Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma' Sweeps the Platino Awards

The acclaimed film took home five prizes, including for best picture and best director.

Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron's Roma topped the sixth edition of the Platino Awards, a ceremony honoring the best in Latin American and Ibero-American cinema and TV.

Cuaron's black-and-white semiautobiographical film won five Platinos at the awards event held in Mexico on Sunday, including best picture, director, cinematography, screenplay and sound.

Other nominees picking up multiple awards were Paraguay's The Heiresses, winner of best first work and best actress for Ana Brun; and the Spanish thriller The Realm, which scored best actor for Antonio de la Torre.

But the night belonged to Roma, a Mexico City-set story based on the hardships of Cuaron's indigenous childhood nanny. Earlier this year, Roma won three Oscars, including best director and cinematography for Cuaron, as well as Mexico's first-ever victory in the foreign-language category.

Not only is Roma Cuaron's most personal film to date, but it has also opened up an important conversation about Mexico's social class divide as it sheds light on the struggles of indigenous and working-class people. Mexico's Supreme Court recently ruled that domestic workers, ones like the film's protagonist Cleo (played by Oscar-nominated Yalitza Aparicio), now have a right to receive social security benefits.

As for the Platino television awards, Spain's Arde Madrid pulled off the night's biggest upset, beating out the popular Netflix series Narcos: Mexico and La Casa de las Flores (The House of Flowers) for best series. Acting awards went to Diego Luna for his lead role in Narcos: Mexico and to Cecilia Suarez for her performance in the dark comedy La Casa de las Flores.

Sunday's ceremony aired live on TNT Latin America from Mexico's Riviera Maya, south of the resort city of Cancun.

A lifetime achievement award was handed out to Spanish vocalist Rafael, who has appeared in more than a dozen film and TV series throughout his career.