Esmeralda Pimentel and Májida Issa will present the XI Platino Xcaret Awards gala, as announced by the organization in a statement. Both artists, Mexican and Colombian respectively, will be at the forefront of a celebration that will return on April 20 to the Mexican Xcaret Park in Riviera Maya to recognize the best Ibero-American productions of the season from the Gran Tlachco Theater with the coveted statuette. This year The Snow Society, Close Your Eyes and The Count lead the nominations in the film section and in the television section the favorites are the Argentine films ‘Iosi, el spy repentant’ and ‘División Palermo’ with four nominations each.
The duo made up of both performers, the first female duo to front the gala, constitutes a couple of great relevance, an example of the enormous acting potential of Ibero-American cinema and series in a present in which audiovisuals in Spanish and Portuguese do nothing more than grow, surprising an audience that is increasingly aware of the quality of its productions.
Esmeralda Pimentel’s career begins with her debut in Verano de amor, a career of success that has made her one of the hallmarks of contemporary Ibero-American audiovisual production. The television productions Abyss of Passion, Cachito de Cielo or De Que Te Quiero, Te Quiero confirmed her great value as an actress, which was soon reflected in her first leading role in El Color de la Pasión, which would be followed by those in La neighbor or Falling in love with Ramón. His consecration as one of the best-known faces of the small and big screen in Spanish was determined by his intervention in fictions such as The candidate, from Prime Video, La temperanza, based on the novel of the same name by María Dueñas, the American The Good Doctor, Where There Was Fire or Beauty and the Beasts, the latter two distributed by Netflix, and the popular Monte Cristo, a contemporary adaptation of the classic by Alexandre Dumas with actor William Levy. She has worked in films such as He Who Seeks, Finds, I’ll Charge You There or No Man’s Land, a film by Conor Allyn in which she shares credits with Andy McDowell, Frank Grillo and Jorge A. Jiménez.
The actress’s versatility has not only made her shine in soap operas and international film projects. Esmeralda has also demonstrated her talent on stage, with theatrical works such as Palomita Pop, Apuntes sobre la immediatez, winner of the UNAM International Theater Festival, Proyecto Scotland, La Dalia Negra or Enfermos de Amor, among others. Added to her interpretive side are creative and social initiatives such as participation in campaigns such as Together we are Peace, against femicides, Biutiful yo, claiming the existence of a universal beauty beyond the canons, or her union with the production company Ellas, focused on the role of women in front of and behind the cameras.
Since her beginnings at the National School of Theater Art of Mexico, ENAT, Májida Issa has established herself as one of the most important artists in Colombia and Latin America. Her outstanding performances in theater, film and television have earned her countless industry awards and recognitions. Proof of this is the PLATINO Award for Best Supporting Female Performance for her participation in the series Noticia de un kidnapping obtained in the last edition. Corazones Blindados, La Ronca De Oro, La Vendedora De Rosas, Sin Senos Sí Hay Paraíso, Doble, Chavela, La Guzmán and Operación Pacífico are some of the successful productions that have shaped his career as a protagonist, going around the world as a performer of international prestige.
Added to this is her musical side, thanks to which, in addition to embodying great women of music of the importance of Helenita Vargas, Chavela Vargas or Alejandra Guzmán, she has cultivated a career as a solo singer since the launch of Nocturna in 2017, an album in which he compiles classics of ranchera music that earned him the Latin Grammy nomination for “Best album of ranchera-mariachi music”, a project that he has combined with his contribution to the group Planchando el despecho, where renowned Colombian singers pay tribute to greatest hits from the eighties to the present. At this moment, Májida is promoting her new film El Bolero De Rubén, the first Colombian musical film sung completely live, where she is the protagonist and associate producer; an initiative that adds to her recent intervention in the series La sutituta, which will be released next semester thanks to the ViX platform.
