Steven Spielberg just lost a major directing award, and we don’t talk about who beat him

Beating Steven Spielberg at his own game is an extraordinary feat. Especially for Charise Castro Smith as the Encanto co-director won Best Director at the 37th annual Imagen Awards last weekend in Los Angeles.

As reported by Variety, Castro Smith said in her acceptance speech that beating Spielberg is “serious bragging rights.” She also mentions that her mom will never let her forget that she defeated one of the best Hollywood directors for a major film award.

“I’m pretty sure my mom is never going to live down the fact that I won a best director award when nominated against Stephen Spielberg. That’s serious bragging rights for her Zumba class.”

Encanto made major strides this year after its release in 2021 as the animated film won Best Animated Feature in the 2022 Academy Awards. The film was nominated for “Best Song” and “Best Musical Moment in the MTV Movie and TV Awards and has received plenty of other accolades. The film’s soundtrack went viral on TikTok, which led to Lin-Manuel Miranda thanking the fans for the soundtrack’s success. One of the film’s most popular songs, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” was performed live at the 2022 Oscar Awards after the song reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100.

The Imagen Awards is an awards program to recognize the positive portrayal of Latinos in the media and was established in 1985. Encanto won multiple awards during this year’s event such as “Best Feature Film”, “Best Director – Feature Film”, and “Best Music Composition for Film or Television” just to name a few. Encanto was up against Spielberg’s West Side Story, which only won “Best Actress – Feature Film”.

Encanto is available to be streamed on Disney Plus.