The Los Angeles Critics Association (LAFCA) awarded this Saturday the Spaniards Penélope Cruz and Alberto Iglesias as best actress and best soundtrack for their work in “Madres Paralelas”, by Pedro Almodóvar.
With this award, which is added to the Volpi Cup of the Venice Film Festival, the Spanish actress is firmly among the candidates to receive an Oscar nomination for best actress, although the Hollywood Academy will not announce its candidates until February 2022 In addition, the musician Alberto Iglesias underlines his status as a favorite in the awards season.
For its part, the Los Angeles film critic – which names a winner and a finalist in all its categories – awarded the Japanese “Drive My Car”, based on a story by Haruki Murakami, as the best film, and left as a finalist “The Power of the Dog”.
However, directing reversed the result and named Jane Campion as best director for “The Power of the Dog,” while Ryusuke Hamaguchi was the finalist for “Drive My Car.”
Simon Rex took the award for best leading actor for “Red Rocket” and Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”) was a finalist.
In the female category, Cruz beat Norway’s Renate Reinsve for “The Worst Person in the World”.
The Puerto Rican American Ariana DeBose triumphed as a supporting actress for “West Side Story” and in the male section, there was a tie between Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”) and Vincent Lindon (“Titane”).
The next appointment on the film awards circuit will be on Tuesday, when the Hollywood Academy announces the list of candidates (“shortlists”) in several categories, including the best international film.