‘Encanto,’ ‘Maya And The Three’ Win Best Directing Honors At Imagen Awards Over Live-Action Productions
L.A.’s Imagen Awards celebrating Latino excellence in film and tv were distributed on Sunday, with the top two director prizes going to filmmakers of animated productions and Encanto winning best feature over a stacked live-action lineup.
In each of the categories, in fact, the directors and their films were up against mostly live-action fare, but managed to come out on top with voters recognizing that the work was exemplary by any standard, and that it need not be treated differently simply for being animated.
Encanto was the biggest winner of the night, with four awards, taking best feature, best music composition in film or television, and best musical supervision film or television, in addition to directing honors. In the feature category, it was up against fellow animated picture Spirit Untamed from Dreamworks, as well as live-action films including Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons, Netflix’s In the Heights from Jon M. Chu, and Disney’s West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg.
The trio of Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith shared the award for feature direction for their work on Encanto, beating out Spielberg, Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard), and Alonso Ruizpalacios (A Cop Movie).
Jorge Gutierrez was selected as the year’s top tv director for his Netflix limited series Maya and the Three, topping directors from the series The Staircase, Gentefied, This is Us, We Own This City, and The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.
Additionally, the PBS Kids series Alma’s Way won the award for youth programming.
Awards Won by Animated Works at the 2022 Imagen Awards:
Best Feature Film
Encanto – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Best Director – Feature Film
Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith – Encanto
Best Director – Television
Jorge R. Gutierrez – Maya and the Three
Best Youth Programming
Alma’s Way (PBS Kids, Fred Rogers Productions, Pipeline Studios)
Best Music Composition for Film or Television
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Germaine Franco – Encanto
Best Music Supervision for Film or Television
Tom MacDougall – Encanto
