Tag: Nomadland

2021 Academy Awards: ‘Nomadland’ is the top winner

April 25, 2021

by Carla Hay

“Nomadland” producers Peter Spears, Frances McDormand, Chloé Zhao, Mollye Asher and Dan Janvey at the 93rd annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 25, 2021. (Photo courtesy of ABC)

With three prizes, including Best Picture, “Nomadland” was the top winner for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards, which took place place at Union Station and at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 25, 2021. There was no host for the ceremony, which was telecast in the U.S. on ABC. Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland” also won the awards for Best Director (for Chloé Zhao) and Best Actress (for Frances McDormand). In the movie, McDormand portrays a widow who lives out of her van and travels across different states in U.S. to find work.

With 10 nods, the Netflix drama “Mank” was the top nominee and ended up with two Academy Awards. Movies that won two Oscars each included:

  • “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros. Pictures): Best Supporting Actor (for Daniel Kaluuya), Best Original Song (“Fight for You”)
  • “Mank” (Netflix): Best Production Design, Best Cinematography
  • “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix): Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design
  • “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios): Best Film Editing, Best Sound
  • “Soul” (Pixar Studios): Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score

The awards are voted for by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the 2021 ceremony, eligible movies were those released in the U.S. in 2020 and (due to the coronavirus pandemic) the eligibility period was extended to movies released in January and February 2021. Because of the pandemic, movies that were planned for a theatrical release but were released directly to home video or on streaming services were also eligible. Beginning with the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony, there will be a required 10 movies nominated for Best Picture. From 2009 to 2021, the rule was that there could be five to 10 movies per year nominated for Best Picture.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were less people invited to the Oscar ceremony in 2021. The presenters included Riz Ahmed, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Viola Davis, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Bong Joon Ho, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Steven Yeun, Renée Zellweger and Zendaya.

The 2021 Oscar ceremony also marked big changes to the show in other ways. Performances of the year’s Oscar-nominated songs usually take place during the ceremony. Instead, the performances of the five nominated songs were pre-recorded and televised during the 90-minute pre-show telecast “Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” which included live interviews from the Oscar red carpet. This pre-show telecast was hosted by actors Ariana DeBose and Lil Rel Howery.

Howery acted as an unofficial emcee during parts of the Oscar telecast, which included a segment where Howery played a trivia game where people in the audience had to guess if a song was an Oscar winner, an Oscar nominee or wasn’t nominated for an Oscar at all. The segment started out flat and awkward. Andra Day got her answer correct that Prince’s “Purple Rain” song wasn’t even nominated. (However, the “Purple Rain” soundtrack score did an Oscar.)Kaluuya incorrectly guessed that Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” didn’t win an Oscar. (It did.)

But the segment end up being saved by Glenn Close, who correctly guessed that E.U.’s “Da Butt” (from Spike Lee’s 1988 movie “School Daze”) wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, and she proceeded to show her knowledge of ’80s hip-hop by getting up and doing “Da Butt” dance. This moment got a lot of laughs and cheers and will be sure to be remembered as the most unexpected comedic moment at the 2021 Academy Awards. This moment with Close could have been pre-planned and rehearsed since she seemed a little too prepared with an answer, but it didn’t take away from it being one of the show’s highlights that didn’t involve an acceptance speech.

Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins were the producers of the Academy Awards show. They also made some changes to the show’s format. Instead of presenting the prizes for Best Picture last, the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress were presented last. The award for Best Picture was the third-to-last award presented. The prize for Best Director was handed out in the middle of the ceremony, instead of following the tradition of being the second-to-last award handed out during the ceremony.

Another big change was that winners were not limited to a 90-second acceptance speech. Some acceptance speeches lasted longer than three minutes. In addition, there was no live orchestra at the ceremony. Instead, musician Questlove was a DJ at the award show. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the nominees were shown via satellite in various parts of the world, such as London, Paris and Sydney.

The Oscar ceremony made history in some diversity issues, as Zhao (a Chinese-born filmmaker) became the first woman of color to win Best Director. She is also the second woman in Oscar history to win this Best Director prize. (Kathryn Bigelow, director of the 2009 war film “The Hurt Locker,” was the first woman to win the Best Director award in 2010.) Zhao’s victory had been widely predicted, since Zhao won all of the year’s major Best Director awards for “Nomadland” prior to winning the Oscar.

Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” made Oscar history by being the first black people to be nominated for and to win the prize for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. This breakthrough was acknowledged during their acceptance speech for the award, which they share with Sergio Lopez-Rivera. Neal said in her acceptance speech: “I want to say thank you to our ancestors who put the work in, who were denied, but never gave up. I also stand here—as Jamika and I break this glass ceiling—with so much excitement for the future.”

Meanwhile, South Korean actress Yuh-jung Youn of “Minari” became the first Asian-born woman to win in the Best Supporting Actress category. In 1958, Japanese American actress Miyoshi Umeki of the 1957 movie “Sayonara” became the first Asian woman overall to win in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Although the late Chadwick Boseman was widely predicted to win the Best Actor award for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which was his last film role, the prize went to Anthony Hopkins for “The Father.” (Hopkins did not attend the Oscar ceremony and was not available by video.) At 83 years old, Hopkins became the oldest person to win an Oscar in an actor/actress category, surpassing the record set by “Beginners” co-star Christopher Plummer, who won the Best Supporting Actor award in 2012, at the age of 82.

Boseman won several Best Actor prizes (including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award) for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” leading up to Oscar ceremony. However, there was a foreshadowing that Boseman might not win the Oscar when he was nominated for but didn’t win the prizes for Best Actor at the BAFTA Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were the two major award shows that took place closest to the Oscars. Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020.

The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, with MPTF officials Bob Beitcher, Norma Carranza and Jennifer Jorge acceping the prize on stage. Tyler Perry received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a non-competitive prize. In his speech, he urged people to “stand up to hate” and to be more giving and compassionate with each other.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards:

*=winner

Best Picture

“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics) 

“Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.) 

“Mank” (Netflix) 

“Minari” (A24) 

“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*

“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features) 

“Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios) 

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) 

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)

David Fincher (“Mank”) 

Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) 

Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)*

Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) 

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) 

Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) 

Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)*

Gary Oldman (“Mank”) 

Steven Yeun (“Minari”) 

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) 

Andra Day (“The United States v. Billie Holiday”) 

Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”) 

Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)*

Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) 

Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)*

Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) 

Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”) 

LaKeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) 

Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) 

Olivia Colman (“The Father”) 

Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) 

Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”)*

Best Adapted Screenplay

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman and Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer and Nina Pedrad

“The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller*

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao 

“One Night in Miami,” Kemp Powers 

“The White Tiger,” Ramin Bahrani 

Best Original Screenplay

“Judas and the Black Messiah.” Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas

“Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung 

“Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell*

“Sound of Metal.” Screenplay by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin 

Best Cinematography

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” Sean Bobbitt 

“Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt*

“News of the World,” Dariusz Wolski 

“Nomadland,” Joshua James Richards 

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Phedon Papamichael 

Best Film Editing

“The Father,” Yorgos Lamprinos

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao 

“Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval 

“Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen*

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten 

Best Sound

“Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman

“Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin

“News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett

“Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

“Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh*

Best Original Score

“Da 5 Bloods,” Terence Blanchard 

“Mank,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross 

“Minari,” Emile Mosseri 

“News of the World,” James Newton Howard 

“Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste*

Best Original Song

“Fight for You,” (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas*

“Hear My Voice,” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

“Húsavík,” (“Eurovision Song Contest”). Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson

“Io Si (Seen),” (“The Life Ahead”). Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

“Speak Now,” (“One Night in Miami”). Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

Best Animated Feature Film

“Onward” (Pixar) 

“Over the Moon” (Netflix) 

“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” (Netflix) 

“Soul” (Pixar)*

“Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV+/GKIDS) 

Best International Feature Film

“Another Round” (Denmark)*

“Better Days” (Hong Kong)

“Collective” (Romania) 

“The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia)

“Quo Vadis, Aida?”(Bosnia and Herzegovina) 

Best Documentary Feature

“Collective” (Magnolia Pictures and Participant) 

“Crip Camp” (Netflix) 

“The Mole Agent” (Gravitas Ventures) 

“My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix)*

“Time” (Amazon Studios) 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Emma,” Marese Langan, Laura Allen, Claudia Stolze

“Hillbilly Elegy,” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, Matthew Mungle 

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson*

“Mank,” Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams, Colleen LaBaff

“Pinocchio,” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti

Best Costume Design

“Emma,” Alexandra Byrne 

“Mank,” Trish Summerville 

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth*

“Mulan,” Bina Daigeler 

“Pinocchio,” Massimo Cantini Parrini

Best Production Design

“The Father.” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton

“Mank.” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale*

“News of the World.” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan

“Tenet.” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

Best Visual Effects

“Love and Monsters,” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox 

“The Midnight Sky,” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins

“Mulan,” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram

“The One and Only Ivan,” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez

“Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher*

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Colette” (Time Travel Unlimited)*

“A Concerto Is a Conversation” (Breakwater Studios) 

“Do Not Split” (Field of Vision) 

“Hunger Ward” (MTV Documentary Films)

“A Love Song for Latasha” (Netflix) 

Best Animated Short Film

“Burrow” (Disney Plus/Pixar)

“Genius Loci” (Kazak Productions) 

“If Anything Happens I Love You” (Netflix)*

“Opera” (Beasts and Natives Alike) 

“Yes-People” (CAOZ hf. Hólamói) 

Best Live-Action Short Film

“Feeling Through” 

“The Letter Room” 

“The Present” 

“Two Distant Strangers”*

“White Eye” 

2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards: ‘Nomadland’ is the top winner

April 22, 2021

by Carla Hay

Frances McDormand in “Nomadland” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

With four prizes, including Best Feature, the Searchlight Pictures drama “Nomadland” was the top winner at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which was hosted by actress Melissa Villaseñor. For the first time, the Spirit Awards show was not held the day before the Academy Awards. Instead, the Spirit Awards ceremony took place on April 22, with a live telecast at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on IFC and AMC+. The 2021 Academy Awards will take place on April 25. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both ceremonies are mostly virtual.

The other Spirit Awards for “Nomadland” were Best Director and Best Editing (both for Chloé Zhao) and Best Cinematography (for Joshua James Richards). Amazon Studios’ drama “Sound of Metal” (about a heavy-metal drummer who goes deaf) received three Spirit Awards: Best First Feature (for director Darius Marder and four producers), Best Male Lead (for Riz Ahmed) and Best Supporting Male (for Paul Raci). Focus Features’ #MeToo revenge film “Promising Young Woman” won the awards for Best Female Lead (for Carey Mulligan) and Best Screenplay (for Emerald Fennell).

The 2021 Spirit Awards also included the debut of television categories for the ceremony. The HBO limited drama series “I May Destroy You” and the Netflix limited drama series “Unorthodox” won two prizes each. “I May Destroy You” got the awards for Best New Scripted Series and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series, which is a non-competitive category. “Unorthodox” garnered awards for Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series (for Shira Haas) and Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series (for Amit Rahav).

With seven nods, the Focus Features abortion drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” was the top nominee of there ceremony but the movie ended up not winning any of the awards.

Eligible movies were those released in 2020 that had a production budget of no more than $22.5 million. Therefore, several critically acclaimed 2020 movies with budgets higher than $22.5 million were not eligible, including the Netflix films “Da 5 Bloods,””Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

As for what defines an “independent” TV show for the Spirit Awards, Film Independent president John Welsh told Variety in a September 2020 interview that it would depend on a TV show’s “aesthetic, original provocative subject matter, unique voice and diversity. The types of work that we celebrate on the film side, and TV side, they’re going to look very similar. … Somehow these singular voices are finding their way into television and making a mark on the culture. We are remiss if we don’t celebrate that.”

Here is the complete list of winners and nominees for the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

*=winner

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

First Cow

Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany Wolf

Minari

Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh

 Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Producers: Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski

 Nomadland*

Producers: Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)

I Carry You With Me

Director/Producer: Heidi Ewing

Producers: Edher Campos, Mynette Louie, Gabriela Maire

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Director/Producer: Radha Blank

Producers: Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Jordan Fudge, Rishi Rajani, Jennifer Semler, Lena Waithe

Miss Juneteenth

Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples

Producers: Toby Halbrooks, Tim Headington, Jeanie Igoe, James M. Johnston, Theresa Steele Page, Neil Creque Williams

Nine Days

Director: Edson Oda

Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Matthew Linder, Laura Tunstall, Datari Turner

Sound of Metal*

Director: Darius Marder

Producers: Bill Benz, Kathy Benz, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

The Killing of Two Lovers

Writer/Director/Producer: Robert Machoian

Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford

La Leyenda Negra

Writer/Director: Patricia Vidal Delgado

Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez

Lingua Franca

Writer/Director/Producer: Isabel Sandoval

Producers: Darlene Catly Malimas, Jhett Tolentino, Carlo Velayo

Residue*

Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima

Saint Frances

Director/Producer: Alex Thompson

Writer: Kelly O’Sullivan

Producers: James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Raphael Nash, Roger Welp

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Kelly Reichardt, First Cow

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland*

BEST SCREENPLAY

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman*

Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Mike Makowsky, Bad Education

Alice Wu, The Half of It

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Kitty Green, The Assistant

Noah Hutton, Lapsis

Channing Godfrey Peoples, Miss Juneteenth

Andy Siara, Palm Springs*

James Sweeney, Straight Up

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Jay Keitel, She Dies Tomorrow

Shabier Kirchner, Bull

Michael Latham, The Assistant

Hélène Louvart, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Joshua James Richards, Nomadland*

BEST EDITING

Andy Canny, The Invisible Man

Scott Cummings, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Merawi Gerima, Residue

Enat Sidi, I Carry You With Me

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland*

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Julia Garner, The Assistant

Frances McDormand, Nomadland

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman*

BEST MALE LEAD

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal*

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger

Rob Morgan, Bull

Steven Yeun, Minari

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Alexis Chikaeze, Miss Juneteenth

Yeri Han, Minari

Valerie Mahaffey, French Exit

Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Yuh-jung Youn, Minari*

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Orion Lee, First Cow

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal*

Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Benedict Wong, Nine Days

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

One Night in Miami…

Director: Regina King

Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin

Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

BEST DOCUMENTARY(Award given to the director and producer)

Collective

Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau

Producers: Hanka Kastelicová, Bernard Michaux, Bianca Oana

Crip Camp*

Directors/Producers: Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham

Producer: Sara Bolder

Dick Johnson is Dead

Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson

Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness

The Mole Agent

Director: Maite Alberdi

Producer: Marcela Santibáñez

Time

Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley

Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Bacurau

Brazil

Directors: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho

The Disciple

India

Director: Chaitanya Tamhane

Night of the Kings

Ivory Coast

Director: Philippe Lacôte

Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time

Hungary

Director: Lili Horvát

Quo Vadis, Aida?*

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Director: Jasmila Žbanić

PRODUCERS AWARD – The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.

Kara Durrett

Lucas Joaquin

Gerry Kim*

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year,  recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

David Midell

Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Ekwa Msangi*

Director of Farewell Amor

Annie Silverstein

Director of Bull

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

Cecilia Aldarondo

Director of Landfall

Elegance Bratton

Director of Pier Kids*

Elizabeth Lo

Director of Stray

TV CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children

Executive Producers: Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius

City So Real

Produced by: Zak Piper, Steve James

Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder

Immigration Nation*

Executive Producers: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson

Co-Executive Producers: Andrey Alistratov, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Lauren Haber

Love Fraud

Executive Producers: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Amy Goodman Kass, Vinnie Malhotra, Jihan Robinson, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman

We’re Here

Creators/Executive Producers: Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram

Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Peter LoGreco

Co-Executive Producers: Erin Haglund, Sabrina Mar

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

I May Destroy You*

Creator/Executive Producer: Michaela Coel

Executive Producers: Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni

Little America

Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Alan Yang, Siân Heder, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon

Small Axe

Executive Producers: Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen

A Teacher

Creator/Executive Producer: Hanna Fidell

Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Kate Mara, Louise Shore, Jason Bateman, Danny Brocklehurst

Co-Executive Producer: Daniel Pipski

Unorthodox

Creator/Executive Producer: Anna Winger

Creator: Alexa Karolinski

Executive Producer: Henning Kamm

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Elle Fanning, The Great

Shira Haas, Unorthodox*

Abby McEnany, Work in Progress

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever

Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Conphidance, Little America

Adam Ali, Little America

Nicco Annan, P-Valley

Amit Rahav, Unorthodox*

Harold Torres, Zero, Zero, Zero

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

I May Destroy You

Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia, Stephen Wight

2021 BAFTA Film Awards: ‘Nomadland’ is the top winner

April 11, 2021

by Carla Hay

Frances McDormand in “Nomadland” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

With four prizes, including Best Film, the dramatic film “Nomadland” was the top winner at the 74th Annual EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the show was a virtual ceremony held at Royal Albert Hall in London. The show was also split between two broadcasts on April 10 and April 11, 2021. BBC televised the show in the United Kingdom, and BBC America televised the show in the United States. Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary hosted the ceremony.

The April 10 broadcast (on BBC Two in the U.K.) was for technical categories, such as editing and production design. The April 11 broadcast (on BBC One in the U.K.) was for the more high-profile categories, such as all the actor/actresses categories, Best Director, Best Film and Outstanding British Film. Eligible films were those released in the United Kingdom in 2020 or January and February 2021.

Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland” is about an American widow named Fern (played by Frances McDormand), who lives in her van and travels to look for work. The movie also won BAFTAs for director Chloé Zhao (Best Director), McDormand (Best Leading Actress) and Best Cinematography. “Nomadland” went into the ceremony with seven nominations. Daniel Kaluuya of “Judas and the Black Messiah” won the prize for Best Supporting Actor, while Yuh-Jung Youn of “Minari” received the award for Best Supporting Actress. Ang Lee received the BAFTA Fellowship Award, which is for non-competitive prize for career achievement.

Other movies that won multiple awards, with two each, were Sony Pictures Classics’ drama “The Father,” Focus Features’ dark comedy/drama “Promising Young Woman,” Netflix’s drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal” and Pixar Animation Studios’ “Soul.”

“The Father” star Anthony Hopkins received the prize for Best Leading Actor, while screenwriter Florian Zeller (who also directed the movie) won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. “Promising Young Woman” was named Best British Film, while screenwriter Emerald Fennell (who also directed the movie) got the prize for Best Original Screenplay. “Ma Rainey’s “Black Bottom” won for Best Costume Design and Best Make Up and Hair. “Sound of Metal” took the prizes for Best Editing and Best Sound. “Soul” won the awards for Best Animated Film and Best Original Score.

Altitude Film Entertainment’s “Rocks” (directed by Sarah Gavron and staring Bukky Bakray) also had seven nominations going into the ceremony, but only won one: Best Casting. Bakray won the EE Rising Star Award, which is the only BAFTA film award voted for by the public, and the prize is for an individual’s career achievement, not a specific movie.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2021 BAFTA Film Awards:

*=winner

Best Film

“The Father”
“The Mauritanian”
“Nomadland”*
“Promising Young Woman”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Outstanding British Film

“Calm With Horses”
“The Dig”
“The Father”
“His House”
“Limbo”
“The Mauritanian”
“Mogul Mowgli”
“Promising Young Woman”*
“Rocks”
“Saint Maud”

Best Director

Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)
Sarah Gavron (“Rocks”)
Shannon Murphy (“Babyteeth”)
Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
Jasmila Žbanić (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)*

Best Leading Actor

Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Adarsh Gourav (“The White Tiger”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)*
Mads Mikkelsen (“Another Round”)
Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”)

Best Leading Actress

Bukky Bakray (“Rocks”)
Radha Blank (“The Forty-Year-Old Version”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)*
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Wunmi Mosaku (“His House”)
Alfre Woodard (“Clemency”)

Best Supporting Actor

Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)*
Barry Keoghan (“Calm With Horses”)
Alan Kim (“Minari”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night In Miami…”)
Clarke Peters (“Da 5 Bloods”)
Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”)

Best Supporting Actress

Niamh Algar (“Calm With Horses”)
Kosar Ali (“Rocks”)
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Ashley Madekwe (“County Lines”)
Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”)*

Best Adapted Screenplay

Moira Buffini (“The Dig”)
Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller (“The Father”)
Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven (“The Mauritanian”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)*
Ramin Bahrani (“The White Tiger”)

Best Original Screenplay

Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
Jack Fincher (“Mank”)
Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)*
Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson (“Rocks”)
Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Remi Weekes (“His House”)*
Ben Sharrock, Irune Gurtubai (“Limbo”)
Jack Sidey (“Moffie”)
Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (“Rocks”)
Rose Glass, Oliver Kassman (“Saint Maud”)

Best Original Score

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (“Mank”)
Emile Mosseri (“Minari”)
James Newton Howard (“News of the World”)
Anthony Willis (“Promising Young Woman”)
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (“Soul”)*

Best Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Erik Messerschmidt (“Mank”)
Alwin H. Küchler (“The Mauritanian”)
Dariusz Wolski (“News of the World”)
Joshua James Richards (“Nomadland”)*

Best Film Not in the English Language

Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen (“Another Round”)*
Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov (“Dear Comrades!”)
Ladj Ly (“Les Misérables”)
Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh (“Minari”)
Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”)

Best Documentary

Alexander Nanau (“Collective”)
Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey (“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet”)
Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen (“The Dissident”)
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster (“My Octopus Teacher”)*
Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes (“The Social Dilemma”)

Best Animated Film

Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae (“Onward”)
Pete Docter, Dana Murray (“Soul”)*
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young (“Wolfwalkers”)

Best Casting

Shaheen Baig (“Calm with Horses”)
Alexa L. Fogel (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Julia Kim (“Minari”)
Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu (“Promising Young Woman”)
Lucy Pardee (“Rocks”)*

Best Production Design

Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald (“The Dig”)
Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone (“The Father”)
Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale (“Mank”)*
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan (“News of the World”)
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer (“Rebecca”)

Best Costume Design

Michael O’Connor (“Ammonite”)
Alice Babidge (“The Dig”)
Alexandra Byrne (“Emma”)
Trish Summerville (“Mank”)
Ann Roth (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)*

Best Make Up and Hair

Jenny Shircore (“The Dig”)
Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)*
Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams (“Mank”)
Mark Coulier (“Pinocchio”)

Best Editing

Yorgos Lamprinos (“The Father”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)
Frédéric Thoraval (“Promising Young Woman”)
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen (“Sound of Metal”)*
Alan Baumgarten (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

Best Sound

Beau Borders, Christian P. Minkler, Michael Minkler, Warren Shaw, David Wyman (“Greyhound”)
Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney (“News of the World”) Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder (“Nomadland”)
Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker (“Soul”)
Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc (“Sound of Metal”)*

Best Visual Effects

Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt (“Greyhound”)
Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, David Watkins (“The Midnight Sky”)
Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury (“Mulan”)
Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher (“The One and Only Ivan”)
Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley (“Tenet”)*

Best British Short Animation

Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe (“The Fire Next Time”)
Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf (“The Owl and the Pussycat”)*
Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald, Brid Arnstein (“The Song of a Lost Boy”)

Best British Short Film

Jesse Lewis Reece, Ike Newman (“Eyelash”)
Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies (“Lizard”)
John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja (“Lucky Break”)
Ghada Eldemellawy (“Miss Curvy”)
Farah Nabulsi (“The Present”)*

EE Rising Star Award (public vote)

Bukky Bakray*
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Morfydd Clark
Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù
Conrad Khan

2021 Academy Awards: ‘Mank’ is the top nominee

March 15, 2021

by Carla Hay

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in “Mank” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

With 10 nods, the Netflix drama “Mank” is the top nominee for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards, which will take place at Union Station and at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 25, 2021. There will be no host for the ceremony, which will be telecast in the U.S. on ABC. The nominations were announced on March 15, 2021, by spouses Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

The nominations for “Mank” include Best Picture, Best Actor (for Gary Oldman), Best Director (for David Fincher) and Best Supporting Actress (for Amanda Seyfried). The movie is about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, nicknamed Mank, and his experiences while writing the Oscar-winning screenplay to the 1941 film “Citizen Kane, including his clashes with “Citizen Kane” director/co-writer Orson Welles.

The other contenders for Best Picture are Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Judas and the Black Messiah,” A24’s “Minari,” Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” Focus Features’ “Promising Young Woman,” Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal” and Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” All of these movies except for “Promising Young Woman” have six Oscar nominations each, which is the second-highest number of nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony. (Click here to read Culture Mix’s reviews of all these movies that are nominated for Best Picture.)

The awards are voted for by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the 2021 ceremony, eligible movies were those released in the U.S. in 2020 and (due to the coronavirus pandemic) the eligibility period was extended to movies released in January and February 2021. Because of the pandemic, movies that were planned for a theatrical release but were released directly to home video or on streaming services were also eligible. Beginning with the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony, there will be a required 10 movies nominated for Best Picture. From 2009 to 2021, the rule was that there could be five to 10 movies per year nominated for Best Picture.

Snubs and Surprises

“Da 5 Bloods” director Spike Lee (pictured at far left) with cast members Isiah Whitlock Jr., Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters and Norm Lewis on the set of “Da 5 Bloods.” (Photo by David Lee/Netflix)

The Netflix drama “Da 5 Bloods,” which has been getting nominations at other major award shows, only managed to garner one Oscar nod: Best Original Score (for Terence Blanchard). Some pundits had predicted that “Da 5 Bloods” would get Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (for Spike Lee) and Best Actor (for Delroy Lindo). Other highly acclaimed movies that were shut out of the Best Picture race include the Amazon Studios drama “One Night in Miami…” and the Netflix drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” although “One Night in Miami…” got three Oscar nods in other categories, while “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” received five Oscar nominations.

Meanwhile, movies that have been getting awards and nominations elsewhere were completely snubbed by the Academy Awards. They include the Focus Features drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the STX drama “The Mauritanian,” the Netflix comedy “The Forty-Year-Old Version” and the A24 drama “First Cow.” 

Although “Mank” leads with the most Oscar nominations this year, the movie failed to get a nod for Best Original Screenplay. (The movie was written by David Fincher’s late father Jack Fincher.) This lack of a screenplay Oscar nomination doesn’t bode well for “Mank’s” chances to win Best Picture. It’s very rare for a movie not to win Best Picture without getting a screenplay nomination.

And shut out of the race for Best Director is Aaron Sorkin of “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” even though he has been getting Best Director nominations at almost every major award show where he’s eligible for this movie. However, as the screenwriter for “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Sorkin did score an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay. 

Some of the biggest surprise nominations came from international films. Thomas Vinterberg of the Samuel Goldwyn Films drama “Another Round” (a movie from Denmark) received a nomination for Best Director. Gravitas Ventures’ Chilean film “The Mole Agent” got a nomination for Best Documentary Feature, after being largely ignored for nominations at other movie award shows.

And “Judas and the Black Messiah” co-star LaKeith Stanfield got a surprise nod for Best Supporting Actor, a category that also includes “Judas and the Black Messiah” co-star Daniel Kaluuya. Stanfield was shut of of getting nominated for this movie at most other award shows, while Kaluuya has been winning Best Supporting Actor prizes for the movie, thereby making Kaluuya a frontrunner in the category this year.

Diversity and Inclusion

Steven Yeun, Alan S. Kim, Yuh-Jung Youn, Yeri Han and Noel Cho in “Minari” (Photo by Josh Ethan Johnson/A24) 

For the first time in Academy Awards history, two women have been nominated in the same year for Best Director: Chloé Zhao of “Nomadland” and Emerald Fennell of “Promising Young Woman.” Zhao (who is the first women of color to get an Oscar nod for Best Director) is a quadruple Oscar nominee this year for “Nomadland,” since she’s also nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Fennell is a triple nominee, since her other Oscar nominations this year are for Best Picture and for Best Original Screenplay.

Racial diversity is in every actor/actress category at 2021 Academy Awards, since there is at least one person of color nominated in each category. Black people are represented the most with “Judas and the Black Messiah,” which made Oscar history for being the first movie from an all-black team of producers (Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler) to be nominated for Best Picture. The movie also earned nominations for the aforementioned co-stars Kaluuya and Stanfield; songwriter H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas, whose song “Fight for You” is up for Best Original Song’; and “Judas and the Black Messiah” director Shaka King, who co-wrote the screenplay, is a double Oscar nominee this year, since he’s also up for Best Original Screenplay.

Leslie Odom Jr. is a double nominee for “One Night in Miami…,” since he received nods for Best Supporting Actor and for co-writing the song “Speak Now,” which is one of the contenders for Best Original Song. Kemp Powers received his first Oscar nomination (Best Adapted Screenplay), for “One Night in Miami…,” which is based on the play that he wrote of the same title. Powers is a co-director of the Oscar-nominated animated film “Soul,” but he was not nominated for this movie, since the nomination for Best Animated Feature goes to a film’s director(s) and producer(s). However, composer Jon Batiste of “Soul” is nominated for Best Original Score, along with lead composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” got expected nominations for the late Chadwick Boseman (Best Actor) and Viola Davis (Best Actress). With this nomination, Davis is the black actress with the most Oscar nods. She has four so far, including one win for Best Supporting Actress for the 2016 drama “Fences.” Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” made Oscar history by being the first black people nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. 

Also nominated for Best Actress at the 2021 Academy Awards is Andra Day of Hulu’s “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Ironically, the only other time that two black actresses were nominated in the same year for Best Actress was in 1973, when Diana Ross was nominated for her role as Billie Holiday in 1972’s “Lady Sings the Blues” and Cicely Tyson was nominated for 1972’s “Sounder.” As of this writing, Halle Berry is the only black person who has won an Oscar for Best Actress. She did so for 2001’s “Monster’s Ball.”

Real-life singers Ma Rainey and Billie Holiday also represent the only LGBTQ characters in the actor/actress categories. In real life, Rainey was a lesbian and Holiday was bisexual. Their sexualities are each portrayed in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”

Asians were represented in more Oscar categories than ever before, mostly because of “Minari,” a drama about a Korean American family that moves to rural Arkansas so that the family patriarch can become a farmer. “Minari” earned nods for producer Christina Oh (Best Picture); Lee Isaac Chung (Best Director and Best Original Screenplay); Steven Yeun (Best Actor); and Yuh-jung Youn (Best Supporting Actor). Yeun is the first Asian American to get an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

As previously mentioned, Chinese filmmaker Zhao has four Oscar nominations for “Nomadland” this year. And the Hong Kong drama “Better Days” garnered a Best International Feature nomination for director Derek Tsang. And the Netflix drama “The White Tiger” earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for Indian filmmaker Ramin Bahrani.

Pakistani British actor Riz Ahmed of “Sound of Metal” received his first nomination for Best Actor. Ahmed plays a heavy-metal drummer who goes deaf in the film. Paul Raci, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for “Sound of Metal,” also portrays a deaf person in the film. The disability community is also represented in Anthony Hopkins’ role as a man with dementia in “The Father,” whose six nominations include Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. Meanwhile, “Crip Camp” co-director Jim LeBrecht, who is paraplegic, is nominated for Best Documentary Feature for this Netflix movie, which is about the civil rights movement for the disability community.

The Hispanic/Latino people nominated for Oscars this year were all people who work in behind-the-camera roles. Sergio Lopez-Rivera is one of three people nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” And as previously mentioned, the Chilean film “The Mole Agent” (directed by Maite Alberdi) is nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

Also in the Best International Feature category is director Kaouther Ben Hania, who is nominated for the Tunisian film “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” making it the first time that a movie from Tunisia has gotten an Oscar nomination in this category. 

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards:

Best Picture

“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics) 

“Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.) 

“Mank” (Netflix) 

“Minari” (A24) 

“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) 

“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features) 

“Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios) 

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) 

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)

David Fincher (“Mank”) 

Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) 

Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) 

Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) 

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) 

Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) 

Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) 

Gary Oldman (“Mank”) 

Steven Yeun (“Minari”) 

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) 

Andra Day (“The United States v. Billie Holiday”) 

Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”) 

Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) 

Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) 

Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) 

Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) 

Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”) 

LaKeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) 

Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) 

Olivia Colman (“The Father”) 

Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) 

Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”) 

Best Adapted Screenplay

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman and Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer and Nina Pedrad

“The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao 

“One Night in Miami,” Kemp Powers 

“The White Tiger,” Ramin Bahrani 

Best Original Screenplay

“Judas and the Black Messiah.” Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas

“Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung 

“Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell 

“Sound of Metal.” Screenplay by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin 

Best Cinematography

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” Sean Bobbitt 

“Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt 

“News of the World,” Dariusz Wolski 

“Nomadland,” Joshua James Richards 

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Phedon Papamichael 

Best Film Editing

“The Father,” Yorgos Lamprinos

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao 

“Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval 

“Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen 

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten 

Best Sound

“Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman

“Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin

“News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett

“Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

“Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

Best Original Score

“Da 5 Bloods,” Terence Blanchard 

“Mank,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross 

“Minari,” Emile Mosseri 

“News of the World,” James Newton Howard 

“Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste 

Best Original Song

“Fight for You,” (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

“Hear My Voice,” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

“Húsavík,” (“Eurovision Song Contest”). Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson

“Io Si (Seen),” (“The Life Ahead”). Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

“Speak Now,” (“One Night in Miami”). Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

Best Animated Feature Film

“Onward” (Pixar) 

“Over the Moon” (Netflix) 

“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” (Netflix) 

“Soul” (Pixar) 

“Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV+/GKIDS) 

Best International Feature Film

“Another Round” (Denmark) 

“Better Days” (Hong Kong)

“Collective” (Romania) 

“The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia)

“Quo Vadis, Aida?”(Bosnia and Herzegovina) 

Best Documentary Feature

“Collective” (Magnolia Pictures and Participant) 

“Crip Camp” (Netflix) 

“The Mole Agent” (Gravitas Ventures) 

“My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix) 

“Time” (Amazon Studios) 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Emma,” Marese Langan, Laura Allen, Claudia Stolze

“Hillbilly Elegy,” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, Matthew Mungle 

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson

“Mank,” Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams, Colleen LaBaff

“Pinocchio,” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti

Best Costume Design

“Emma,” Alexandra Byrne 

“Mank,” Trish Summerville 

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth 

“Mulan,” Bina Daigeler 

“Pinocchio,” Massimo Cantini Parrini

Best Production Design

“The Father.” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton

“Mank.” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale

“News of the World.” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan

“Tenet.” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

Best Visual Effects

“Love and Monsters,” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox 

“The Midnight Sky,” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins

“Mulan,” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram

“The One and Only Ivan,” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez

“Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Colette” (Time Travel Unlimited) 

“A Concerto Is a Conversation” (Breakwater Studios) 

“Do Not Split” (Field of Vision) 

“Hunger Ward” (MTV Documentary Films)

“A Love Song for Latasha” (Netflix) 

Best Animated Short Film

“Burrow” (Disney Plus/Pixar)

“Genius Loci” (Kazak Productions) 

“If Anything Happens I Love You” (Netflix) 

“Opera” (Beasts and Natives Alike) 

“Yes-People” (CAOZ hf. Hólamói) 

Best Live-Action Short Film

“Feeling Through” 

“The Letter Room” 

“The Present” 

“Two Distant Strangers” 

“White Eye” 

2021 BAFTA Film Awards: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘Rocks’ are the top nominees

March 9, 2021

by Carla Hay

With seven nominations each, the dramatic films “Nomadland” and “Rocks” are the top nominees for the 74th Annual EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the show will be a virtual ceremony held at Royal Albert Hall in London. The show will also be split between two broadcasts on April 10 and April 11, 2021. BBC televises the show in the United Kingdom, and BBC America televises the show in the United States.

The April 10 broadcast (on BBC Two in the U.K.) will be for technical categories, such as editing and production design. The April 11 broadcast (on BBC One in the U.K.) will be for the more high-profile categories, such as all the actor/actress categories, Best Director, Best Film and Outstanding British Film. The host for the 2021 BAFTA ceremony is to be announced. Eligible films were those released in the United Kingdom in 2020 or January and February 2021.

Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland”(directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Frances McDormand) and Altitude Film Entertainment’s “Rocks” (directed by Sarah Gavron and staring Bukky Bakray) are nominees in the categories of Best Director and Best Actress. In addition, “Nomadland” is nominated for Best Film, while “Rocks” is a contender for Outstanding British Film. “Nomadland” is about an American widow named Fern (played by McDormand), who lives in her van and travels to look for work. “Rocks” (which does not have a U.S. distributor, as of this writing) is about a black British teenage girl named Rocks (played by Bakray), who has to care for her younger brother when their single mother goes missing.

Other movies with several BAFTA nominations include Sony Picture Classics’ “The Father,” Netflix’s “Mank,” A24’s “Minari” and Focus Features’ “Promising Young Woman,” with six nominations each. Netflix’s “The Dig” and STX’s “The Mauritanian” earned five nods each.

Snubs and Surprises

Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

Although “Promising Young Woman” is one of the most-nominated films of the 2021 BAFTAs, the movie failed to get nominations for categories where it has been getting nominated at many other award shows. BAFTA nomination snubs include Best Actress for “Promising Young Woman” star Carey Mulligan and Best Director for writer/director Emerald Fennell, who did get a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay. “Promising Young Woman” is Fennell’s feature-film debut as a writer and director, but she was also snubbed in the BAFTA category of Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

Also getting overlooked for a BAFTA Best Actress nomination was Viola Davis for the Netflix drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Davis has been getting nominated for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at every major movie award ceremony except the BAFTAs. A big BAFTA surprise nomination for Best Actress is Radha Blank for the Netflix comedy “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” which is the only BAFTA nod for the film. Blank has been getting nominations and awards for writing and directing the movie, but not for starring in it.

Movies about African American experiences were overlooked in most of the major BAFTAs categories. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Amazon’s “One Night in Miami…” and Netflix’s “Da 5 Bloods” were snubbed in the categories for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay. However, each movie did pick up nods in the categories of Best Leading Actor or Best Supporting Actor. Dominique Fishback of “Judas and the Black Messiah” also go a surprise nod for Best Supporting Actress, after being largely snubbed for nominations at other major award shows.

As widely expected, Chadwick Boseman of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is a nominee in the leading actor category. Supporting actor nods also predictably went to Daniel Kaluuya of “Judas and the Black Messiah” and Leslie Odom Jr. for “One Night in Miami…,” because they’ve been getting these nominations at other major award shows. Clarke Peters of “Da 5 Bloods” has been mostly overlooked at major award shows, but he got a Best Supporting Actor nod for the movie. Meanwhile, “Da 5 Bloods” co-star Delroy Lindo, who was widely predicted to be nominated for Best Leading Actor, was shut out of the list of nominees. (Kingsley Ben-Adir of “One Night in Miami…” is a nominee for the Rising Star Award, which is an award for an individual’s career achievements, not for one movie or TV show.)

The Netflix horror movie “His House” also received surprise nominations (three nods), even though it’s being completely snubbed at many other major award shows for movies. “His House,” the feature-film debut of Remi Weekes, is about two South Sudanese refugee spouses who have immigrated to England and find out that their house is haunted. “His House” is nominated for Outstanding British Film; Best Leading Actress (for Wunmi Mosaku); and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

In the Best Documentary category, documentaries that have been racking up awards elsewhere were snubbed for BAFTA nominations. Missing out on BAFTA nods were Amazon’s “Time,” Netflix’s “Crip Camp” and Netflix’s “Dick Johnson Is Dead.” Instead, the movies that made the BAFTA nominee list for Best Documentary are Magnolia Pictures’ “Collective,” Netflix’s “David Attenborough: Life on Our Planet,” Briarcliff Entertainment’s “The Dissident,” Netflix’s “My Octopus Teacher” and Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma.”

Diversity and Inclusion

Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù and Wunmi Mosaku in “His House” (Photo by Aidan Monaghan/Netflix)

After getting a lot of backlash and criticism in 2020 for nominating only white people in the actor/actress categories that year, the BAFTAs took major steps toward improving their diversity and inclusion initiatives. These measures included inviting 1,000 new members from underrepresented groups (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts currently has about 6,700 voting members) and expanding the number of Outstanding British Film nominees from five to 10. In addition, members underwent training about unconscious bias.

To address the complaint that films starring underrepresented groups were not seen by enough voting members, the BAFTAs now have a rule that BAFTA juries narrow down the potential nominees to a longlist for each category, and all voting members are required to watch all the films on the longlist in categories for which they are eligible to vote. BAFTA deputy chair Pippa Harris told Variety that there are “no quotas in place” and “these are not nominations that were designed in any way.”

The results are a much more diverse lineup of nominees in almost all the major categories. For the first time in BAFTA history, white men are not the majority of the nominees for Best Director, and women are the majority (four out of six) of the nominees in the category in 2021. The nominees are the aforementioned Gavron and Zhao, along with Thomas Vinterburg for “Another Round,” Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari,” Shannon Murphy for “Babyteeth” and Jasmila Žbanić for “Quo Vadis Aida?”

In addition, in each of the categories for actors and actresses, people of color are the majority (four out of six) of the nominees. All of the people of color who are nominated in the acting categories are either black or Asian, but there are none of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity. For all BAFTA categories, “Minari” (a drama about a Korean family who moves to Arkansas) has the most overall representation for Asian nominees, while “Rocks” has the most representation for black nominees.

The few Hispanic/Latino people who received BAFTA nominations this year are in behind-the-scenes categories: producer Sergio Diaz of “Nomadland” for Best Picture; producer Carlos Cortés of “Sound of Metal” for Best Picture; Sergio Lopez-Rivera of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” for Best Hair and Makeup; and Colomo Martinez of Disney+’s “The One and Only Ivan” for Best Visual Effects. Shudder’s Guatemalan horror film “La Llorona” was snubbed in the category of Best Film Not in the English Language, even though the movie has been getting nominated at other awards shows that have categories for international films or films that are not in the English language.

The LGBTQ community is largely underrepresented, since there are no actors or actresses nominated for BAFTA Awards this year for portraying members of the LGBTQ community. Possible contenders could have been Davis as lesbian singer Ma Rainey in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” or Andra Day for her portrayal of bisexual singer Billie Holiday in Hulu’s “The United States of Billie Holiday.” The disabled community is represented mainly with Amazon’s “Sound of Metal,” about a heavy-metal musician who becomes deaf. “Sound of Metal” is nominated for Best Leading Actor (for Riz Ahmed); Best Supporting Actor (for Paul Raci, who is deaf in real life); Best Editing; and Best Sound.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2021 BAFTA Film Awards:

Best Film

“The Father”
“The Mauritanian”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Outstanding British Film

“Calm With Horses”
“The Dig”
“The Father”
“His House”
“Limbo”
“The Mauritanian”
“Mogul Mowgli”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Rocks”
“Saint Maud”

Best Director

Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)
Sarah Gavron (“Rocks”)
Shannon Murphy (“Babyteeth”)
Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
Jasmila Žbanić (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)

Best Leading Actor

Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Adarsh Gourav (“The White Tiger”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
Mads Mikkelsen (“Another Round”)
Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”)

Best Leading Actress

Bukky Bakray (“Rocks”)
Radha Blank (“The Forty-Year-Old Version”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Wunmi Mosaku (“His House”)
Alfre Woodard (“Clemency”)

Best Supporting Actor

Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Barry Keoghan (“Calm With Horses”)
Alan Kim (“Minari”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night In Miami…”)
Clarke Peters (“Da 5 Bloods”)
Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”)

Best Supporting Actress

Niamh Algar (“Calm With Horses”)
Kosar Ali (“Rocks”)
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Ashley Madekwe (“County Lines”)
Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Moira Buffini (“The Dig”)
Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller (“The Father”)
Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven (“The Mauritanian”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)
Ramin Bahrani (“The White Tiger”)

Best Original Screenplay

Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
Jack Fincher (“Mank”)
Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)
Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson (“Rocks”)
Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Remi Weekes (“His House”)
Ben Sharrock, Irune Gurtubai (“Limbo”)
Jack Sidey (“Moffie”)
Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (“Rocks”)
Rose Glass, Oliver Kassman (“Saint Maud”)

Best Original Score

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (“Mank”)
Emile Mosseri (“Minari”)
James Newton Howard (“News of the World”)
Anthony Willis (“Promising Young Woman”)
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (“Soul”)

Best Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Erik Messerschmidt (“Mank”)
Alwin H. Küchler (“The Mauritanian”)
Dariusz Wolski (“News of the World”)
Joshua James Richards (“Nomadland”)

Best Film Not in the English Language

Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen (“Another Round”)
Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov (“Dear Comrades!”)
Ladj Ly (“Les Misérables”)
Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh (“Minari”)
Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”)

Best Documentary

Alexander Nanau (“Collective”)
Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey (“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet”)
Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen (“The Dissident”)
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster (“My Octopus Teacher”)
Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes (“The Social Dilemma”)

Best Animated Film

Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae (“Onward”)
Pete Docter, Dana Murray (“Soul”)
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young (“Wolfwalkers”)

Best Casting

Shaheen Baig (“Calm with Horses”)
Alexa L. Fogel (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Julia Kim (“Minari”)
Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu (“Promising Young Woman”)
Lucy Pardee (“Rocks”)

Best Production Design

Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald (“The Dig”)
Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone (“The Father”)
Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale (“Mank”)
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan (“News of the World”)
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer (“Rebecca”)

Best Costume Design

Michael O’Connor (“Ammonite”)
Alice Babidge (“The Dig”)
Alexandra Byrne (“Emma”)
Trish Summerville (“Mank”)
Ann Roth (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)

Best Make Up and Hair

Jenny Shircore (“The Dig”)
Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams (“Mank”)
Mark Coulier (“Pinocchio”)

Best Editing

Yorgos Lamprinos (“The Father”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)
Frédéric Thoraval (“Promising Young Woman”)
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen (“Sound of Metal”)
Alan Baumgarten (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

Best Sound

Nominees TBD (“Greyhound”)
Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney (“News of the World”) Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder (“Nomadland”)
Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker (“Soul”)
Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc (“Sound of Metal”)

Best Visual Effects

Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt (“Greyhound”)
Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, David Watkins (“The Midnight Sky”)
Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury (“Mulan”)
Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher (“The One and Only Ivan”)
Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley (“Tenet”)

Best British Short Animation

Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe (“The Fire Next Time”)
Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf (“The Owl and the Pussycat”)
Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald, Brid Arnstein (“The Song of a Lost Boy”)

Best British Short Film

Jesse Lewis Reece, Ike Newman (“Eyelash”)
Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies (“Lizard”)
John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja (“Lucky Break”)
Ghada Eldemellawy (“Miss Curvy”)
Farah Nabulsi (“The Present”)

EE Rising Star Award (public vote)

Bukky Bakray
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Morfydd Clark
Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù
Conrad Khan

2021 Critics Choice Awards: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘The Crown’ are the top winners

Frances McDormand in “Nomadland” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

March 7, 2021

by Carla Hay

With four prizes, including Best Picture, the Searchlight Pictures drama “Nomadland” was the top movie winner at the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards, which took place as a virtual ceremony on March 7, 2021. The main ceremony was held at Barker Hangar in Sana Monica, California, but the nominees were in various locations (because of social distancing) and televised through video links. Taye Diggs was the host of the show, which was televised in the U.S. on The CW Network. For TV shows, the Netflix drama series “The Crown” was the top winner, with four prizes, including Best Drama Series. The Critics Choice Association votes for the nominees and winners. The complete list of winners is at the end of this article.

There were no musical performances at the award show, as there have been in previous years. Instead, host Diggs interviewed some of the nominees, including Gillian Anderson and Riz Ahmed, by video. In addition, several of the nominees in the same category shared their thoughts on various topics. For example, the nominees for Best Comedy Special listed their favorite comedy movies.

Zendaya received the fifth annual SeeHer Award, which is a non-competitive prize. The recipient of the SeeHer Award is announced before the ceremony takes place. According to a press release from The CW: “The SeeHer Award recognizes a woman who embodies the values set forth by the SeeHer movement, to push boundaries, defy stereotypes and acknowledge the importance of authentic portrayals of women across the entertainment landscape. SeeHer is the leading global movement for accurate portrayals of women and girls in media. Led by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), SeeHer is a collective of leading marketers, media organizations and industry influencers committed to creating advertising and media content that portrays women and girls as they truly are. Previous award recipients are Kristen Bell, Viola Davis, Claire Foy, and Gal Gadot.”

Other big winners, with three awards each, were the Netflix dramatic movie “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and the Apple TV+ comedy series “Ted Lasso.” The Netflix dramatic film “Da 5 Bloods,” although it received six nominations, ultimately didn’t win any Critics Choice Awards. The Netflix dramatic movie “Mank” went into the award show with the most nominations (12), and ended up winning one prize: Best Production Design.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominees for the 2021 Critics’ Choice Awards:

FILM NOMINATIONS FOR THE 26TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

“Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“Minari” (A24)
“News of the World” (Universal Pictures)
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*
“One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
“Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR
Ben Affleck – “The Way Back” (Warner Bros.)
Riz Ahmed – “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)
Chadwick Boseman – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)*
Tom Hanks – “News of the World” (Universal Pictures)
Anthony Hopkins – “The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Delroy Lindo – “Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)
Gary Oldman – “Mank” (Netflix)
Steven Yeun – “Minari” (A24)

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
Andra Day – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (Hulu)
Sidney Flanigan – “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)
Vanessa Kirby – “Pieces of a Woman” (Netflix)
Frances McDormand – “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
Carey Mulligan – “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)*
Zendaya – “Malcolm & Marie” (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman – “Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)
Sacha Baron Cohen – “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
Daniel Kaluuya – “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.)*
Bill Murray – “On the Rocks” (A24/Apple TV+)
Leslie Odom, Jr. – “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Paul Raci – “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maria Bakalova – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)*
Ellen Burstyn – “Pieces of a Woman” (Netflix)
Glenn Close – “Hillbilly Elegy” (Netflix)
Olivia Colman – “The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Amanda Seyfried – “Mank” (Netflix)
Yuh-Jung Youn – “Minari” (A24)

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ryder Allen – “Palmer” (Apple TV+)
Ibrahima Gueye – “The Life Ahead” (Netflix)
Alan Kim – “Minari” (A24)*
Talia Ryder – “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)
Caoilinn Springall – “The Midnight Sky” (Netflix)
Helena Zengel – “News of the World” (Universal Pictures)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
“Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)
“Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
“Minari” (A24)
“One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)*

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – “Minari” (A24)
Emerald Fennell – “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
David Fincher – “Mank” (Netflix)
Spike Lee – “Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)
Regina King – “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao – “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung – “Minari” (A24)
Emerald Fennell – “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)*
Jack Fincher – “Mank” (Netflix)
Eliza Hittman – “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)
Darius Marder and Abraham Marder – “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies – “News of the World” (Universal Pictures)
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – “The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kemp Powers – “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt – “First Cow” (A24)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao – “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Christopher Blauvelt – “First Cow” (A24)
Erik Messerschmidt – “Mank” (Netflix)
Lachlan Milne – “Minari” (A24)
Joshua James Richards – “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*
Newton Thomas Sigel – “Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)
Hoyte Van Hoytema – “Tenet” (Warner Bros.)
Dariusz Wolski – “News of the World” (Universal Pictures)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Cristina Casali, Charlotte Dirickx – “The Personal History of David Copperfield” (Searchlight Pictures)
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan – “News of the World” (Universal Pictures)
Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas – “Tenet” (Warner Bros.)
Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – “Mank” (Netflix)*
Kave Quinn, Stella Fox – “Emma” (Focus Features)
Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)

BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten – “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)* (tie)
Kirk Baxter – “Mank” (Netflix)
Jennifer Lame – “Tenet” (Warner Bros.)
Yorgos Lamprinos – “The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)* (tie)
Chloé Zhao – “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alexandra Byrne – “Emma” (Focus Features)
Bina Daigeler – “Mulan” (Disney)
Suzie Harman and Robert Worley – “The Personal History of David Copperfield” (Searchlight Pictures)
Ann Roth – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)*
Nancy Steiner – “Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
Trish Summerville – “Mank” (Netflix)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
“Emma” (Focus Features)
“Hillbilly Elegy” (Netflix)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)*
“Mank” (Netflix)
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (Hulu)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Greyhound” (Apple TV+)
“The Invisible Man” (Universal Pictures)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“The Midnight Sky” (Netflix)
“Mulan” (Disney)
“Tenet” (Warner Bros. Pictures)*
“Wonder Woman 1984” (Warner Bros.)

BEST COMEDY
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)
“The Forty-Year-Old Version” (Netflix)
“The King of Staten Island” (Universal Pictures)
“On the Rocks” (A24/Apple TV+)
“Palm Springs” (Hulu and NEON)*
“The Prom” (Netflix)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Another Round” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“Collective” (Magnolia Pictures)
“La Llorona” (Shudder)
“The Life Ahead” (Netflix)
“Minari” (A24)*
“Two of Us” (Magnolia Pictures)

BEST SONG
“Everybody Cries” – “The Outpost” (Screen Media Films)
“Fight for You” – “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.)
“Husavik (My Home Town)” – “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” (Netflix)
“Io sì” (Seen) – “The Life Ahead” (Netflix)
“Speak Now” – “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)*
“Tigress & Tweed” – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (Hulu)

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – “The Midnight Sky” (Netflix)
Ludwig Göransson – “Tenet” (Warner Bros.)
James Newton Howard – “News of the World” (Universal Pictures)
Emile Mosseri – “Minari” (A24)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – “Mank” (Netflix)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste – “Soul” (Disney)*

SERIES NOMINATIONS FOR THE 26TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

BEST DRAMA SERIES
“Better Call Saul” (AMC)
“The Crown” (Netflix)*
“The Good Fight” (CBS All Access)
“Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
“The Mandalorian” (Disney+)
“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Perry Mason” (HBO)
“This Is Us” (NBC)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman – “Ozark” (Netflix)
Sterling K. Brown – “This Is Us” (NBC)
Jonathan Majors – “Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
Josh O’Connor – “The Crown” (Netflix)*
Bob Odenkirk – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)
Matthew Rhys – “Perry Mason” (HBO)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christine Baranski – “The Good Fight” (CBS All Access)
Olivia Colman – “The Crown” (Netflix)
Emma Corrin – “The Crown” (Netflix)*
Claire Danes – “Homeland” (Showtime)
Laura Linney – “Ozark” (Netflix)
Jurnee Smollett – “Lovecraft Country” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jonathan Banks – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)
Justin Hartley – “This Is Us” (NBC)
John Lithgow – “Perry Mason” (HBO)
Tobias Menzies – “The Crown” (Netflix)
Tom Pelphrey – “Ozark” (Netflix)
Michael K. Williams – “Lovecraft Country” (HBO)*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Gillian Anderson – “The Crown” (Netflix)*
Cynthia Erivo – “The Outsider” (HBO)
Julia Garner – “Ozark” (Netflix)
Janet McTeer – “Ozark” (Netflix)
Wunmi Mosaku – “Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
Rhea Seehorn – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

BEST COMEDY SERIES
“Better Things” (FX)
“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)
“Mom” (CBS)
“PEN15” (Hulu)
“Ramy” (Hulu)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)*
“What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Hank Azaria – “Brockmire” (IFC)
Matt Berry – “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Nicholas Hoult – “The Great” (Hulu)
Eugene Levy – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
Jason Sudeikis – “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)*
Ramy Youssef – “Ramy” (Hulu)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Pamela Adlon – “Better Things” (FX)
Christina Applegate – “Dead to Me” (Netflix)
Kaley Cuoco – “The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)
Natasia Demetriou – “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Catherine O’Hara – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)*
Issa Rae – “Insecure” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
William Fichtner – “Mom” (CBS)
Harvey Guillén – “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Daniel Levy – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)*
Alex Newell – “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (NBC)
Mark Proksch – “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Andrew Rannells – “Black Monday” (Showtime)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Lecy Goranson – “The Conners” (ABC)
Rita Moreno – “One Day at a Time” (Pop)
Annie Murphy – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
Ashley Park – “Emily in Paris” (Netflix)
Jaime Pressly – “Mom” (CBS)
Hannah Waddingham – “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)*

BEST LIMITED SERIES
“I May Destroy You” (HBO)
“Mrs. America” (FX)
“Normal People” (Hulu)
“The Plot Against America” (HBO)
“The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)*
“Small Axe” (Amazon Studios)
“The Undoing” (HBO)
“Unorthodox” (Netflix)

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
“Bad Education” (HBO)
“Between the World and Me” (HBO)
“The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel” (Lifetime)
“Hamilton” (Disney+)*
“Sylvie’s Love” (Amazon Studios)
“What the Constitution Means to Me” (Amazon Studios)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
John Boyega – “Small Axe” (Amazon Studios)*
Hugh Grant – “The Undoing” (HBO)
Paul Mescal – “Normal People” (Hulu)
Chris Rock – “Fargo” (FX)
Mark Ruffalo – “I Know This Much is True” (HBO)*
Morgan Spector – “The Plot Against America” (HBO)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Cate Blanchett – “Mrs. America” (FX)
Michaela Coel – “I May Destroy You” (HBO)
Daisy Edgar-Jones – “Normal People” (Hulu)
Shira Haas – “Unorthodox” (Netflix)
Anya Taylor-Joy – “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)*
Tessa Thompson – “Sylvie’s Love” (Amazon Studios)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Daveed Diggs – “The Good Lord Bird” (Showtime)
Joshua Caleb Johnson – “The Good Lord Bird” (Showtime)
Dylan McDermott – “Hollywood” (Netflix)
Donald Sutherland – “The Undoing” (HBO)*
Glynn Turman – “Fargo” (FX)
John Turturro – “The Plot Against America” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Uzo Aduba – “Mrs. America” (FX)*
Betsy Brandt – “Soulmates” (AMC)
Marielle Heller – “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)
Margo Martindale – “Mrs. America” (FX)
Winona Ryder – “The Plot Against America” (HBO)
Tracey Ullman – “Mrs. America” (FX)

BEST TALK SHOW
“Desus & Mero” (Showtime)
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” (TBS)
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” (NBC/Syndicated)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)*
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
“Red Table Talk” (Facebook Watch)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL
“Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty” (Netflix)
“Hannah Gadsby: Douglas” (Netflix)
“Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill” (Netflix)*
“Marc Maron: End Times Fun” (Netflix)
“Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia” (Netflix)
“Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything” (Netflix)

BEST SHORT FORM SERIES
“The Andy Cohen Diaries” (Quibi)
“Better Call Saul: Ethics Training with Kim Wexler” (AMC/YouTube)*
“Mapleworth Murders” (Quibi)
“Nikki Fre$h” (Quibi)
“Reno 911!” (Quibi)
“Tooning Out the News” (CBS All Access)

2021 Golden Globe Awards: ‘The Crown,’ ‘Nomadland,’ ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ win big

February 28, 2021

by Carla Hay

Pennie Downey, Marion Bailey, Josh O’Connor, Charles Dance, Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Erin Doherty, Michael Thomas and Pennie Downie in “The Crown” (Photo by Des Willie/Netflix)

With four prizes, Netflix’s drama series “The Crown” was the top winner at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which were presented on February 28, 2021. “The Crown” won the award for Best Television Series – Drama. The movie’s other prizes went to Josh Connor, for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama; Emma Corrin, for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama; and Gillian Anderson, for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

There was no one movie that dominated at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards. Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” Amazon Studios’ “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and Pixar Animation Studios’ “Soul” won two awards each. “Nomadland” won the prize for Best Motion Picture – Drama. “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao made Golden Globes history by becoming the first woman of color to win a Golden Globe for Best Director. She is also the second woman to win this prize, after Barbra Streisand won for 1983’s “Yentyl.” “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” took the prizes for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while the movie’s star Sacha Baron Cohen won the prize for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. “Soul” won the awards for Best Animated Film and Best Original Score.

The Golden Globes ceremony has traditionally been held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no large, in-person gathering at the ceremony. Instead, the Golden Globes ceremony had video linkups of the nominees, so that when the winners are announced, the winners could react live with their acceptance speeches. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the ceremony, with Fey Rainbow Room in New York City and Poehler at the Beverly Hilton. NBC had the U.S. telecast of the show.

Netflix’s dramatic movie “Mank” went into the ceremony with the most nominations (six), but in the end, didn’t win any Golden Globes. “Mank” is director David Fincher’s movie about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (nicknamed Mank) and his experiences while he co-wrote the 1941 classic “Citizen Kane,” including his clashes with “Citizen Kane” director Orson Welles.

The most emotional moment of the night was for the late Chadwick Boseman, who was awarded the prize of Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, for his final acting role in Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Boseman’s widow Taylor Simone Ledward-Boseman tearfully accepted the prize on his behalf and gave a heart-wrenching statement on what he might have said if he were alive and able to accept the award. Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020. He was 43.

Other winners in the movie categories included Andra Day of Hulu’s “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama; Rosamund Pike of Netflix’s “I Care a Lot” for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy; Daniel Kaluuya of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Judas and the Black Messiah” for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture; and Jodie Foster of STX’s “The Mauritanian” for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

TV winners that won multiple Golden Globe Awards were the Pop network’s “Schitt’s Creek,” which got two prizes: Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, while Catherine O’Hara won the award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. The Netflix limited drama series “The Queen’s Gambit” won for Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, while Anya Taylor-Joy got the prize for Best Actress in a Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) votes for the nominations and awards. The HFPA and Dick Clark Productions produce the Golden Globe Awards telecast. Eligible movies for the show were those released in the U.S. in 2020 and in January and February 2021. The eligibility window, which usually ends at the end of a calendar year, was extended for movies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible TV programs were those that premiered on U.S. networks and U.S. streaming services in 2020.

In their opening monologue, co-hosts Fey and Poehler (who previously co-hosted the Golden Globes from 2013 to 2015) made some light-hearted jokes, as well as more serious-minded jokes that took aim at some of the controversial aspects of the HFPA and this year’s Golden Globe nominations. Fey and Poehler slammed the movie “Music,” which has gotten a lot of criticism for its offensive portrayal of autism by a non-autistic actress. Poehler and Fey also blasted the HFPA, which has about 89 members, for not having any black people in the group’s membership. (On February 21, 2021, the Los Angeles Times published an investigative report that exposed this racial diversity problem and other problems at the HFPA. Variety reported on February 26 that the HFPA hasn’t had any black members since 2002.)

Later in the broadcast, three HFPA leaders went on stage and addressed the controversy in prepared statements. HFPA vice president Helen Hoehne commented, “Just like in film and television, black representation is vital. We must have black journalists in our organization.” HFPA chair Meher Tatna added, “We must also ensure that everyone from underrepresented communities gets a seat at our table. We are going to make that happen.” HFPA president Ali Sar concluded, “That means creating an environment where diverse membership is the norm, not the exception. Thank you, and we look forward to a more inclusive future.”

Jane Fonda received the Cecil B. DeMille Award (for outstanding career achievements in entertainment), while Norman Lear received the Carol Burnett Award (for outstanding career achievements in TV). Both awards are non-competitive, and the award recipients are announced weeks before the ceremony takes place.

Presenters at the ceremony included Laura Dern, Angela Bassett, Colin Farrell, Christian Slater, Tiffany Haddish, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amanda Seyfried, Justin Theroux, Cynthia Erivo, Sarah Paulson, Salma Hayek, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Tracy Morgan, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown, Susan Kelechi Watson, Ben Stiller, Margot Robbie, Gal Gadot, Kenan Thompson, Ava DuVernay, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Meloni, Jeanise Jones, Rosie Perez, Renée Zellweger, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sandra Oh, Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig, Awkwafina, Maya Rudolph, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Some of the presenters appeared in person at either the Beverly Hilton or the Rainbow Room, while other presenters appeared by a video link.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2021 Golden Globe Awards:

*=winner

MOVIES

Best Motion Picture – Drama
“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)*
“Hamilton” (Disney+)
“Palm Springs” (Neon/Hulu)
“Music” (Vertical Entertainment)
“The Prom” (Netflix)

Best Director 
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
David Fincher, “Mank” (Netflix)
Regina King, “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)*

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)*
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
Gary Oldman (“Mank”)
Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)*
James Corden (“The Prom”)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”)
Dev Patel (“The Personal History of David Copperfield”)
Andy Samberg (“Palm Springs”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)*
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Kate Hudson (“Music”)
Michelle Pfeiffer (“French Exit”)
Rosamund Pike (“I Care a Lot”)*
Anya Taylor-Joy (“Emma”)

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)*
Jared Leto (“The Little Things”)
Bill Murray (“On the Rocks”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture 
Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Olivia Colman (“The Father”)
Jodie Foster (“The Mauritanian”)*
Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)
Helena Zengel (“News of the World”)

Best Screenplay
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features) – Emerald Fennell
“Mank” (Netflix) – Jack Fincher
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)* – Aaron Sorkin
“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics) – Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) – Chloé Zhao

Best Original Score
“The Midnight Sky” – Alexandre Desplat
“Tenet” – Ludwig Göransson
“News of the World” – James Newton Howard
“Mank” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Soul” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste*

Best Original Song 
“Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7” – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste
“Io Si (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead” – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi*
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios) – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
“Tigress & Tweed” from “The United States vs. Billie Holliday” (Hulu) – Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq

Best Animated Film 
“The Croods: A New Age” (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures)
“Onward” (Pixar Amination Studios/Disney)
“Over the Moon” (Netflix)
“Soul” (Pixar Animation Studios/Disney)*
“Wolfwalkers” (Cartoon Saloon/Apple TV+)

Best Foreign Language Film
“Another Round” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“La Llorona” (Shudder)
“The Life Ahead” (Netflix)
“Minari” (A24)*
“Two of Us” (Magnolia Pictures)

TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama
“The Crown” (Netflix)*
“Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
“The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus)
“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Ratched” (Netflix)

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
“Emily in Paris” (Netflix)
“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)
“The Great” (Hulu)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)*
“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)
Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”)*
Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)
Al Pacino (“Hunters”)
Matthew Rhys (“Perry Mason”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)
Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)
Emma Corrin (“The Crown”)*
Laura Linney (“Ozark”)
Sarah Paulson (“Ratched”)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle (“Black Monday”)
Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”)
Eugene Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)*
Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris”)
Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”)
Elle Fanning (“The Great”)
Jane Levy (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”)
Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”)*

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Normal People” (Hulu/BBC)
“The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)*
“Small Axe” (Amazon Prime Video/BBC)
“The Undoing” (HBO)
“Unorthodox” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Bryan Cranston (“Your Honor”)
Jeff Daniels (“The Comey Rule”)
Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”)
Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”)
Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much Is True”)*

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”)
Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”)
Nicole Kidman (“The Undoing”)
Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”)*

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Boyega (“Small Axe”)*
Brendan Gleeson (“The Comey Rule”)
Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jim Parsons (“Hollywood”)
Donald Sutherland (“The Undoing”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Gillian Anderson (“The Crown”)*
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)
Julia Garner (“Ozark”)
Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Cynthia Nixon (“Ratched”)

2021 Golden Globe Awards: ‘Mank’ is the top nominee

February 3, 2021

by Carla Hay

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in “Mank” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

With six nominations, Netflix’s movie-industry drama “Mank” is the leading contender for the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which will be presented on February 28, 2021. The Golden Globes ceremony has traditionally been held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no large, in-person gathering at the ceremony. Instead, the Golden Globes ceremony will like do what other major live televised award shows have done when going virtual during the pandemic: There will most likely be video linkups of the nominees, so that when the winners are announced, the winners can react live with their acceptance speeches. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the ceremony, with Fey at the Rainbow Room in New York City and Poehler at the Beverly Hilton.

NBC has the U.S. telecast of the show, which begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) votes for the nominations and awards. The HFPA and Dick Clark Productions are producing the Golden Globe Awards telecast. Eligible movies for the show were those released in the U.S. in 2020 and in January and February 2021. The eligibility window, which usually ends at the end of a calendar year, was extended for movies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible TV programs were those that premiered on U.S. networks and U.S. streaming services in 2020.

“Mank” tells the story of movie screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (nicknamed Mank) and his experiences while he co-wrote the 1941 classic “Citizen Kane,” including his clashes with “Citizen Kane” director Orson Welles. “Mank” picked up expected nominations in the Motion Picture – Drama categories: Best Picture and Best Actor (Gary Oldman). The other “Mank” nominations are for Best Director (David Fincher), Best Screenplay (the late Jack Fincher, David’s father), Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried) and Best Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). Another movie contender with multiple nominations is Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” with five nods. Focus Features’ “Promising Young Woman,” Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father” and Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland” have four nominations each. “One Night in Miami…” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (both from Amazon Studios) earned three nods each.

For the television categories, the leading contender is Netflix’s “The Crown,” which received six nominations, including Best Television Series – Drama. Following closely behind is the Pop network’s comedy series “Schitt’s Creek,” which scored five nominations, including Best Television Series – Comedy. The Netflix drama series “Ozark,” the HBO limited series “The Undoing” and the Netflix limited series “Ratched” received four nominations each.

Snubs and Surprises

Filmmaker Spike Lee and actors Isiah Whitlock Jr., Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters and Norm Lewis on the set of “Da 5 Bloods” (Photo by David Lee/Netflix)

The most noticeable Golden Globes snub this year was Netflix’s award-winning, critically acclaimed drama movie “Da 5 Bloods” (directed and co-written by Spike Lee), which failed to get any Golden Globe nominations. “Da 5 Bloods” told a fictional story about four African American military veterans of the Vietnam War who go back to Vietnam to look for hidden treasure. Other movies that have been shut out of the Golden Globes race are the Focus Features drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the A24 drama “First Cow” and the Netflix comedy “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” which have all received several nominations and some wins at independent film awards. Golden Globe TV snubs this year included the Hulu limited drama series “Little Fires Everywhere” and the HBO comedy series “Insecure,” which each received several Emmy nods. Also shut out was the HBO limited drama series “I May Destroy You.”

In terms of surprises, some movies picked up their first major award nominations, despite being shut out of earlier award shows for which they were eligible. Vertical Entertainment’s “Music” is one such example, by receiving two Golden Globe nods in the Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy field: Best Picture and Best Actress (Kate Hudson). Netflix’s star-studded musical “The Prom,” which got mixed reviews from critics and audiences, also scored two nods in the Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy field: Best Picture and Best Actor (James Corden). After getting snubbed in major Emmy Awards categories in 2020, Hulu’s comedy series “The Great” did better than expected at the Golden Globes for the “The Great’s” first season: “The Great” scored three nominations in the Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy field: Best Television Series, Best Actress (Elle Fanning) and Best Actor (Nicholas Hoult).

Diversity and Inclusion

Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Anthony Ramos in “Hamilton” (Photo courtesy of Disney+)

In terms of diversity, the Golden Globes ended a long drought of not nominating any female directors. This year, women are three of the five Best Director nominees: Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland,” Regina King for “One Night in Miami …” and Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman.” Zhao and Fennell are also nominees in another traditionally male-dominated Golden Globes category: Best Screenplay.

The major movie categories each had at least one person of color as a nominee, except for two categories: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Supporting Actress. Black people are the people of color with the highest representation this year.

In the movie categories, there are nominations for “One Night in Miami…” and Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which are both based on plays written by and about African Americans. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” has two nominations in the Motion Picture – Drama field: Best Actress (for Viola Davis) and Best Actor (for the late Chadwick Boseman). Daniel Kaluuya’s portrayal of Black Panther activist Fred Hampton in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Judas and the Black Messiah” garnered a nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture. “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” earned two nominations for star Andra Day: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Song. In the category of Best Original Song, three of the five nominated songs were written and performed by African Americans: Day’s “Tigress & Tweed”; Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” (from “One Night in Miami…”); and H.E.R.’s “Fight for You” (from “Judas and the Black Messiah”).

STX’s “The Mauritanian,” which is about a suspected terrorist imprisoned in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, stars Algerian French actor Tahar Rahim, who is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Asian representation at the Golden Globes this year is mostly from “Nomadland” filmmaker Zhao, who is nominated as a director, producer and screenwriter for the film. Riz Ahmed, who is of Pakistani British heritage, is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, for his role in Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal,” where he portrays an American heavy metal drummer who goes deaf. Indian British actor Dev Patel of Searchlight Pictures’ “The Personal History of David Copperfield” got a nod for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. A24’s “Minari,” about a Korean American family who moves to rural Arkansas, is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

Latinos, who were mostly shut out of the Golden Globes this year, are represented only by Shudder’s Guatemalan horror movie “La Llorona” (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film) and by “Hamilton” star/creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (who is Puerto Rican American descent), who got nominations for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while “Hamilton” (which has a multiracial cast) was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. “Hamilton,” which is a filmed 2016 performance of the Tony-winning musical, is available exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service and is not eligible for the Oscars because the movie was never released in theaters.

People of color are underrepresented in the TV categories. Almost all of the nominees are white in most of the TV categories this year. Black people got the most nominations in the the TV categories because of Amazon Prime Video’s limited series “Small Axe” (about Caribbean immigrant life in England), which picked up two nods: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, while “Small Axe” star John Boyega is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

African American actor Don Cheadle of Showtime’s “Black Monday” is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” which has a predominantly African American cast, is up for Best Television Series – Drama, although that is the only Golden Globe nomination it received this year.

Egyptian American actor Ramy Youssef from Hulu’s “Ramy” is nominated for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, an award he won in 2020. Native Americans, who are severely underrepresented in entertainment, received no nominations in any of the Golden Globe categories this year.

Portrayals of the disabled community are in nominated performances by Ahmed in “Sound of Metal” (about a musician who goes deaf) and Anthony Hopkins as a man with dementia in Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father.” Vertical Entertainment’s “Music,” about a recovering addict (played by Kate Hudson) raising her autistic teenage half-sister named Music (played by Maddie Ziegler), has sparked criticism over how autism is portrayed by Ziegler, who is not autistic, and for a controversial scene in which the autistic person is physically restrained. In television, Emmy-winning “I Know This Must Be True” star Mark Ruffalo portrays identical twins, one of whom has schizophrenia. For his role in this HBO limited drama series, Ruffalo is nominated for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

The LGBTQ community is represented in the movie categories with the musical “The Prom,” which is about a lesbian teenager who wants go to her school prom with her girlfriend. “The Prom,” directed and produced by Ryan Murphy (who is openly gay), is nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while James Corden (who plays a gay character in the movie) is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The French drama “Two of Us,” about two elderly lesbians, is nominated for Best International Film. And, as previously mentioned, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” star Davis (who portrays lesbian singer Ma Rainey) and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” star Day (who depicts bisexual singer Billie Holiday) are each nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

In television, the Murphy-produced Netflix limited series “Ratched” earned nominations for lead actress Sarah Paulson and supporting actress Cynthia Nixon, who are both openly lesbian/queer. Murphy is also nominated as an executive producer for “Ratched,” which is a contender for Best Television Series – Drama. Meanwhile, openly gay actor/writer/producer Dan Levy earned two nominations for “Schitt’s Creek”: Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. “Schitt’s Creek” (which has its series finale on the Pop Network in 2020) swept all the major categories for comedy TV series at the 2020 Emmy Awards, so it will be interesting to see how well “Schitt’s Creek” does at the Golden Globes.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2021 Golden Globe Awards:

MOVIES

Best Motion Picture – Drama
“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features)
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)
“Hamilton” (Disney+)
“Palm Springs” (Neon/Hulu)
“Music” (Vertical Entertainment)
“The Prom” (Netflix)

Best Director 
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
David Fincher, “Mank” (Netflix)
Regina King, “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
Gary Oldman (“Mank”)
Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
James Corden (“The Prom”)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”)
Dev Patel (“The Personal History of David Copperfield”)
Andy Samberg (“Palm Springs”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Kate Hudson (“Music”)
Michelle Pfeiffer (“French Exit”)
Rosamund Pike (“I Care a Lot”)
Anya Taylor-Joy (“Emma”)

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Jared Leto (“The Little Things”)
Bill Murray (“On the Rocks”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture 
Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Olivia Colman (“The Father”)
Jodie Foster (“The Mauritanian”)
Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)
Helena Zengel (“News of the World”)

Best Screenplay
“Promising Young Woman” (Focus Features) – Emerald Fennell
“Mank” (Netflix) – Jack Fincher
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) – Aaron Sorkin
“The Father” (Sony Pictures Classics) – Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton
“Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures) – Chloé Zhao

Best Original Score
“The Midnight Sky” – Alexandre Desplat
“Tenet” – Ludwig Göransson
“News of the World” – James Newton Howard
“Mank” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Soul” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste

Best Original Song 
“Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7” – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste
“Io Si (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead” – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios) – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
“Tigress & Tweed” from “The United States vs. Billie Holliday” (Hulu) – Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq

Best Animated Film 
“The Croods: A New Age” (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures)
“Onward” (Pixar Amination Studios/Disney)
“Over the Moon” (Netflix)
“Soul” (Pixar Animation Studios/Disney)
“Wolfwalkers” (Cartoon Saloon/Apple TV+)

Best Foreign Language Film
“Another Round” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“La Llorona” (Shudder)
“The Life Ahead” (Netflix)
“Minari” (A24)
“Two of Us” (Magnolia Pictures)

TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
“The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus)
“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Ratched” (Netflix)

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
“Emily in Paris” (Netflix)
“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)
“The Great” (Hulu)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)
Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”)
Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)
Al Pacino (“Hunters”)
Matthew Rhys (“Perry Mason”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)
Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)
Emma Corrin (“The Crown”)
Laura Linney (“Ozark”)
Sarah Paulson (“Ratched”)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle (“Black Monday”)
Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”)
Eugene Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)
Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris”)
Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”)
Elle Fanning (“The Great”)
Jane Levy (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”)
Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Normal People” (Hulu/BBC)
“The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)
“Small Axe” (Amazon Prime Video/BBC)
“The Undoing” (HBO)
“Unorthodox” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Bryan Cranston (“Your Honor”)
Jeff Daniels (“The Comey Rule”)
Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”)
Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”)
Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much Is True”)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”)
Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”)
Nicole Kidman (“The Undoing”)
Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”)

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Boyega (“Small Axe”)
Brendan Gleeson (“The Comey Rule”)
Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jim Parsons (“Hollywood”)
Donald Sutherland (“The Undoing”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Gillian Anderson (“The Crown”)
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)
Julia Garner (“Ozark”)
Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Cynthia Nixon (“Ratched”)

2020 IFP Gotham Awards: ‘Nomadland’ is the top winner

January 11, 2021

by Carla Hay

With two prizes, including Best Feature, “Nomadland” was the top winner at 2020 IFP Gotham Awards. The winners were announced in New York City on January 11, 2021. “Nomadland,” a drama directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Frances McDormand as a widow who lives out of her van, also received the Gotham Audience Award, which is voted on by IFP members. On January 6, 2021, it was announced that Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is renaming itself the Gotham Film & Media Institute, also known as The Gotham.

Best Actress went to Nicole Beharie of “Miss Juneteenth,” while Best Actor went to Riz Ahmed of “Sound of Metal.” Breakthrough Actor (a category for people of any gender) was awarded to  “One Night in Miami…” actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who portrays Malcolm X in the movie.

There were two categories that resulted in ties in winners: Best Documentary was awarded to director Ramona S. Diaz’s “A Thousand Cuts” (about Filipina journalist Maria Ressa’s battles with government backlash in the Philippines) and director Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” a movie spanning decades about Louisiana woman Fox Rich’s quest to get her husband released from prison. The Best Screenplay award also resulted in two winners: Radha Blank’s “The Forty-Year-Old Version” (a comedy about a female playwright who decides to become a rapper at 40 years old) and Dan Sallitt’s “Fourteen,” a comedy about a mentally ill woman.

This was the first Gotham Awards show to have TV categories. The winners were both from HBO: the superhero drama “Watchmen” for Breakthrough Series – Long Format and the #MeToo drama “I May Destroy You” for Breakthrough Series – Short Format.

In non-competitive categories, the Film Tribute Award went to actress Viola Davis, actor Chadwick Boseman, filmmaker Steve McQueen and the Netflix drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” “Westworld” actor Jeffrey Wright received the Made in New York award, which is given to entertainers who were raised in New York City or have strong ties to New York.

The Western drama “First Cow” went into the ceremony with the most nominations (four), but ended up not winning any IFP Gotham Awards.

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners of the 2020 IFP Gotham Awards:

*=winner

Best Feature

The Assistant

Kitty Green, director; Kitty Green, Scott Macaulay, James Schamus, P. Jennifer Dana, Ross Jacobson, producers (Bleecker Street)

First Cow

Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (A24)

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Eliza Hittman, director; Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, producers (Focus Features)

Nomadland*

Chloé Zhao, director; Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao, producers (Searchlight Pictures)

Relic

Natalie Erika James, director; Anna Mcleish, Sarah Shaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, producers (IFC Midnight)

Best Documentary

76 Days

Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous, directors; Hao Wu, Jean Tsien, producers (MTV Documentary Films)

City Hall

Frederick Wiseman, director; Frederick Wiseman, Karen Konicek, producers (Zipporah Films)

Our Time Machine

Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang directors; S. Leo Chiang, Yang Sun, producers (Passion River Films)

A Thousand Cuts* (tie)

Ramona S. Diaz, director; Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (PBS Distribution | FRONTLINE )

Time* (tie)

Garrett Bradley, director; Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley, producers (Amazon Studios)

Best International Feature

Bacurau

Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, directors; Emilie Lesclaux, Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt, producers (Kino Lorber)

Beanpole

Kantemir Balagov, director; Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov, producers (Kino Lorber)

Cuties (Mignonnes)

Maïmouna Doucouré, director; Zangro, producer (Netflix)

Identifying Features*

Fernanda Valadez, director; Astrid Rondero, producer (Kino Lorber)

Martin Eden

Pietro Marcello, director; Pietro Marcello, Beppe Caschetto, Thomas Ordonneau, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, producers (Kino Lorber)

Wolfwalkers

Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, directors; Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, producers (Apple)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Radha Blank for The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)

Channing Godfrey Peoples for Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)

Alex Thompson for Saint Frances (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Carlo Mirabella-Davis for Swallow (IFC Films)

Andrew Patterson for The Vast of Night (Amazon Studios)*

Best Screenplay

Bad Education, Mike Makowsky (HBO)

First Cow, Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt (A24)

The Forty-Year-Old Version, Radha Blank (Netflix)*

Fourteen, Dan Sallitt (Grasshopper Film)*

The Vast of Night, James Montague, Craig Sanger (Amazon Studios)

Best Actor

Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)*

Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Jude Law in The Nest (IFC Films)

John Magaro in First Cow (A24)

Jesse Plemons in I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)

Best Actress

Nicole Beharie in Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)*

Jessie Buckley in I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)

Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari (A24)

Carrie Coon in The Nest (IFC Films)

Frances McDormand in Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

Breakthrough Actor

Jasmine Batchelor in The Surrogate (Monument Releasing)

Kingsley Ben-Adir in One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)*

Sidney Flanigan in Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)

Orion Lee in First Cow (A24)

Kelly O’Sullivan in Saint Frances (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)

The Great, Tony McNamara, creator; Tony McNamara, Marian Macgowan, Mark Winemaker, Elle Fanning, Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding, Josh Kesselman, Ron West, Matt Shakman, executive producers (Hulu)

Immigration Nation, Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson, executive producers (Netflix)

P-Valley, Katori Hall, creator; Katori Hall, Dante Di Loreto, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Liz W. Garcia, executive producers (STARZ)

Unorthodox, Anna Winger, Alexa Karolinski , creators; Anna Winger, Henning Kamm, executive producers (Netflix)

Watchmen, Damon Lindelof, Creator for Television;  Tom Spezialy , Nicole Kassell , Stephen Williams, Joseph E. Iberti, executive producers (HBO)*

Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)

Betty, Crystal Moselle, Lesley Arfin, Igor Srubshchik, Jason Weinberg, executive producers (HBO)

Dave, Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer, creators; Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer, Saladin K. Patterson, Greg Mottola, Kevin Hart, Marty Bowen, Scooter Braun, Mike Hertz, Scott Manson, James Shin,  executive producers (FX Networks)

I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel, creator; Michaela Coel, Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni, executive producers (HBO)*

Taste the Nation, Padma Lakshmi, David Shadrack Smith, Sarina Roma, executive producers (Hulu)

Work in Progress, Abby McEnany, Tim Mason, creators, Abby McEnany, Tim Mason, Lilly Wachowski, Lawrence Mattis, Josh Adler, Ashley Berns, Julia Sweeney, Tony Hernandez, executive producers (SHOWTIME)

Review: ‘Nomadland,’ starring Frances McDormand

December 4, 2020

by Carla Hay

Frances McDormand in “Nomadland” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

“Nomadland”

Directed by Chloé Zhao

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2012 and 2013 in various parts of the United States (mainly the West Coast and Midwest), the dramatic film “Nomadland” features an almost all-white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A widow, who lives in her van by choice and makes a living doing temporary jobs, leads a nomadic existence and is unapologetic about this lifestyle choice to people who don’t approve.

Culture Audience: “Nomadland” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in well-acted realistic character studies about people who live on the fringes of society and are often overlooked by mainstream media.

Frances McDormand and David Strathairn in “Nomadland” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

“Nomadland” is a great American film that represents people who haven’t achieved the great American Dream in the traditional sense but are surviving on their own terms. It’s a drama about a culture that’s rarely seen in a narrative film: People who are not completely homeless but who choose to live in a motor vehicle and travel to find work, wherever and whenever they can. They don’t want anyone’s pity. They just want the respect to live their lives non-traditionally.

And the fact that this story centers on a middle-aged widow with no children makes it even more unusual but no less impactful, because she doesn’t fit the usual profile of nomadic people who get movies made about them. She’s an American refugee in her own country, because the city that she lived and worked in for several years was economically devastated and shut down, so she’s been forced to find a life elsewhere as a nomad.

Written, directed and edited by Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” is based on Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction book “Nomadland: Surviving in America in the 21st Century.” As such, most of the film’s cast members are real-life nomads (whose last names are not revealed in the cast credits), which give the movie a level of authenticity that can’t be duplicated by a cast filled with professional actors. Zhao’s masterful cinematic version of the story also makes the sweeping landscapes of the open road as of much a character as the story’s protagonist: Fern (played by Frances McDormand), a no-nonsense, self-sufficient widow who is still recovering from the grief of losing her husband after 32 years of marriage.

Fern used to live in the very small town of Empire, Nevada, which had a population of 217 people in the 2010 census. In real life, Empire suffered from an irrecoverable loss on January 23, 2011, when the United States Gypsum mining plant (the rural town’s main employer) shut down, due to reduced demand for sheetrock. By July 2011, Empire’s zip code (89405) was discontinued. This information is stated in the movie’s prologue.

Fern’s husband died around the same time that Empire became a ghost town. And so, with nothing to keep her in Empire, this widow has been on her own, living in her van, and trying to find enough work to keep herself financially afloat. The movie’s story takes place over the course of about 12 to 14 months, beginning during the year-end holiday season in 2012. Fern reports to work at an Amazon warehouse, where she has signed on for temporary work as a package processor, since the company has increased demand for workers during this holiday season.

Fern is friendly but emotionally elusive. She’s good at making small talk and bonding with passing acquaintances, but she’s closed-off when it comes to revealing her true inner feelings and making long-lasting close friendships. Throughout the film, there are glimpses of her emotional turmoil, but she never lets anything get her too depressed. She can’t afford to be depressed. She has to keep going for survival.

Fern is not old enough to retire, but she’s too old to be considered a viable candidate for a lot of jobs that require a lot of strenuous physical activity. Even if Fern were at retirement age, she can’t afford to retire. She and her husband had no children (apparently by choice, since Fern expresses no regrets about not having kids) and whatever savings they might have had is long gone.

She’s too proud to ask for financial assistance in most situations. If she does ask to borrow money from someone she knows (which happens a few times in the movie), it’s only as a last resort. And it’s clear that she finds it very difficult to ask anyone for money, because it makes her feel worthless. She always considers the money that she asks for to be a loan, not a gift or a handout. She promises to pay back the money, and you get the feeling that she means it. 

The closest thing that Fern has to a best friend is a woman about 10 years older than she is named Linda May (played by a real-life nomad named Linda May), who helped Fern get the temporary job at Amazon. After this temp job is completed, Fern decides she kind of likes the city and goes to an employment agency to try to find work so she can stay longer in the city.

The female agency employee who assists Fern warns her that there’s almost no additional work in the area this time of year. The agency employee is correct. Fern can’t find another job there, so she has to move on to a place where she can find work. And the work that she finds is usually temporary. This a pattern that repeats itself for much of the story, because people without a permanent address have a much harder time finding a permanent job.

“Nomadland” was filmed in Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona and California. None of the cities where Fern ends up is ever named, because the names of the cities don’t really matter. This movie is all about Fern’s experiences and the people she meets along the way in this particular time period in her life. Because the movie begins and ends during the winter months, there are multiple scenes where Fern has to deal with sleeping in her van during freezing weather.

A few times, some people who come across Fern express concern that she’s living in a van all by herself in freezing temperatures. Having a portable heater doesn’t really help and can sometimes be dangerous in an enclosed automobile, if the heater is kept on for a long period of time. Sometimes Fern stays at camping sites and RV parks (which usually cost money), while other times, she sleeps somewhere for free in a parking lot or out in a deserted area where she thinks she won’t be bothered. She refuses to stay at homeless shelters.

Linda May tells Fern about a nomad community gathering called Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR), led by a charismatic man named Bob Wells (who portrays himself), who can best be described as someone who looks like a flannel-wearing Santa Claus. RTR is based in Quartzsite, Arizona, and it’s a support system geared mainly to nomads who are in desperate need of help. Fern looks at an online video of Bob speaking (she has her phone for Internet access) and politely tells Linda May that she’s not interested in going to the next RTR gathering.

But at some point, Fern changes her mind when she’s running very low on money. And she finds that RTR is a community of nomads who are a lot like she is: Over the age of 60, barely getting by financially, but loving life on the road. In the first meeting that she experiences with Bob, he talks about how people in their age group are a lot like work horses that are considered too old to be useful and are put out to pasture. Bob tells them to think of RTR as being like work horses who look out for each other. Fern likes what she hears, so she decides to stay.

Later, when Fern has a one-on-one meeting with Bob, he tells her: “I think you’ve come to the right place to find an answer. I think communing with nature and a real, true community and tribe will make all the difference for you.” Fern replies, “I hope so.”

The RTR gathering is almost like an informal seminar, because it includes instructions and advice on living in a vehicle. It also has swap meets for many of the attendees to trade or give away items. It’s at one of the swap meets that Fern meets Dave (played by David Strathairn), a tall and bearded gentleman who’s around her age or slightly older, and he seems as if he’s immediately attracted to Fern. She plays it cool though, and they talk about their can openers before going their separate ways.

Later, Fern and Dave see each other again at a social gathering and he asks her to dance. She warms up to him a little and he basically tells her that he’s available, but she still gives him the impression that she’s not interested in dating him. Although Fern doesn’t say it out loud, it’s pretty obvious that she’s still grieving over the loss of her husband, whom she speaks fondly of later in the story when she opens up to someone about him.

Although Fern considers her to be independent, there are scenes in the movie where she still shows some naïveté about basic things when it comes to looking out for her safety as a road traveler. For example, Fern’s tendency to be a loner means that she often parks in areas that are too isolated and would be disastrous if she needed help from someone nearby. When she sleeps in her car during the cold winter months, she has a thick blanket and layered clothing, but she doesn’t think of ways to better protect herself from getting sick or frost-bitten.

And she’s not as skilled in auto mechanics as she should be. One day, Fern finds that her parked car has a flat tire, but she does not have a spare tire. But even if she did, Fern doesn’t know how to change a tire. Luckily, another nomad whom she knows named Swankie (played by real-life nomad named Charlene Swankie) is parked nearby and can help her.

Fern asks Swankie to drive her to the nearest gas station to get help and a spare tire. Swankie mildly scolds Fern and tells her that it’s time for her to learn how to change a tire and that she should always have a spare tire. During a heart-to-heart conversation in Ruth’s van, Swankie tells her that she will soon turn 75, she was diagnosed with brain cancer, and she now has only seven or eight months to live. Swankie doesn’t want to go through cancer treatment. Instead, she wants to spend her last days on Earth doing things she always wanted to do, like go to Alaska.

Swankie tells Fern that she learned this lesson after she watch a close friend die from a terminal illness and how this friend had a boat parked at his home that he never got to use because he kept putting it off until he had more time. Swankie also opens up about the suicidal thoughts that she had when she found out that she had cancer. Swankie says she even read Jack Kevorkian’s controversial “Final Exit” book to get ideas, but she changed her mind about killing herself because she didn’t want to leave behind her two dogs. In turn, Fern reveals some of the feelings that she went through when her husband was dying of a terminal illness. It’s one of the best scenes in the movie.

During the course of the film, Fern takes different temporary jobs, including working as a camp host. She encounters Dave (who sometimes works as a fossil guide) at different times during the story and they become closer. She ends up meeting Dave’s musician son James (Tay Strathairn) and other members of Dave’s family. Fern also spends time with her married sister, who’s led a much more traditional and conservative life than Fern has. Viewers will get more insight into Fern’s family background during this crucial scene.

People should not expect a typical road-trip movie in “Nomadland.” Most road-trip movies want to stuff the plot with a lot of mishaps or high-octane action, but “Nomad” often focuses on the mundane but realistic everyday activities of Fern at work and in her free time. She takes pleasure in simple things, as demonstrated in a scene where Fern and Linda May pretend they’re at a spa and put tissues on their faces and cucumbers over their eyes.

And it’s a very intimate look at Fern life—maybe too intimate for some viewers, because there’s a scene of her urinating out in the desert and a scene of her defecating in a bucket in her van. (For people easily offended by bodily functions depicted on screen, you’ve been warned.) The defecation scene is not so graphic that viewers see the end results, but it’s explicit enough where people might find out more about Fern’s intestinal activities than they care to know. There’s also a full-frontal nude scene of Fern floating on water as she takes a relaxing dip in a lake.

These scenes are meant to give this drama a documentary feel, especially when Fern is alone. McDormand is so talented that she doesn’t need to speak in any solitary scenes, because her facial expressions say a lot more than what many scripted lines would say. The cinematography from Joshua James Richards gives emotional resonance to the seasons and terrain that Fern experiences during her journey. It’s during the freezing winter months that viewers get the most impactful sense of Fern’s isolation, because even she doesn’t know if she’s putting herself in a situation where she could wake up with frostbite or her van too buried in snow to drive.

But what “Nomadland” captures best is the reality that for nomads like Fern, the only thing constant is change. People come and go out of each other’s lives. Home means not having a building as a permanent place to live. There’s a pivotal scene in the movie were Fern has to make a choice to live a comfortable and more stable life in a regular house or keep living her more difficult and unstable life on the road. The choice she makes tells viewers what they need to know about what Fern’s definition of “freedom” is and what she might or might not be willing to give up to have that freedom.

Searchlight Pictures released “Nomadland” in select U.S. virtual cinemas on December 4, 2020. The movie is set for a release in select IMAX theaters in the U.S. on January 29, 2021. “Nomadland” goes into wider release in U.S. cinemas and debuts on Hulu on February 19, 2021.

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