39th Annual Imagen Awards: The Winners and LatiNation’s Part

Kenny Ortega presenting an award at the 39th Annual Imagen Awards.

What an exciting night at the 39th Annual Imagen Awards!  We gathered at the Plaza de Cultura y Arte in Los Angeles to celebrate the creatives who brought Latino stories to cinema over the last year. Actors, writers, directors, and producers walked the red carpet, mingled over drinks, shared dinner, and applauded all of the winners and their fellow nominees. The speeches were inspiring, the outfits were eye-catching, and the ambience was victorious.

Let’s go over some major wins.

The Long Game took home Best Feature Film. Alejandra Márquez Abella won Best Director (Film) for her work on A Million Miles Away. Best Actor (Film) was a tie between Eugenio Derbez for his role on Radical and Jay Hernandez for his on The Long Game, and Best Actress (Film) was awarded to Rosa Salazar for her performance in A Million Miles Away.

As part of a growing partnership between the Imagen Foundation and LatiNation Media, our in-house hosts sat down with some of this year’s nominees ahead of the awards ceremony.

In his live interview, Eugenio Derbez takes the opportunity to comment on Latino representation in Hollywood at large.

“In Hollywood, they talk a lot about diversity and being inclusive, and I feel that they haven’t nailed it,” Derbez says. “I know they try, and they really want to do it, but sometimes it feels like they just want to check the box. [But] it’s not the real change. We need to start hiring Latino executives from the top.”

For 39 years, the Imagen Awards has carved out space here in Hollywood to celebrate and normalize Latino stories. The foundation, once again, is doing its part to inspire and motivate change. Undeniably, it’s from within these incubators of community-forward stories that we will sow the seeds of genuine, authentic representation in the film and tv industry at large.

America Ferrera won for Best Supporting Actress (Film) in Barbie and Julian Works took home Best Supporting Actor (Film) for his portrayal of “Joe Treviño” in The Long Game.

Julian Works, in his interview, opened up about his process as an actor—how he honored and related to the obstacles of the 1950s Latino golfer at a time when representation was nil.

“Any role I play, there is a little bit of me in there. That’s what makes it more centered to my heart,” Works says. “The rest is you get lost in who you’re playing.”

Best Drama Series went to Will Trent, Best Comedy Series went to This Fool, and Issa López took home the award for Best Director (TV) for her work on True Detective: Night Country. Other winners include Sofía Vergara (Griselda), Edward James Olmos (Mayans M.C.), Cree (Turtles All the Way Down), Ignacio Diaz-Silverio (Primo), Gina Rodriguez (Not Dead Yet), Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear), and Raffa Virago (Dying in Plain Sight).

LatiNation’s Andrew Matlow, Robby Henry, Susana Vaamonde, Miguel Rodriguez, Aura Quiroz, Eliana Reyes, Andrés Palencia, Andrew Tamarkin, Bruno Ulloa, and Daysi Millan at the 39th Annual Imagen Awards.

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Seated at Table 32 was some of our LatiNation family. Our second episode of Latino Alternative Storytellers—an original docu-series created by producing duo Andrew Tamarkin and Susana Vaamonde, produced by LATV’s head of production Aura Quiroz, directed by multi-hyphenate filmmaker Eliana Reyes, and executive produced by the network’s CEO Andrés Palencia and President Bruno Ulloa—was nominated for Best TV Special or Movie. In honor of Black History Month, the episode featured four Afro-Latino artists who tell stories of their heritage through their craft. Música (MGM Amazon Studios) took home the prize, but our network was beyond thrilled to share space in the category.

The real win, truly, was being in attendance and celebrating Latino stories amongst peers and other voices of inspiration.