Ya No Estoy Aqui’ Could Mean a New Oscar for Mexico

The Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences announced in Mid-November 2020 that Fernando Frías’ I’m No Longer Here/Ya no estoy aquí has been officially chosen as the Mexican candidate for Best International Film at the 93rd Academy Awards set to take place April 25th, 2021.

Winner of the Best Film Award at the Morelia Film Festival, Frías’ electrifying second feature (later released by Netflix) follows a gang from Monterrey named “Los Terkos.” Passing their free time listening to remixed cumbia music, attending fiestas de baile, and showing off their swagged out fits, hairstyles, and gang membership, the boys call themselves Kolombianos in order to encapsulate their mix of cholo culture and Colombian music.

Ulises, their leader, tries his best to protect his amigos from a rapidly evolving drug-political war, but after a crucial misunderstanding with a local cartel, he’s forced to leave his hometown and head to New York City. He tries his best to assimilate upon arrival, but when Ulises learns that his homies and the entire Kolombia culture is in danger, he begins to question what he’s doing in America and yearns for a return home.

Winner of ten Ariel Awards, including Best Film and Best Director, I’m No Longer Here beat out Michel Franco’s New Order / Nuevo órden and Heidi Edwig’s I Carry You With Me / Te llevo conmigo, which were two other big contenders in the Mexican Oscar race. Mexico has secured nine Oscar nominations for Best International Feature, winning its very first Academy Award in 2019 with Alfonso Cuarón’s, Roma.