J. Kim Murphy “The Power of the Dog” took top honors from this year’s edition of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA), winning best picture, best director and best editing from the organization.The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association announced its winners on Sunday afternoon, honoring the top achievements of 2021 films.
Other major winners during the afternoon included Ariana DeBose in supporting actress for “West Side Story” and Disney’s Encanto in the categories of best voice or motion capture performance for Stephanie Beatriz, best animated film, best musical score and best song written for a film.Heading into the awards, “West Side Story” led the field with a total of 13 nominations.
Lin-Manuel Miranda received the most individual nominations of any person with seven: best picture for “In the Heights,” best director for “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” voice or motion capture performance for “Vivo” and a trio of song mentions from the animated film “Encanto” including “Dos Oruguitas,” “Surface Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” The LEJA membership also selected Miranda as the recipient of the Latino Activism Award.
Meanwhile, John Leguizamo was honored with the 2022 Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing the actor, producer and comedian as a tireless force in the Latino community.
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