Best Foreign Oscar nominee El Crimen Del Padre Amaro swept Mexico's 45th Academy Awards, the Premios Ariel, winning in nine categories.

Carlos Carrera's priest scandal drama took home nine out of its 13 nominations on April 8th, including Best Picture, Director, adapted screenplay, editing, sound and wardrobe design. Actors Damian Alcazar, Angelica Aragon and Ernesto Gomez Cruz also won awards for their performances in Crimen.

Loud applause greeted Diana Bracho, president of the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, when she urged for tax incentives to help boost local cinema.

Mexican/Spanish co-production Aro Tolbukhin, In The Mind Of The Assassin, came close behind, winning seven out of its 13 nominations. The drama's lead actors Carmen Beato and Daniel Gimenez Cacho grabbed the Best Actress and Best Actor awards respectively.

While Crimen has gone down in recent history as Mexico's highest grossing local film to date ($16m), the critically acclaimed Aro Tolbukhin, co-directed by Agusti Villaronga, Lidia Zimmerman and Isaac P. Racine, performed poorly at the box office.

WINNERS OF THE 45th ARIEL AWARDS:

PICTURE
El Crimen Del Padre Amaro

DIRECTOR
Carlos Carrera (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

ACTRESS
Carmen Beato (Aro Tolbukhin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

ACTOR
Daniel Gimenez Cacho (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angelica Aragon (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Damian Alcazar (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

ENSEMBLE ACTRESS
Margarita Sanz (La Habitacion Azul)

ENSEMBLE ACTOR
Ernesto Gomez Cruz (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
AgustI Villaronga, Lidia Zimmerman and Isaac P. Racine (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Vicente Lenero (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillermo Granillo (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

EDITING
Oscar Figueroa (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

MUSICAL SCORE
Omar Guzman (Exxxorcismos)

SOUND
Santiago Nunez, Mario Martinez and Nerio Barberis (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro)

ART DESIGN
Margarita Obrador and Lorenza Manrique (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

WARDROBE
Antonia Marquez and Lourdes del Valle (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

MAKE UP
Rosana Martinez, Mario Zarazua and Julio Miranda (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Angel Plana and Daniel Cordero (Aro Tolbuhkin, En La Mente Del Asesino)

OPERA PRIMA (BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT)
Gabriel Orozco, by Juan Carlos Martin

IBEROAMERICAN PICTURE
Corazon De Fuego (El Ultimo Tren), by Diego Arsuaga (Uruguay/Argentina/Spain)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Senorita Extraviada, by Lourdes Portillo

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Papa Ivan, by Maria Ines Roque

SHORT (FICTION)
La Milpa, by Patricia Rigen