15/03/2021 - Another Round gets a surprise Best Director nod for Thomas Vinterberg, while Collective makes history as the first Romanian film in the mix with not one but two nods

This year’s extended awards season is nearing its end, and after some game-changing nominations for the BAFTA awards (read news), it’s time for the Academy Awards to make their statement on the film crop of the year of the pandemic. Before the ceremony set to take place on 25 April in Los Angeles, the 93^rd edition of the awards have just unveiled their nominees.

Regarding the European contingent, it is again Florian Zeller’s audience darling The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Zeller
film profile], a co-production between the UK and France, that leads the pack, with a total of six nominations including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins) and Best Supporting Actress (Olivia Colman).

Arguably the most remarkable European feats this year come from Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which not only received a nomination for Best International Feature Film (being the frontrunner of the category), but also grabbed one for Best Director for the Danish helmer, in what represents his biggest achievement to date on that side of the Atlantic; and Alexander Nanau’s Collective [+see also:
film review
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film profile], which does not simply mark the first ever Oscar nomination for a Romanian film, but also repeats Honeyland [+see also:
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interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile] accomplishment from last year by being nominated in both the Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary categories.

The Best International Feature Film category also includes Jasmila Žbanić’s multi-awarded Quo Vadis, Aida? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile], the first film from Bosnia and Herzegovina to be nominated since No Man’s Land [+see also:
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film profile], which won in 2002; and Tunisia’s submission The Man Who Sold His Skin [+see also:
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interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] by Kaouther Ben Hania, co-produced by France, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. The category is rounded off by Hong Kong’s submission, Better Days.

The acting categories welcomed Bulgarian newcomer Maria Bakalova, who made waves with her work in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, as well as British thesps Vanessa Kirby for her 2020 Volpi Cup-winning role in Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó and Kata W…
film profile], and Carey Mulligan for her work in Promising Young Woman [+see also:
trailer
film profile], co-produced by the Los Angeles branch of US-British company LuckyChap Entertainment and directed by her fellow countrywoman Emerald Fennell, who also received a Best Director nod.

Led by David Fincher’s Mank (scoring a total of 10 nominations), the list of nominees includes other European (co-)productions, such as Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent [+see also:
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interview: Maite Alberdi
film profile] (in the Best Documentary category), Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s Wolfwalkers [+see also:
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film profile] (in the Best Animated Film category) and Edoardo Ponti's The Life Ahead [+see also:
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film profile] (in the Best Original Song category, for Laura Pausini's record). In the technical categories, Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio [+see also:
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interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] caught the eye of the voters in Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, same as Autumn de Wilde's Emma [+see also:
trailer
film profile], while Christopher Nolan’s Tenet [+see also:
trailer
film profile] scored nominations for Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects. Rather surprisingly, Pedro Almodóvar's The Human Voice, which had been shortlisted, is not found in the final nominees for Best Short Film Live Action.

The nominees:

Best Picture
The Father [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Zeller
film profile] – Florian Zeller (UK/France)
Judas and the Black Messiah – Shaka King
Mank – David Fincher
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Promising Young Woman [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Emerald Fennell (USA/UK)
Sound of Metal – Darius Marder
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin

Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Denmark/Sweden/Netherlands)
David Fincher – Mank
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Best Actress
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó and Kata W…
film profile] (Canada/Hungary)
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – 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 Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

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 Adapted Screenplay
Sacha Baron Cohen and Co-Writers – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton – The Father
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami
Ramin Bahrani – The White Tiger (India/USA)

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 – Dan Scanlon
Over the Moon – Glen Keane, John Kahrs
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Richard Phelan and Will Bec…
film profile] – Will Becher, Richard Phelan (UK/France/USA)
Soul – Pete Docter, Kemp Powers
Wolfwalkers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart (Ireland/Luxembourg/France)

Best International Feature Film
Another Round [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Thomas Vinterberg
Better Days – Derek Tsang (Hong Kong)
Collective [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Alexander Nanau (Romania/Luxembourg)
The Man Who Sold His Skin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] – Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France/Belgium/Germany/Sweden)
Quo Vadis, Aida? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile] – Jasmila Žbanić (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Austria/Romania/France/Netherlands/Germany/Poland/Norway/Turkey)

Best Documentary
Collective – Alexander Nanau
Crip Camp – James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham
The Mole Agent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maite Alberdi
film profile] – Maite Alberdi (Chile/USA/Germany/Netherlands/Spain)
My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed (South Africa)
Time – Garrett Bradley (USA)

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 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (UK)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] (Italy/France)

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” – Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice” – The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik” – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“lo Sì (Seen)” – The Life Ahead [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Italy/USA)
“Speak Now” – One Night in Miami

Best Production Design
The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (UK/USA)

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan (USA/Canada/Hong Kong)
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
Colette - Anthony Giacchino
A Concerto Is a Conversation - Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot
Do Not Split - Anders Hammer (Norway/USA)
Hunger Ward - Skye Fitzgerald
A Love Song for Latasha - Sophia Nahli Allison

Best Short Film (Animated)
Burrow - Madeline Sharafian
Genius Loci - Adrien Merigeau (France)
If Anything Happens I Love You - Michael Govier, Will McCormack
Opera - Keith Connelly
Yes-People - Gísli Darri Halldórsson (Iceland)

Best Short Film (Live Action)
Feeling Through – Doug Roland
The Letter Room – Elvira Lind
The Present - Farah Nabulsi (Palestine)
Two Distant Strangers - Travon Free, Martin Desmond Roe
White Eye - Tomer Shushan (Israel)