After the tumultuous year that was 2020 in the world of film, we’ve finally reached the end. After a year that included shuttered theaters, VOD releases, and bending/breaking many of the Academy’s old standing traditions, the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards have finally been announced. Truthfully, in a year where many filmgoers lost interest in the industry out of the desire to not die from a deadly disease, it’s hard to get worked up about this year’s nominees. The 93rd Academy Awards just kind of exist, more so an obligation this year to try and reaffirm that 2020 wasn’t a complete nightmare that wasted everyone’s time.
That being said, there are some interesting stories to come out of the nominees, all of whom were announced today. David Fincher’s Mank leads the pack with 10 nominations in a variety of categories including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Most of the nominees are well-known awards favorites, such as Nomadland and Promising Young Woman, both of which were nominated in categories including Best Picture and Best Director, a notable feat given that both films were directed by women, making this the first time there were multiple female Best Director nominees in one award show, especially when compared to last year.
There were some upsets, as there always are. A part of me was wishing that Soul could have gotten a Best Picture nomination and to see Da 5 Bloods, while not Spike Lee’s best, be shut out almost entirely is disappointing. Some of these categories are strange (what the hell is up with Best Visual Effects), but overall the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards are exactly as I expected them to be with little surprises.
The full list of nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards are as follows:
Best Picture
- “The Father” David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
- “Judas and the Black Messiah” Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
- “Mank” Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
- “Minari” Christina Oh, Producer
- “Nomadland” Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
- “Promising Young Woman” Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
- “Sound of Metal” Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers
Best Actor
- Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal”
- Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
- Anthony Hopkins in “The Father”
- Gary Oldman in “Mank”
- Steven Yeun in “Minari”
Best Supporting Actor
- Sacha Baron Cohen in “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
- Daniel Kaluuya in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
- Leslie Odom, Jr. in “One Night in Miami…”
- Paul Raci in “Sound of Metal”
- Lakeith Stanfield in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Best Actress
- Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
- Andra Day in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
- Vanessa Kirby in “Pieces of a Woman”
- Frances McDormand in “Nomadland”
- Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman”
Best Supporting Actress
- Maria Bakalova in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
- Glenn Close in “Hillbilly Elegy”
- Olivia Colman in “The Father”
- Amanda Seyfried in “Mank”
- Yuh-Jung Youn in “Minari”
Best Animated Feature
- “Onward” Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
- “Over the Moon” Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou
- “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley
- “Soul” Pete Docter and Dana Murray
- “Wolfwalkers” Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants
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 Costume Design
- “Emma” Alexandra Byrne
- “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Ann Roth
- “Mank” Trish Summerville
- “Mulan” Bina Daigeler
- “Pinocchio” Massimo Cantini Parrini
Best Director
- “Another Round” Thomas Vinterberg
- “Mank” David Fincher
- “Minari” Lee Isaac Chung
- “Nomadland” Chloé Zhao
- “Promising Young Woman” Emerald Fennell
Best Documentary Feature
- “Collective” Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
- “Crip Camp” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
- “The Mole Agent” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
- “My Octopus Teacher” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
- “Time” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Best Documentary Short
- “Colette” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
- “A Concerto Is a Conversation” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
- “Do Not Split” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
- “Hunger Ward” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman
- “A Love Song for Latasha” Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan
Best 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 Internation Feature
- “Another Round” Denmark
- “Better Days” Hong Kong
- “Collective” Romania
- “The Man Who Sold His Skin” Tunisia
- “Quo Vadis, Aida?” Bosnia and Herzegovina
Best Makeup/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
Best 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
Best 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
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 Animated Short Film
- “Burrow” Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
- “Genius Loci” Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
- “If Anything Happens I Love You” Will McCormack and Michael Govier
- “Opera” Erick Oh
- “Yes-People” Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson
Best Live-Action Short Film
- “Feeling Through” Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
- “The Letter Room” Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
- “The Present” Farah Nabulsi
- “Two Distant Strangers” Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
- “White Eye” Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman
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 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 Adapted Screenplay
- “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” 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 Tigers” Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani
Best 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
