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”
‘Widows‘
Fox
Given the pedigree, it’s very clear that “Widows” isn’t your run-of-the-mill thriller. Based on a British prime time series from 1983, it concerns a group of women (among them: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo) who are forced into a sticky situation when their criminal husbands are killed in a heist-gone-wrong.
Directed by Academy Award-winner Steve McQueen and co-written by Gillian Flynn (who wrote “Gone Girl” and “Sharp Objects”), this is a movie that thrills on both an intellectual and visceral level. “Ocean’s 8” it is not.
‘The Favourite‘
Fox
This is the time of year when the studios unleash their stuffy period movies and, yes, there are even a few of those this year. But “The Favourite” is not one of them.
Rambunctious, sexy, and unpredictable, it’s the antithesis of every boring costume drama that they throw Oscars at with willful abandon. This is electrically alive in a way few films, period or otherwise, ever are, anchored by a trio of brilliant female performers (Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) and some of the finest direction this year (courtesy of Greek genius Yorgos Lanthimos). Set during the reign of Queen Anne (Colman) in the early part of the 18th century, it features palace intrigue, love triangles, and people getting pushed into muddy ditches. What more do you want?
‘Ralph Breaks the Internet‘
Disney
In the sequel to the hit 2012 animated film, Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) head to the Internet, where they fall in with online auctions, meme-creation, and a particularly violent “Grand Theft Auto”-style game called “Slaughter Race” that is lorded over by a bad-ass, leather-clad ringleader named Shank (Gal Gadot). Also, the Disney Princesses show up. As you can imagine, it’s a lot of fun.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is one of those rare family sequels that won’t leave you with a toothache from it being so sweet, there’s actual pathos and emotionality but nothing feels syrupy or forced and it’s honestly one of the most visually ravishing animated features you’re ever likely to see.
‘Green Book‘
Universal
Up until this point, Peter Farrelly has directed as one-half of the Farrelly Brothers — serving as the tag-team provocateurs behind gross-out extravaganzas like “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary,” and the underrated classic “Kingpin.” So it’s interesting to see Farrelly emerge as something of an Oscar frontrunner for his work directing “Green Book,” a based-on-a-true-story racial drama starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.
In the film. Ali plays Don Shirley, a classical pianist, who hires New York tough guy Tony Vallelonga (Mortensen) to escort him on a tour of the South. This could be the feel-good movie of the fall, which makes it a perfect after-Thanksgiving family outing.
‘Creed II‘
MGM
Finally. The follow-up to 2015’s brilliant “Rocky” refresh “Creed” is now upon us. Let us give thanks.
In “Creed II,” Michael B. Jordan returns as Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed, who this time turns to going toe-to-doe with Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), who famously killed Apollo in the ring (in 1985’s Cold War classic “Rocky IV“). Oh, and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) is still around! So there’s that. Hopefully the sequel builds on the intensity and excitement of the first film, while supplying some new wrinkles as well. We can already feel ourselves getting inspired.
‘Roma‘
Netflix
Yes, “Roma” is a Netflix movie. But in a rare move, the streaming service is debuting the movie in theaters first, before it hits the platform in mid-December. And, really, you should do everything in your power to see it on the big screen. In fact, try and see it on the biggest screen possible. Because this movie is absolutely jaw dropping.
An epic on a miniature scale, the highly autobiographical film from “Gravity” filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron follows a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s dealing with heartache, political upheaval, and the day-to-day domestic drama that every family deals with. What makes this story even more captivating is that it’s told through the eyes of the family’s housekeeper Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, giving one of the year’s best performances even though she’s not a professional actor). You have to see this with an audience in a theater. It just won’t be the same on your iPad.
‘Overlord‘
Paramount
If your family is really annoying you over Thanksgiving, it might be time to watch a little more muscular movie at the multiplex. Perhaps something like “Overlord,” a high-concept World War II romp that features thrills, chills, and the cathartic experience of watching sweaty hunks brutally murder Nazis.
Conceived by mystery box magnate J.J. Abrams, “Overlord” is a hard-core horror movie mixed with an equally hardcore war movie, wherein a group of Allied soldiers (among them Jovan Adepo and Wyatt Russell) parachute into France to take down a radio tower on the eve of D-Day and wind up finding a gnarly zombie conspiracy. You know, that old story. But there are some definite grindhouse pleasures to be had as Nazis get shot, blown-up, and lit on fire and then come back from the dead to do it all again.
Alfonso Cuarón has already won one directing Oscar for an English language movie. Now, he’s vying for a second for a foreign language film.
Mexico has selected his black-and-white autobiographical drama “Roma” as its entry into the Best Foreign Language category at the Academy Awards.
Netflix quietly qualified the movie by opening in for one week of theatrical release in Mexico City. It will debut on the streaming service and in U.S. theaters December 14.
“Roma” received rave review after screening at the Venice, Toronto, and Telluride Film Festivals, winning the Golden Lion at the former. It was a shoo-in to be Mexico’s selection and looks like a contender for other major categories like Best Picture and Director.
Cuaron produced, wrote and directed “Roma,” which draws upon his memories of growing up in the titular neighborhood in Mexico City.
He made history by becoming the first Mexican filmmaker to win the Best Director Oscar for “Gravity,” paving the way for his friends and fellow countrymen Alejandro G. Inarritu (“The Revenant”) and Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”).
Still, Mexico has never won the Foreign Language Oscar out of eight nominations.
