‘Society of the Snow,”20,000 Species of Bees’ Dominate Platino Awards

In a triumphant night for Spain, J.A. Bayona’s Oscar-nominated “Society of the Snow” swept the top prizes at Platino Xcaret, named after the venue of the annual Platino Awards this year, which took place at the Xcaret Resort, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Argentina cinema’s plight, exacerbated by far-right president Javier Milei’s closure of its film institute, INCAA, was also on many people’s minds.

Citing veteran Argentine filmmaker Adolfo Aristarain as one of his inspirations, Bayona said upon receiving his best director award: “Argentina, we are here standing by your side, you’re not alone.”

Bayona’s harrowing account of the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash, from which only 16 people survived after 72 days stranded in the Andes, became Netflix’s second most-viewed non-English film of all time. “I wouldn’t be here without the book that Pablo Vierci wrote,” said Bayona, who also thanked his cast and crew, upon winning best feature.

Basque director’s Estibaliz Urresola’s acclaimed debut feature “20,000 Species of Bees,” about an eight-year-old girl struggling with her gender identity, was also a big winner, grabbing four awards, including best first feature.

Xcaret also became the backdrop for a gathering of Argentine filmmakers and their supporters from across Ibero-America to protest the disastrous changes impacting Argentina’s lauded film industry – boasting 25 Platino nominations this year.

Chile also snagged big wins at this 11^th edition, with Pablo Larrain’s “El Conde” and Maite Alberdi’s poignant docu, “The Eternal Memory,” both Oscar-nominated, clinching awards. The venerable Chilean thesp Alfredo Castro won best actor in a series for his performance as Salvador Allende in “The Thousand Days of Allende.”

“It’s likely that there will be few Argentine films next year,” lamented Argentine actress Cecilia Roth, who was bestowed the Platino Honorary award. “For me, the Platino Awards is like an entire country where we can cross paths, interact, and tell each other stories,” she noted. “Our industry is fragile, let’s keep nurturing it,” she added. In contention at this edition were projects from 23 countries.

“They’re killing our cinema, they’re killing our culture,” declared Argentine actor-singer Andy Chango, the first called onto the stage to win an award for his performance in the mini-series, “El amor después del amor.”

Argentina’s Daniel Burman, winner of best creator of a TV mini-series or series award for “Iosi, the Regretful Spy” (“Iosi, el espia arrenpentido”), produced by The Mediapro Studio’s Oficina Burman for Prime Video and noted by the New York Times as one of the best TV shows of 2023, also called out the crisis in his country.

“Society of the Snow” also took home the audience award for Best Ibero-American Film, given the day before the main event.

Meanwhile, “Burning Body” (“El Cuerpo en llamas”) won the audience award for best miniseries or series, while Enzo Vogrincic for “Society of the Snow,” Dolores Fonzi for “Blondi,” Santiago Korovsky for “División Palermo,” and Úrsula Corberó for “Burning Body” took home audience awards in the acting categories.

The 12th Platino Awards will be held in Madrid next year. Xcaret will alternate with Madrid as the host venue for the next four years.

Full list of winners:

FILM

Best Feature

“Society of the Snow,” J.A. Bayona (Spain)

Director

J.A. Bayona, “Society of the Snow” (Spain)

Lead Performance

Enzo Vogrincic, “Society of the Snow” (Spain)

Laia Costa, “Un amor” (Spain)

Screenplay

Estibaliz Urresola, “20,000 Species of Bees,” (Spain)