Ariel Award - Best Mexican Film
by thierry-05295 | created - 1 month ago | updated - 1 month ago | PublicThe Ariel is the Mexican Academy of Film Award. It has been awarded annually since 1947. The award recognizes excellence in motion picture making, such as acting, directing and screenwriting in Mexican cinema. It is considered the most prestigious award in the Mexican movie industry. The name "Ariel" was inspired by a series of short writings called El Ariel by Uruguayan writer José Enrique Rodó that inspired generations of young Latin Americans in the first decades of the 20th century.
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1. La barraca (1945)
110 min | Drama
In rural Spain, a new family arrives in town to work a parcel (barraca), the townsfolk are very hostile to the idea of "another" working the land that once belonged to one of them.
Director: Roberto Gavaldón | Stars: Domingo Soler, Anita Blanch, Amparo Morillo, José Baviera
Votes: 149
2. Enamorada (1946)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Romance, War
During the Mexican Revolution, a macho rebel general falls in love with the independent-minded daughter of an aristocrat in the town he is occupying.
Director: Emilio Fernández | Stars: María Félix, Pedro Armendáriz, Fernando Fernández, José Morcillo
Votes: 943
3. The Pearl (1947)
Approved | 85 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
The discovery of a perfect pearl forever changes the lives of a poor Mexican fisherman and his family.
Director: Emilio Fernández | Stars: Pedro Armendáriz, María Elena Marqués, Fernando Wagner, Gilberto González
Votes: 1,116
4. Hidden River (1948)
99 min | Drama
Called by the Mexican President himself, and in spite of a heart condition, young teacher Rosaura Salazar travels to the deserted town of Rio Escondido to accomplish the mission of bringing... See full summary »
Director: Emilio Fernández | Stars: María Félix, Carlos López Moctezuma, Fernando Fernández, Agustín Isunza
Votes: 292
5. Una familia de tantas (1949)
130 min | Drama
A strict patriarch exercises almost absolute control over his family and uses it to impose his vision of order and conservative family values. However, the budding sexuality of some of his children causes the union to unravel.
Director: Alejandro Galindo | Stars: Fernando Soler, David Silva, Martha Roth, Carlos Riquelme
Votes: 391
6. The Young and the Damned (1950)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama
A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo, Estela Inda, Miguel Inclán
Votes: 22,011
7. In the Palm of Your Hand (1951)
113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A fortune teller blackmails a beautiful widow whose husband has recently died.
Director: Roberto Gavaldón | Stars: Arturo de Córdova, Leticia Palma, Ramón Gay, Consuelo Guerrero de Luna
Votes: 359
8. El niño y la niebla (1953)
TV-14 | 111 min | Drama, Mystery
Marta (Dolores del Río) es una mujer que vive obsesionada, ya que su madre y su hermano murieron de esquizofrenia. Temerosa de que la enfermedad sea congénita, sobreprotege hasta el extremo... See full summary »
Director: Roberto Gavaldón | Stars: Dolores Del Río, Pedro López Lagar, Eduardo Noriega, Alejandro Ciangherotti
Votes: 114
9. Los Fernández de Peralvillo (1954)
115 min | Drama, Crime, Thriller
Desperate for improving his quality of life, a young failed door-to-door salesman ends up accepting a dubious job from a mysterious old friend.
Director: Alejandro Galindo | Stars: David Silva, Víctor Parra, Sara García, Irma Torres
Votes: 69
10. Robinson Crusoe (1954)
Approved | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
The classic story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is dragged to a desert island after a shipwreck.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Dan O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernández, Felipe de Alba, Chel López
Votes: 4,508
11. El camino de la vida (1956)
96 min | Drama
Portrait of the lives of marginalized children in Mexico City, through three juvenile criminals. One killed his stepfather to protect his mother, another blinded his guardian to ward off ... See full summary »
Director: Alfonso Corona Blake | Stars: Mario Humberto Jiménez Pons, Ignacio García Torres, Rogelio 'Frijolitos' Jiménez Pons, Mario Navarro
Votes: 55
12. Tizoc (1957)
109 min | Drama, Romance
A white woman enters into a romance with a Mexican Indian. The racial barriers between the lovers prove to be insurmountable, resulting in tragedy.
Director: Ismael Rodríguez | Stars: María Félix, Pedro Infante, Andrés Soler, Carlos Orellana
Votes: 712
13. El águila descalza (1971)
90 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Alfonso Arau, Ofelia Medina, Christa Linder, José Gálvez
Votes: 103
14. Tú, yo, nosotros (1972)
108 min | Drama
Directors: Jorge Fons, Gonzalo Martínez Ortega, Juan Manuel Torres | Stars: Julissa, Rita Macedo, Guillermo Murray, Sergio Jimenez
Votes: 26
15. Las puertas del paraíso (1971)
90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Due to betting problems, Andrés and his lover, Blanca, flee the city and travel through several states of the country; During their journey they get involved with a couple of hippies with ... See full summary »
Director: Salomón Laiter | Stars: Jacqueline Andere, Jorge Luke, Milton Rodríguez, Barbara Angely
Votes: 68
16. Reed: Insurgent Mexico (1972)
124 min | Biography, Drama, War
A dramatization of John Reed's newspaper accounts of the Mexican Revolution. Considered the first real film in Mexican cinema to be made on the Mexican Revolution.
Director: Paul Leduc | Stars: Claudio Obregón, Eduardo López Rojas, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Juan Ángel Martínez
Votes: 206
17. Mecánica nacional (1971)
TV-PG | 105 min | Comedy, Drama
A mechanic takes his family to a car race and a series of events occur which brings problems, betrayals, violence and the unexpected death of an elderly person.
Director: Luis Alcoriza | Stars: Manolo Fábregas, Lucha Villa, Héctor Suárez, Sara García
Votes: 413
18. The Castle of Purity (1973)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
The story of a disciplined and sexually driven man who keeps his family isolated in his home for years to protect them from the "evil nature" of human beings while inventing (with his wife)... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Claudio Brook, Rita Macedo, Arturo Beristáin, Diana Bracho
Votes: 2,389
19. El principio (1973)
135 min | Action, Drama, History
A man returns from Paris to find his home of Chihuahua Mexico occupied by Francisco Villa's revolutionary troops.
Director: Gonzalo Martínez Ortega | Stars: Lucha Villa, Narciso Busquets, Andrés García, Fernando Balzaretti
Votes: 70
20. La otra virginidad (1975)
110 min | Drama
Director: Juan Manuel Torres | Stars: Valentín Trujillo, Leticia Perdigón, Arturo Beristáin, Víctor Manuel Mendoza
Votes: 78
21. La choca (1974)
94 min | Drama, Western
Martin lives in a mountain hut with his wife, La Choca, and his son, little Martin, and Flor, Choca's sister. They live through hardship to make ends meet, and Martin does some smuggling. ... See full summary »
Director: Emilio Fernández | Stars: Mercedes Carreño, Gregorio Casal, Armando Silvestre, Pilar Pellicer
Votes: 116
22. Letters from Marusia (1975)
110 min | Drama, History
It is 1925 and working conditions in Chile are abysmal. The miners of Marusia go on strike, but the mine owners and the Government use the Chilean Army crush them.
Director: Miguel Littin | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Diana Bracho, Claudio Obregón, Eduardo López Rojas
Votes: 364
23. The Passion of Berenice (1976)
107 min | Drama
When a man appears in her life, a young woman of traditional manners who lives with her godmother suffers a deep and unusual transformation.
Director: Jaime Humberto Hermosillo | Stars: Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Martha Navarro, Emma Roldán, Blanca Torres
Votes: 327
24. Naufragio (1978)
101 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A woman (Murguía) lives waiting for her son (Alonso) who is a sailor. She hasn't seen him for years although he writes to her a lot. The woman shares his letters and her grief with a ... See full summary »
Director: Jaime Humberto Hermosillo | Stars: José Alonso, María Rojo, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Carlos Castañón
Votes: 239
25. The Place Without Limits (1978)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
Family honor, greed, machismo, homophobia, and the dreams of whores collide in a Mexican town. Rich, elderly Don Alejo is poised to sell the town for a profit, needing only to buy a ... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Roberto Cobo, Fernando Soler, Lucha Villa, Ana Martín
Votes: 1,646
26. Life Sentence (1979)
95 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A former felon is blackmailed by a corrupt policeman and forced to commit a crime.
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Narciso Busquets, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Angélica Chain
Votes: 523
27. The Year of the Plague (1979)
109 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A terrible disease is found in a Mexican town. A doctor tries to alert the authorities when he discovers its epidemic nature. No one listen to him and soon after the disease spreads. The ... See full summary »
Director: Felipe Cazals | Stars: Alejandro Parodi, José Carlos Ruiz, Rebeca Silva, Tito Junco
Votes: 154
28. Las grandes aguas (1980)
113 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Director: Servando González | Stars: Eric del Castillo, Tina Romero, Lucy Tovar, Miguel Manzano
Votes: 41
29. Ora sí tenemos que ganar (1981)
90 min | Drama
Director: Raúl Kamffer | Stars: Felipe Casanova, Carlos Castañón, Farnesio de Bernal, María del Carmen Farias
Votes: 34
30. Bajo la metralla (1983)
102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Pedro (Humberto Zurita) commands an guerrilla group. In a failed attack on a senior government official, the rebels abduct Pablo (Manuel Ojeda), who is Pedro's former party colleague. The ... See full summary »
Director: Felipe Cazals | Stars: Humberto Zurita, María Rojo, José Carlos Ruiz, Manuel Ojeda
Votes: 106
31. Frida (1983)
108 min | Biography, Drama
The most prominent female painter of Latin America, Frida Kahlo, is agonizing in her Coyoacán home. She evokes memories of her childhood, of the streetcar accident that caused her terrible ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Leduc | Stars: Ofelia Medina, Juan José Gurrola, Max Kerlow, Claudio Brook
Votes: 535
32. Poison for the Fairies (1986)
90 min | Fantasy, Horror
A 10 year old girl convinces a lonely classmate that she is a witch, forcing the child to become her assistant. Though their games are initially rather naive, they gradually take a nasty and violent turn.
Director: Carlos Enrique Taboada | Stars: Ana Patricia Rojo, Elsa María Gutiérrez, Leonor Llausás, Carmen Stein
Votes: 2,564
33. The Realm of Fortune (1986)
130 min | Drama
Poor Dionisio finds himself as recipient of the good fortune, but soon he forgets that everything that goes up also has to go down, and that in the depressing nothingness of his town it is easy to die.
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Blanca Guerra, Alejandro Parodi, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez
Votes: 512
34. Mariana, Mariana (1987)
110 min | Drama, Romance
In 1940s Mexico City, schoolboy Carlos falls in love with his best friend's mother, Mariana. Carlos is impressed because this family is not like the typical Mexican families of the time ... See full summary »
Director: Alberto Isaac | Stars: Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Elizabeth Aguilar, Isabel Andrade, Juan Carlos Andrews
Votes: 397
35. Esperanza (1988)
135 min | Drama, History
The biography of a Russian man, in real life the grandfather of the director Sergio Olhovich, who comes to Mexico running away from the Russian Revolution.
Director: Sergio Olhovich | Stars: Dmitriy Kharatyan, Leonid Kuravlyov, Boris Tokarev, Claudio Brook
Votes: 55
36. Goitia, un dios para sí mismo (1989)
110 min | Biography, Drama
The closeness of his death and a final impulse to paint one more painting, lead the Mexican painter Francisco Goitia to remember his life.
Director: Diego López Rivera | Stars: José Carlos Ruiz, Gustavo Aguilar, Tomás Alcázar, Alfredo Alonso
Votes: 73
37. Red Dawn (1990)
96 min | Drama, Thriller
A Claustrophobic experience which involves a Mexican middle class family into the atrocities made by wild and heartless army forces whose main objective seems to be students who do not permit the 1968's Olimpic games' to develop normally.
Director: Jorge Fons | Stars: Héctor Bonilla, María Rojo, Jorge Fegán, Ademar Arau
Votes: 2,038
38. Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
R | 105 min | Drama, Romance
When tradition prevents her from marrying the man she loves, a young woman discovers she has a unique talent for cooking.
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torné, Mario Iván Martínez
Votes: 18,843 | Gross: $21.67M
39. Cronos (1992)
R | 94 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel
Votes: 33,132 | Gross: $0.62M
40. The Beginning and the End (1993)
188 min | Drama
The film tells the story of the Boteros, a middle-class Mexican family struggling against poverty after their father's death. Ignacia (Egurrola) is the Boteros mother, a desperate woman who... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Ernesto Laguardia, Julieta Egurrola, Blanca Guerra, Verónica Merchant
Votes: 464
41. Midaq Alley (1995)
Unrated | 140 min | Drama, Romance
The lives of men and women living on Callejón de los Milagros in Mexico City.
Director: Jorge Fons | Stars: Ernesto Gómez Cruz, María Rojo, Salma Hayek, Bruno Bichir
Votes: 3,362
42. Sin remitente (1995)
97 min | Drama
Tired and frustrated of being constantly awaken at midnight by his noisy young neighbor Mariana (Scanda), old Don Andres (Torre Laphame) engages himself into a solitaire crusade against his... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Carrera | Stars: Fernando Torre Lapham, Tiaré Scanda, Luisa Huertas, Guillermo Gil
Votes: 167
43. Cilantro y perejil (1996)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
This is a comedy about couples from the same family, hit by the economic crisis in Mexico. The plot turns around the eternal question of whether it is worth it to live as a couple.
Director: Rafael Montero | Stars: Arcelia Ramírez, Demián Bichir, Germán Dehesa, Rodolfo Arias
Votes: 455
44. Por si no te vuelvo a ver (1997)
97 min | Comedy
Senior citizens form a musical band, and dream with performing live in a stage.
Director: Juan Pablo Villaseñor | Stars: Alfredo Alfonso, Óscar Castañeda, Aurora Cortés, José Diaz Estévez
Votes: 170
45. Bajo California: El límite del tiempo (1998)
96 min | Drama
Damian is a married artist living in Los Angeles with his wife. After he accidentally hits a woman with his car and flees the scene, he seeks atonement and travels alone to Mexico, both to ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Bolado | Stars: Damián Alcázar, Jesús Ochoa, Fernando Torre Lapham, Gabriel Retes
Votes: 477
46. Herod's Law (1999)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A naive man appointed as an acting mayor of a small town turns into a corrupt politician capable of anything to stay in power.
Director: Luis Estrada | Stars: Damián Alcázar, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Delia Casanova, Juan Carlos Colombo
Votes: 7,084
47. Amores Perros (2000)
R | 154 min | Drama, Thriller
An amateur dog fighter, a supermodel, and a derelict assassin, all separately struggling to find love, find their lives transformed by a devastating car wreck in Mexico City.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero
Votes: 252,933 | Gross: $5.38M
48. Cuentos de hadas para dormir cocodrilos (2002)
108 min | Drama
A man who travels back to the house of his father, grandfather and backwards.
Director: Ignacio Ortiz | Stars: Arturo Ríos, Luisa Huertas, Miguel Santana, Ana Graham
Votes: 223
49. The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.
Director: Carlos Carrera | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón, Sancho Gracia, Angélica Aragón
Votes: 14,428 | Gross: $5.71M
50. El misterio del Trinidad (2003)
92 min | Drama
A Man inherits a boat, and then he embarks on the quest for an old spanish shipwreck.
Director: José Luis García Agraz | Stars: Eduardo Palomo, Rebecca Jones, Alejandro Parodi, Guillermo Gil
Votes: 131
51. Duck Season (2004)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
Flama and Moko are fourteen years old; they have been best friends since they were kids. They have everything they need to survive yet another boring Sunday: an apartment without parents, ... See full summary »
Director: Fernando Eimbcke | Stars: Diego Cataño, Daniel Miranda, Enrique Arreola, Danny Perea
Votes: 4,616 | Gross: $0.15M
52. Mezcal (2006)
90 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Director: Ignacio Ortiz | Stars: Ana Graham, Dagoberto Gama, Ricardo Blume, Angelina Peláez
Votes: 75
53. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 703,146 | Gross: $37.63M
54. Silent Light (2007)
Not Rated | 136 min | Drama, Romance
In a Mennonite community in Mexico, a father's faith is tested when he falls in love with a new woman.
Director: Carlos Reygadas | Stars: Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz, Peter Wall
Votes: 6,839 | Gross: $0.05M
55. Lake Tahoe (2008)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
A story of a teenager and the strange events that take place in his small town.
Director: Fernando Eimbcke | Stars: Diego Cataño, Hector Herrera, Daniela Valentine, Juan Carlos Lara II
Votes: 1,761 | Gross: $0.01M
56. Nora's Will (2008)
92 min | Comedy, Drama
This story begins when José finds out that Nora, the woman he'd been married to for 30 years and then divorced, has committed suicide. The rabbi explains to José that due to the celebration... See full summary »
Director: Mariana Chenillo | Stars: Fernando Luján, Enrique Arreola, Ari Brickman, Juan Carlos Colombo
Votes: 1,153
57. Hell (2010)
NC-17 | 149 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
After being deported back to Mexico, a man has no choice but to join the vicious drug cartel that has corrupted his hometown in order to survive.
Director: Luis Estrada | Stars: Damián Alcázar, Joaquín Cosio, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, María Rojo
Votes: 12,098
58. Pastorela (2011)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Agent Jesus Juarez (aka Chucho) has always played the Devil in his town's Nativity Play. This Christmas, when the new pastor of the church recasts the role, the two men engage in a battle between good and evil.
Director: Emilio Portes | Stars: Joaquín Cosio, Carlos Cobos, Eduardo España, Ernesto Yáñez
Votes: 1,005 | Gross: $0.16M
59. The Prize (2011)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
Ceci, a seven year old girl, has to keep a huge secret, but she doesn't completely understand what is the secret about. The life of her family depends on her silence. But what exactly must ... See full summary »
Director: Paula Markovitch | Stars: Paula Galinelli Hertzog, Laura Agorreca, Viviana Suraniti, Sharon Herrera
Votes: 433
60. The Golden Dream (2013)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A road movie about teenage immigrants and their journey to the U.S.
Director: Diego Quemada-Diez | Stars: Brandon López, Rodolfo Domínguez, Karen Martínez, Carlos Chajon
Votes: 5,131
61. Gueros (2014)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
Tomas is too much for his lone mother so she sends him to live with his older brother Federico, aka Sombra, in Mexico City.
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios | Stars: Tenoch Huerta, Sebastián Aguirre, Ilse Salas, Leonardo Ortizgris
Votes: 5,108
62. The Chosen Ones (2015)
Unrated | 105 min | Drama
Young Ulises falls in love with teen Sofia, even as he is forced to lure her into his family's prostitution ring. Now he will do anything to save her.
Director: David Pablos | Stars: Nancy Talamantes, Óscar Torres, Leidi Gutiérrez, José Santillán Cabuto
Votes: 2,103
63. La 4ª Compañía (2016)
109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Zambrano is a juvenile offender that when arrives to the penitentiary only longs to join a football team, Los Perros. Such illusion ends up involving him with the organized crime under the ... See full summary »
Directors: Mitzi Vanessa Arreola, Amir Galván Cervera | Stars: Adrian Ladron, Andoni Gracia, Hernán Mendoza, Gabino Rodríguez
Votes: 830
64. I Dream in Another Language (2017)
Unrated | 103 min | Drama, Romance
When a language dies, a unique vision of the world is lost forever.
Director: Ernesto Contreras | Stars: Fernando Álvarez Rebeil, José Manuel Poncelis, Eligio Meléndez, Fátima Molina
Votes: 4,055 | Gross: $0.00M
65. Roma (2018)
R | 135 min | Drama
A year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta
Votes: 169,832
66. I'm No Longer Here (2019)
TV-MA | 112 min | Drama
In Monterrey, Mexico, a young street gang spends their days dancing to slowed-down cumbia and attending parties. After a mix-up with a local cartel, their leader is forced to migrate to the U.S. but quickly longs to return home.
Director: Fernando Frias | Stars: Juan Daniel García Treviño, Emily May Jampel, Xueming Angelina Chen, Leonardo Ávila
Votes: 9,417
67. Identifying Features (2020)
99 min | Drama
A mother travels across Mexico in search for her son whom authorities say died while trying to cross the borders into the United States.
Director: Fernanda Valadez | Stars: Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela, Ana Laura Rodríguez
Votes: 2,446
68. Prayers for the Stolen (2021)
R | 110 min | Drama
Life in a town at war seen through the eyes of three young girls on the path to adolescence.
Director: Tatiana Huezo | Stars: Guillermo Villegas, Mayra Batalla, Teresa Sánchez, Eileen Yañez
Votes: 4,047
69. Northern Skies Over Empty Space (2022)
114 min | Crime
Don Reynaldo is a famous hunter in decline. When his ranch and his father's legacy are threatened, the dynamic of his relationship with his family, his employees, and land will be dangerously shaken.
Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella | Stars: Gerardo Trejoluna, Paloma Petra, Dolores Heredia, Mayra Hermosillo
Votes: 522
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