For a year that was, supposedly, so bad for movies—and, indeed, the business end of the industry certainly took some licks—there is still a lot to celebrate about the last year, as the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards remind us.
Even with all the uncertainty currently rocking the industry, this year’s slate of nominees certainly looks about like what you would expect. There are no real surprises and no real disappointments. COVID-19 may have disrupted the industry at large, but the Academy seems to be functioning like it always does.
Leading the pack this year is Mank, David Fincher’s biopic about the screenwriter of Citizen Kane. With 10 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor it’s a big year for Fincher and for Netflix. Netflix, of course, has been heavily featured in Best Picture categories in recent years but it has yet to take home the gold. Could this be year things change?
Perhaps, especially considering they’ve got two films up for the big one this year, with Mank running alongside The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Also of interest is the history making nominations of Emerald Fennell and Chloe Zhao for Best Director, which marks the first time two women have been up for the award, as well as making Zhao the first woman of color in the running.
While recent years have seen the Oscars move to February, the ongoing effects of the pandemic have, this year, moved the Oscars back to April 25. You can catch the ceremony that night on ABC.
BEST PICTURE
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
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
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Another Round – Denmark
Better Days – Hong Kong
Collective – Romania
The Man Who Sold His Skin – Tunisia
Qu Vadis, Aida? – Bosnia and Herzegovina
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song For Latasha
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time
ORIGINAL SONG
“Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“lo Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)
“Speak Now” from One Night in Miami…
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Borat Subsequent MovieFilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
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
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
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
DIRECTOR
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah
Erik Messerschmidt, Mank
Dariusz Wolski, News of the World
Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Phedon Papamichael, The Trial of the Chicago 7
COSTUME DESIGN
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Blackbottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye
ORIGINAL SCORE
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul
VISUAL EFFECTS
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet
FILM EDITING
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio
The 93rd Annual Academy Awards air Sunday April 25 on ABC.
