How many Cubans have won an Oscar Award and who has won the most?

The Oscars, awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognize the best of cinema every year. The Academy rewards various aspects of the film industry, beyond just films and performances.

Since 1929, over 3,000 people have received an Oscar statuette, including some Latinos from different countries such as Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. But has Cuba won any awards? Let’s find out.

The Latinos who have won an Oscar: the historical ranking of the Oscars.

Strange as it may seem, no person born in Cuba has ever won an Oscar. The closest was at the 2019 ceremony when director Phil Lord, born in Miami, Florida, but of Cuban descent, won the Best Animated Feature Oscar for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

A number of Cubans have been nominated for Academy Awards over the years. Let’s take a look at them:

Ernesto Lecuona

In the 15th edition, held in 1943, Havana-born composer Lecuona was nominated for Best Original Song for Siempre en mi Corazón (‘Always in My Heart’) from the eponymous film. It ended losing to the Irving Berlin-penned classic, White Christmas. Lecuona was the first person from a Caribbean country to be nominated in any category at the awards.

Andy García

In 1991, in the 63rd edition of the Oscars, García was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather Part III. Andy became the first Cuban to be nominated for an Academy Award in one of the acting categories. Unfortunately, he missed out on the night, with the award going to Joe Pesci for his performance in Goodfellas.

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío

The two directors were nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for Fresa y Chocolate (‘Strawberry and Chocolate’) in the 67th edition of the awards, which took place in 1994. It lost to Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun. Gutiérrez passed away a couple of years later aged 67 while Tabío is sadly also no longer with us - he passed away of undisclosed causes in his hometown La Habana in January 2021

Ana de Armas

The actress was the most recent Cuban artist to be nominated for an Oscar. Ana was among the nominees last year in the 95th edition. Ana was acclaimed for her electrifying portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the biopic Blonde. She was among the shortlist of five in the Best Actress category but the award went to Michelle Yeoh for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Nevertheless, De Armas is the first Cuban actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting and the first Cuban person to be nominated in a major acting category.

No Cuban artists are among the nominees for this weekend’s ceremony, the 96th edition of the Academy Awards. In the Best Actor category, bookmakers expect the award to go to Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy, whose fellow nominees are Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Bradley Cooper (Maestro) and Jeffery Wright (American Fiction).

Oppenheimer is also the big favorite to pick up the award in the Best Picture category, ahead of some tough competition from the other nominations: American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest.

James Wilson’s The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom) is up for three separate awards and is forecast to land The Best International Feature Film award. It faces stiff competition from Io capitano (Italy), Wim Wender’s Perfect Days (Japan), La Sociedad de la Nieve [Society of the Snow] (Spain) and Das Lehrerzimmer [The Teachers’ Lounge] (Germany).