Just a few years ago, it seemed the Academy was in a tussle with Netflix – the young-buck streaming service determined to break its way into the age-old institution that is the Oscars. Now, the streamer has the most-nominated film at the 2021 Oscars with David Fincher’s Mank – which bagged ten nods for the upcoming ceremony, leading the pack by a considerable margin. Fincher’s loving (but barbed) recreation of Hollywood’s Golden Age – and the story behind Citizen Kane – was always going to play into the Academy’s soft-spot of ‘movies about movies’, and it impressed across a range of major headlining categories and in the more technical arenas.
As well as Best Picture and Best Director, Mank has nominations in Actor In A Leading Role for Gary Oldman, Actress In A Supporting Role for Amanda Seyfried, as well as Sound, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, Score, and Makeup And Hairstyling.
While Mank leads the way, the most notable takeaway from this year’s wider list of nominees is that it points to the Academy finally starting to move beyond nominations that skew predominantly towards the white and male – a problem that’s persisted even in recent years. The presence of Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao and Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell in Best Director marks the first time two women have been nominated in the category in the same year (really), while Minari’s Lee Isaac Chung also being in there marks the first time two Asian directors have been up for Best Director in the same year (again, really).
In fact, Nomadland and Minari are both among the scrum of movies that received six nominations each, and both broke into some of the biggest categories. Zhao’s film is up for Best Picture, Director, and Leading Actress for Frances McDormand, while Chung’s is also up for Best Picture, and received an Actor In A Leading Role nomination for Steven Yeun.
Black Panther Party thriller Judas And The Black Messiah also received six nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, though oddly its two leading players – Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield – both ended up with supporting actor nominations. Then there were six nominations for the Riz Ahmed-starring Sound Of Metal, which as well as making the Best Picture and Original Screenplay nominees brought a Leading Actor nomination for Ahmed himself, and a Supporting Actor nod for Paul Raci. Elsewhere, Netflix received six nominations for The Trial Of The Chicago 7, including recognition in Best Film, Original Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin, Editing, Cinematography, and a Supporting Actor nomination for Sacha Baron Cohen.
There were five nominations each for Promising Young Woman – including Original Screenplay, Best Director for Emerald Fennell, Leading Actress for Carey Mulligan, and Best Picture – and The Father – including acting nominations for Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins, plus Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture, and more. As with last week’s BAFTA nominations, Chadwick Boseman can be found among the Leading Actor nominees for his stunning final performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, while his co-star Viola Davis was also nominated for Leading Actress.
There are, as ever, some snubs – most notably, nothing for Delroy Lindo’s astonishing turn in Da 5 Bloods, with Spike Lee’s genre-hopping Vietnam war film only receiving a nomination for Original Score. One Night In Miami didn’t receive much beyond Adapted Screenplay and a Supporting Actor nomination for Leslie Odom Jr., and Ludwig Göransson was overlooked for his thrumming Tenet score. In fact, Christopher Nolan’s latest only appeared in the Visual Effects and Production Design categories. Plus, if there’s one area that Mank missed out in, it was the Screenplay categories – with nothing for the script penned by David Fincher’s father, Jack.
There’s also some fun stuff here too. This year’s Sound nominations prove that Tom Hanks is the most valuable thing we all need to hear at the moment – with both Greyhound and News Of The World battling it out in that category. Plus, it’s lovely to see A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon up for Animated Feature (with the bonus of hearing Priyanka Chopra-Jones saying the word ‘Farmageddon’ during the nomination announcements). There was more awards love for Maria Bakalova in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (which is also up for Adapted Screenplay). Oh, and in all future conversations, Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga must henceforth be referred to as ‘the Oscar-nominated Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga’ – yes, the Original Song category featured a nod for the Eurocheese-fest, though sadly not for ‘Ja Ja Ding Dong’.
When it comes to awards recognition for female filmmakers and non-white faces in the film industry, there’s no end point to the changes needed to address the glaring issues that have persisted at the Oscars for decades. But this year’s list of nominees does feel like a better reflection of the diverse stories, performers and creatives that make up today’s movie landscape, hopefully the start of a more diverse precedent. With incredible contemporary performers like Chadwick Boseman, Steven Yeun and Riz Ahmed (the first Muslim performer to be nominated as a Leading Actor) appearing alongside old favourites like Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins for Actor In A Leading Role, there’s a feeling of the old guard and the new all coming together, a sign of a traditional institution finally looking to the future. Carry that good work forward, Oscar.
The Full List Of Nominees:
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
Chloé Zhao - Nomadland
Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman
Best Actress
Viola Davis - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day - The United States v. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman
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
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm - Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Nina Pedrad, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Swimer
The Father - Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
Nomadland - Chloé Zhao
One Night in Miami - Kemp Powers
The White Tiger - Ramin Bahrani
Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah - Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, Kenneth Lucas
Minari - Lee Isaac Chung
Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal - Abraham Marder, Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance
The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Aaron Sorkin
Best Costume Design
Emma
Mank
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mulan
Pinocchio
Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul
Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal
Best Animated Feature Film
Onward
Over the Moon
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best 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
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank, Kimberley Spiteri
Pinocchio
Best Original Song
Fight for You - Judas and the Black Messiah
Hear My Voice - The Trial of the Chicago 7
Húsavík - Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga
Io Si - Seen - The Life Ahead
Speak Now - One Night in Miami
Best Production Design
The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet
Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet
Best Live Action Short Film
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye
Best Documentary Short Subject
Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha
Best Animated Short Film
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People