The 93rd Academy Awards 2021 – Nominations

It’s everyone’s favourite time of year….

We cheer, we moan, we rage and we delight as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences release their nominees for the Oscars. Even with a year like 2020, where it felt like there was nothing to see, it’s been made abundantly clear that there was an excellent spread of cinema to choose from. Let’s take a look at which films made the cut.

Leading the nominations is David Finchers Mank with a whopping nine nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor Gary Oldman, Best Supporting Actress for Amanda Seyfried and Best Director for Fincher among others. Second place is a five way tie between The Trial of the Chicago 7, Nomadland, Minari, The Father and Judas and the Black Messiah with 6 nominations, including a nomination each for Best Picture. That category was rounded out by Emerald Fennells Promising Young Woman which also scored nods for Best Director, Best Actress for Carey Mulligan and Best Original Screenplay.

Speaking of directing, history was made today when two women – Emerald Fennell and Chloe Zhao – were nominated for Best Director for the first in 93 years, with Zhao being the first Asian-American woman to be nominated as well. They’re in good company with Fincher, Lee Isaac Chung and the surprise entry, Thomas Vinterbeg for Another Round. Most predictions included Regina King and Aaron Sorkin in the line-up, but their films One Night in Miami and The Trial of the Chicago 7 found success in the screenplay categories, along with the films listed before as well Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The White Tiger and Sound of Metal.

Best Actor brought us no surprises with Riz Ahmed, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman and Steven Yeun; these were the names on everyone’s lips, though so many wished for Delroy Lindo to receive some recognition for his incredible turn in Da 5 Bloods (the film itself got only one nomination in Best Score). While we all knew that Daniel Kaluuya was bound to be nominated for his turn in Judas and the Black Messiah, a second nomination in that category for co-star Lakeith Stanfield was a surprise to be sure, but a very welcome one. The category was rounded out by Sound of Metal’s Paul Raci, One Night in Miami’s Leslie Odom Jr. and The Trial of the Chicago 7’s Sacha Baron Cohen. In Best Supporting Actress, there was a less welcome surprise in Glenn Close for Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy; while I’m sure nobody is against nominating the screen legend, the reaction to the film suggested that it may be left the in the dust, but it bagged two nominations with this and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Alongside Close were the breakout star of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Mara Bakalova, Olivia Colman (who, funnily enough, both appear in The Father), Seyfried and Minari’s Yuh-jung Youn.

Joining Mulligan in the Best Actress category were Boseman’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom co-star Viola Davis, Nomadlands Frances McDormand, Vanessa Kirby (in Pieces of a Womans sole nomination) and Andra Day, whose nominated turn in The United States vs Billie Holiday was in fact her first starring role in a film following supporting roles in Marshall and Cars 3. I can only imagine that she is over the moon.

Wait, did someone say Over the Moon….? Yes, I did, because that Netflix original found its way into Best Animated Feature along with Wolfwalkers, Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon and the Pixar one-two punch of Onward and Soul. But hey, since when do Disney ever win in this category, right?

Right?

One of the more eclectic categories this year was Best Visual Effects; a year without blockbuster releases has brought us a less typical but more interesting line up with Love and Monsters, The One and Only Ivan, Mulan, and Tenet. Where Tenet surprisingly missed out was Best Original Score, losing out to Da 5 Bloods, Minari, Mank, News of the World and Soul.

Finally, the critically acclaimed Iranian documentary Collective scored two nominations for Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature, joined in the former by Another Round, Better Days, The Man Who Sold His Skin and Quo Vadis, Aida? and in the latter by Crip Camp, My Mole Agent, My Octopus Teacher and Time.

For the full nominees of each category, check out the list below. While there’s never a year without snubs and surprises, this years Academy Awards has presented a consistently strong set of nominees that’ll have plenty of film lovers rallying behind each feature. We’ll see who gets the gold when the ceremony airs on 25^th April 2021.

Oh, and god bless Priyanka Chopra for having to read the full title of Borat and all of the writers.

Best Picture:
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director:

Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round
David Fincher – Mank
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Best Actor:

Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Gary Oldman – Mank
Steven Yeun – Minari

Best Actress:

Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’ 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 Supporting Actor:\

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 Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

Best Adapted Screenplay

Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jenna Friedman and Lee Kern – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton – The Father
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami
Ramin Bahrani – The White Tiger

Best Original Screenplay

Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, and Kenny Lucas – Judas and the Black Messiah
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder, Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Animated Feature

Onward
Over the Moon
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Best International Feature Film

Another Round
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Documentary

Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best 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

Best Costume Design

Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Film Editing

The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Original Score

Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

Best 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…

Best Production Design

The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet