The Academy Award nominations are still about six months away, but a number of contenders have already begun to appear. Among those possible contenders are a variety of Hispanic actors and directors.

One of the biggest Latino contenders this year could be Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. His new film "Birdman" is being released by Fox Searchlight in October, which indicates that the distributor has high hopes for the movie. Last year Searchlight released Oscar winner "12 Years a Slave" at the same time. Additionally with this release date, the film is likely to premiere on the festival circuit. Inarritu is also an Oscar favorite. While he has only obtained one Best Director nomination for "Babel," the helmer has had all his films get nominated for some type of Oscar. If "Birdman" gets strong notices, it is very likely Inarritu could be headed for a second director nomination.

The Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal has mysteriously never been nominated for an Oscar, although he has some of the best performances in recent history. Though, the tides could change this year when Open Road releases Jon Stewart's directorial debut "Rosewater." The film tells the story of a journalist who is detained in Iran for more than 100 days and brutally interrogated in prison. Based on the synopsis, this could be a meaty role that the Academy loves. However, since the movie has not premiered at any festival, it is still an open question about the quality of the product.

Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac had a huge breakout last year with "Inside Llewyn Davis" and almost scored his first Oscar nomination. This year Isaac may be back with a couple of films. His first opportunity could be for "Two Faces of January." The movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival where it scored rave reviews and Isaac's performance was one of the things critics were raving about. While the movie is being released in August, the film could generate buzz particularly if the theatrical run is strong. Isaac also has a chance with "A Most Violent Year." The movie has yet to get a release date. Though, based on early reports, rumor has it that A24 will have the movie ready for November and the fall festival circuit. There is a lot of buzz surrounding this picture, and with Isaac in the lead role, he could be looking at a Best Actor nomination is year.

Benicio del Toro has been nominated twice for the Oscars and won back in 2001 for his work in "Traffic." This year the Puerto Rican actor could be back in contention for his work on "Inherent Vice." It has not been reported how big the actor's role is, but it is known that Paul Thomas Anderson usually gets great performances out of his actors. The director has already helmed seven acting nominations, including one win from Daniel Day-Lewis. As a result, Del Toro may be looking at a third nomination if he steals scenes.

On the technical side Rodrigo Prieto could be up for his second nomination for Best Cinematography. The Academy tends to go for Westerns in this category and based on the first trailer to Tommy lee Jones' "The Homesman" Prieto's work looks very promising.

Emmanuel Lubezki could also be up for his seventh nomination after having won for "Gravity." The cinematographer teamed up with Inarritu for the first time on "Birdman." While Lubezki is not nominated for every one of his films, he is highly respected in the industry, and based on the first trailer for "Birdman," he is a likely candidate once again.

Pedro Almodovar could also be back at the Oscars as the producer of the Argentinean film "Wild Tales." The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews, and Sony Classics obtained the distribution rights for it. While the official selections for countries have not been announced, there is no doubt that this will be one of Argentina's favorites to compete for the Foreign Language Film category.