‘Pose’ and ‘Mucho Mucho Amor’ Win Top Prizes at the Latino Media Fest Awards (EXCLUSIVE)

The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has announced the winners of this year’s Latino Media Fest Awards.

Winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on Friday afternoon.

“Pose” was named best Latinx TV show. Co-creator, writer, producer and director Steven Canals will accept the honor on the series’ behalf.

Netflix’s Walter Mercado documentary “Mucho Mucho Amor” picked up the trophy for best Latinx Film. The doc’s co-directors Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabash will offer remarks along with their producer Alex Fumero.

Best Latinx director was awarded to Flavio Alves for “The Garden Left Behind.”

The jury award went to the short “By the River” from filmmaker Sofia Camargo.

Longtime journalist and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Claudia Puig is the recipient of the excellence in entertainment journalism award.

Comedian and writer Al Madrigal will host the awards ceremony, starting at 2 p.m. PT.

NALIP’s Latino Media Fest is a three-day event for Latino filmmakers, industry reps, executives and cinema fans.

The awards come on the heels of Thursday’s open letter to Hollywood signed by more than 270 Latinx television and film creatives calling for a radical overhaul of the entertainment industry.

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, more than 270 Latinx show creators, television showrunners and writers for screens both big and small have written an open letter calling for systemic change in the entertainment industry.

“We are incensed by the continued lack of Latinx representation in our industry, especially among the Black and Indigenous members of our community,” the letter says, in part. “Our stories are important, and our erasure onscreen contributes to the persistent prejudice that prevents real change in this country. This prejudice is not as overt as the one that keeps immigrant children in cages and separates families at the border, or as violent as the racism that is killing our Black, Brown and Indigenous community members at the hands of police. But when we are onscreen, we’re often relegated to stereotypes or villains.”

Stemming from  Untitled Latinx Project (ULP), which was founded by “Vida’s” Tanya Saracho, the letter outlines concrete ways the industry could support and promote Latinx voices and projects.

Read the full letter here.