You might have been forgiven for thinking there wouldn’t be an Academy Awards in 2021. For much of 2020, cinemas were closed and film production either slowed down or ground to a halt. Most films couldn’t be made and even the ones that were completed couldn’t be seen easily. However the Oscars will be taking place – even though it will be a good fourteen months after the last ceremony. The 93rd Oscars will be handed out, likely in a virtual manner, on 23rd April, but the actual list of nominations was released today.
And it’s an interesting assortment – with some familiar names and faces and also some productions that might likely have been edged out by more commercial fare in other years. (Major tentpole fare Tenet is reduced to some technical nods). Diversity is also on display with prominent nominations for wider-spread talents. The Walking Dead’s Steven Yuen becomes the first Asian-American nominated for an Actor in a Leading Role for Minari (he already received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Critics’ Choice Awards). Riz Ahmed (for Sound of Metal), is the first Muslim actor nominated for Actor in a Leading Role.With her nomination for the title role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Viola Davis broke the record for the most number of overall acting nominations for a black actress and also became the only black woman with two Actress in a Leading Role nominations.
It will be interesting to see who the eventual winners are and how the ceremony goes ahead.
The main categories are listed below…
Best Picture
The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, 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)
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)
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)
Directing
Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round), David Fincher (Mank), Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Emerald Fennel (Promising Young Woman)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad), The Father (Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller), Nomadland (Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao), One Night in Miami (Screenplay by Kemp Powers), The White Tiger (Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani)
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas), Minari (Written by Lee Isaac Chung), Promising Young Woman (Written by Emerald Fennell), Sound of Metal (Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Written by Aaron Sorkin)
Costume Design
Emma (Alexandra Byrne), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ann Roth), Mank (Trish Summerville), Mulan (Bina Daigeler), Pinocchio (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Music (Original Score)
Da 5 Bloods (Terence Blanchard), Mank (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Minari (Emile Mosseri), News of the World (James Newton Howard), Soul (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste)
Music (Original Song)
Fight For You from 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 from The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite, Husavik from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson), Io Sì (Seen) from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se) (Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini), Speak Now from One Night in Miami (Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth).
Animated Feature Film
Onward , Over the Moon, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Soul, Wolfwalkers
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)
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)
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
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)
Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma (Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze), Hillbilly Elegy (Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson), Mank (Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff), Pinocchio (Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti)
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
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)
