Three Mexicans have won an Oscar in the best sound category for their work on the rock inspired film Sound of Metal.
Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc and Carlos Cortés are the Mexican sound engineers behind the film, which tells the story of Ruben, played by Riz Ahmed, a rock drummer whose hearing begins to deteriorate, forcing him to choose a new path in life.
Ruben is told that even with costly surgery his hearing will not recover, and he should decide whether he wants start over in a deaf community, or risk all by continuing to drum.
Sound engineer and dubbing mixer Jaime Baksht previously worked on Pan’s Labyrinth, Herod’s Law and Abel. He has won three Ariel Awards and one Goya Award in the best sound category.
Michelle Couttolenc specializes in cinematic sound and worked on Pan’s Labyrinth, The 4th Company and I’m No Longer Here.
Sound engineer Carlos Cortés previously worked on The Noble Family and the documentary Tempestad, which won him an Ariel in 2019.
Mexican names dotted the nominations at last year’s Oscars too. Mayes Rubeo for best achievement in costume design for Jojo Rabbit and Gastón Pavlovich as producer and Rodrigo Prieto for best achievement in cinematography in The Irishman.
Sound of Metal also won in the best achievement in film editing category, and was nominated for best motion picture of the year, best performance by an actor in a leading role, best performance by an actor in a supporting role and best original screenplay.
The film can be seen on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.
