Raúl Castillo, A Martinez, Rosa Salazar, Santiago Mitre Among 398 Academy Invitees

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced it has extended 398 invitations to artists and executives to join the organization.

Actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, writers and sound engineers from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay are in the 2023 list for their contributions to motion pictures.

Among the Latinos invited are actors Raúl Castillo (Cha Cha Real Smooth, The Inspection), A Martinez (Ambulance, Powwow Highway) and Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel, The Kindergarten Teacher).

There’s a richer group of Latino and Latin American directors, including Santiago Mitre, whose Golden Globe-winning movie Argentina, 1985 was nominated for an Oscar and Abner Benaim, whose Plaza Catedral made the Oscar 2022 shortlist. Also invited: Antonio Campos (The Devil All the Time, Simon Killer), Francisco Lombardi (No Mercy, The City and the Dogs), Carlos López Estrada (Raya and the Last Dragon, Blindspotting) and Anita Rocha da Silveira (Medusa, Kill Me Please).

Other notable invitees: cinematographer María Secco (Sorcery, The Empty Box), documentarian Andrés Di Tella (Private Fiction, Montoneros, una Historia), producer Daniel Birman Ripstein (Daniel & Ana, El Crimen del Padre Amaro), writers Alejandro Fernández Almendras (Mi Amigo Alexis, To Kill a Man) and Mariano Llinás (Argentina, 1985, Paulina); sound designers and mixers Lena Esquenazi (Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Prayers for the Stolen), Anthony Ortiz (The Harder They Fall, Second Act) and Javier Angel Umpierrez (Un Retrato de Familia, Memoria); visual effects artist Gino Acevedo (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies); and make up artist designer Alfredo Mora (Dance of the 41, Nora’s Will).

Among the invitees of the 2023 class, 40% identify as women, 34% come from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% represent 50 countries and territories outside the United States. Within this group, there are 76 Oscar® nominees, including 22 winners.

While the Academy has been trying to improve representation within the organization, it states that membership selection is based on professional qualifications.

The full list is available on the Academy’s website.