Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA) Film Awards: ‘Sinners’ Wins 6, Including Best Picture

Sinners has won six awards at the 8th Annual Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA) Film Awards, including Best Picture. Sinners writer-director Ryan Coogler also picked up awards for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The film also earned awards for Best Casting (Francine Maisler), Best Score (Ludwig Göransson), and tied for Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw).

One Battle After Another and Frankenstein won the second most awards with three each. Benicio del Toro won Best Supporting Actor and Teyana Taylor won Best Supporting Actress  for One Battle After Another. Paul Thomas Anderson also won Best Adapted Screenplay for writing the film.

Frankenstein picked up three awards in the craft categories for Best Production Design (Tamara Deverell), Best Costume Design (Kate Hawley), and Best Makeup (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey).

In the other top categories, Wagner Moura won Best Actor for The Secret Agent and Rose Byrne won Best Actress for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. The Secret Agent also won Best Non-English Film.

Other films that earned two awards were: Avatar: Fire and Ash (Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance and Best Special Effects), KPop Demon Hunters (Best Animated Film and Best Song), and F1 (Best Editing and Best Sound).

“LEJA is proud to recognize excellence in filmmaking across the board,” said Toni Gonzales, LEJA President. “This year’s winners showcase a diverse mix of talent and storytelling and also highlights the continued impact Latino creatives have in the industry.”

Late last month, LEJA also announced that the Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award went to actor Benicio del Toro. LEJA also awarded the Breakout Award to Tonatiuh for his performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman. The Activism Award went to Diego Luna for championing immigrant rights and for using his platform to amplify immigrant communities and encourage support for organizations helping them.

The full list of winners is below:

BEST PICTURE

Sinners, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler

BEST DIRECTOR

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

BEST ACTOR

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

BEST ACTRESS

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE (UNDER 18)

Cary Christopher, Weapons

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

BEST VOICE OR MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE

Zoe Saldaña, Avatar: Fire and Ash

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans

BEST NON-ENGLISH FILM

The Secret Agent (Brazil)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Perfect Neighbor, Geeta Gandbhir

BEST ENSEMBLE CASTING

Sinners, Francine Maisler

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Frankenstein, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

(TIE) Train Dreams, Adolpho Veloso

(TIE) Sinners, Autumn Durald Arkapaw

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Frankenstein, Kate Hawley

BEST EDITING

F1, Stephen Mirrione

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP

Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

BEST SOUND

F1, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary Rizzo, Juan Peralta and Gareth John 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar: Fire and Ash, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett 

BEST STUNTS

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning 

BEST SCORE

Sinners, Ludwig Göransson 

BEST SONG 

“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters; music and lyrics by Ejae, Ido, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Mark Sonnenblick, Teddy & 24

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)