Beverly Hills, CA — Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, February 2 by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherek and 2008 Oscar® nominee Anne Hathaway. Among the over 130 nominees, five are Latinos whose nominations came in the producer, actor, foreign film and short film (animated) categories.

Below is an overview of these talented individuals:

Jonas Rivera: Nominated for an Oscar as producer in the Best Motion Picture of the Year category for his work on Pixar/WaltDisney’s animated film Up. Rivera started his career in 1994 at Pixar, working as a production assistant in their debut animated film Toy Story, which went on win an Oscar for Special Achievement. From there he worked his way up in various departments in Pixar’s list of award-winning films, finally working his way to producer of Up. He has a degree in film production from San Francisco State University.

Penelope Cruz: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her work in Rob Marshall’s Nine. This is Cruz’s third Oscar nomination. She was previously nominated in 2007 for her role in Pedro Almodovar’s Volver; and in 2009 she received the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Cruz is said to have been “surprised and elated” upon hearing of her nomination for Nine and fully credited Rob Marshall, telling People magazine, “Rob Marshall is not only a genius but an absolute joy to work with.”

In the Foreign Film Category there are two Latin American countries vying for the Oscar. They are:

For Argentina Juan Jose Campenella’s directorial of The Secret of Her Eyes. In the 1980s Campellell was ontrack to becoming an engineer in his native Argentina, but dropped out after four years at the university, commenting that the decisive factor for this decision was watching All That Jazz on the very day he was going to apply for a fifth year.

American audiences know Campenella’s work for the television shows he had directed, among them: House, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and 30 Rock). Campenella has directed several award-winning films including The Boy Who Cried Bitch in 1991; Love Walked In in 1997; El mismo amor, la misma lluvia (1999); and Son of the Bride (2001). Since beginning the film festival circuit, The Secret of Her Eyes has been lauded internationally, and now the crowned as an Oscar nominee.

For Peru, The Milk of Sorrow directed by Claudia Llosa. Llosa is the niece of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and the film director Luis Llosa. A resident of Madrid, Spain, where she moved in the 1990’s to study at the film academy Escuela TAI. Her script Madeinusa won the prize for the best unpublished script at the 2003 Havana Film Festival. In 2009 Llosa finished her second film The Milk of Sorrow (La teta asustada) which was shortlisted for the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. It is the first Peruvian film nominated for the Golden Bear award, and won the main award.

Add to all this an Oscar nomination for Best Short Film (animated).

Javier Recio Gracia is both writer and director of the Oscar nominated film The Lady and the Reaper in the Animated Short Film category. Two years ago Kandor Moon, his production company, decided to make a short film as sort of a challenge to testtheir technical and artistic research, the result, an Oscar nominated film which has also been nominated for a Goya Award in its native Spain this year. For a complete list of nominees go to:

http://www.oscar.go.com/nominations/nominees

Source: http://www.LatinHeat.com