Abortion drama Belén topped the Argentine Film Academy’s Sur Awards, winning best fiction and four more prizes at the gala ceremony on Tuesday night.

Directed by Dolores Fonzi, the film is based on the true story of a landmark case for the feminist movement fighting for women’s rights and against gender-based violence. The film was Argentina’s bid for the Oscars. 

While receiving the best breakthrough performance award for Belén actress Camila Plaate, Fonzi also asked for a moment of silence for recent femicide victim Agostina Vega.

An outspoken activist for women’s rights, Fonzi also referred to the Milei administration’s cut in government funding for film production. “Here we are and here we will be when the Administration’s leave. We will be here,” she said. 

Cris Tapia Marchiori’s Gatillero (Triggerman), a single-shot crime thriller that premiered at the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (BAFICI) in 2025, grabbed best director and four more prizes, including original script and cinematography.

Daniel Hendler’s 27 Nights grabbed three Sur awards for art direction, costume design and lead actress Marilú Marini.

Politics on stage

In his speech, Hernán Findling, president of the Argentine Film Academy, underscored the value of cinema as culture, industry and community. 

“No film is made alone, and neither is a country,” he said. “The Film Academy has a responsibility to defend the conditions that allow Argentina’s audiovisual sector to keep growing, with a federal outlook and creative freedom. As I always say, as long as there are artists willing to express themselves, we will always win the cultural battle,” he added

The ceremony at the Alvear Theater in downtown Buenos Aires also included honorary awards for director Lucrecia Martel, actress Cecilia Roth and producer Luis Alberto Scalella.

“Our Argentine cinema is among the finest in the Spanish language; it doesn’t deserve what’s happening,” Roth said upon receiving the award. “This too shall pass,” she added.

“I would be terrified that in the memory of the machines we will be remembered as the generation that didn’t know what to do with the best job in the world at the moment the country needed it—and the times were crying out for it,” said Martel upon receiving her award.

A tense moment also reportedly occurred when directors Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat took on the stage to honor the late actor Luis Brandoni, whom they cast in the series Nada and the film Mi obra maestra.

In their speech, the directors of Homo Argentum questioned the range of the Academy’s representation and were booed when they claimed Brandoni, a Radicalism politician, was targeted and censored during the Kirchner administrations.  

Academy board members Andrea Frigerio and Juan Minujín hosted the ceremony, which was broadcast live on TNT and streamed on HBO Max.

The complete Sur Awards are listed below:

Best Fiction Film
Belén — directed by Dolores Fonzi

Best Leading Actor
Marcelo Subiotto for El mensaje (The Message)

Best Leading Actress
Marilú Marini for 27 Nights (27 noches)

Best Supporting Actress
Camila Pláate for Belén

Breakthrough Actress
Camila Pláate for Belén

Best Supporting Actor
Fernán Mirás for Mazel Tov

Breakthrough Actor
Angelo Mutti Spinetta for La llegada del hijo (The Son’s Arrival)

Best Director
Cris Tapia Marchiori for Gatillero (Triggerman)

Best Art Direction
Sebastián Orgambide for 27 Nights

Best Costume Design
Roberta Pesci for 27 Nights

Best Cinematography
Martín Sapia for Gatillero (Triggerman)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Dolores Fonzi and Laura Paredes for Belén (based on the book Somos Belén by Ana Correa)

Best Original Screenplay
Cris Tapia Marchiori and Clara Ambrosoni for Gatillero (Triggerman)

Best Makeup and Characterization
Mariángeles Capparelli for Gatillero (Triggerman)

Best Editing
Andrés Pepe Estrada for Belén

Best Sound
Emiliano Biaiñ and Marcos Zoppi for Gatillero (Triggerman)

Best Original Score
Sebastián Espósito and Daniel Godfrid for La mujer de la fila (The Woman in Line)

Best First Feature
La noche sin mí (The Night Without Me) — directed by María Laura Berch and Laura Chiabrando

Best Ibero-American Film
The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto) — directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil)

Best Documentary Feature
Weser — directed by Fernando Spiner

Best Short Film
Tu cuerpo en mi habitación (Your Body in My Room) — directed by Axel Cheb TerrabBest Fiction Series
El eternauta (The Eternaut)