2021 Oscar nominations: Mank takes pole position with ten nods

Two months later than planned, the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards are finally here!

This year’s race is led by the factual drama Mank with a hefty ten mentions including a Best Director nod for David Fincher and the all-important Best Picture accolade. Additionally, leading stars Gary Oldman (as Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz) and Amanda Seyfried (as real-life actress Marion Davies) are both nominated in Best Actor and Supporting Actress respectively.

The biopic focuses on how Mankiewicz was pressured by filmmaker Orson Welles into penning a script for the cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941).

Six films are tied for second-place in the nominations tally with the drama Nomadland the current frontrunner to take home the Best Picture Oscar. Filmmaker Chloé Zhao is up for three awards including Best Director and is heavily tipped to become only the second woman to win the category while leading star Frances McDormand (as homeless woman Fern) is in contention for another Best Actress gong.

The other Best Picture Oscar contenders to receive six nominations are The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

The other film to complete the prestigious list is the comical thriller Promising Young Woman which scored a Best Actress nod for British star Carey Mulligan (as vengeful woman Cassie Thomas) and double mentions for filmmaker Emerald Fennell.

The nods for Fennell and Nomadland’s Zhao marks the first time that two women have been shortlisted for Best Director!

In the acting categories, Mulligan competes in a strong Best Actress line-up that also consists of Viola Davis (as real-life blues singer Ma Rainey) in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Golden Globe winner Andra Day (as real-life singer Billie Holiday) in The United States vs. Billie Holiday and Vanessa Kirby (as devastated mother Martha Weiss) in Pieces of a Woman.

After his tragic death last August, the late Chadwick Boseman has received a posthumous nomination in Best Actor for his powerful role as trumpet player Levee Green in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

His strong competition includes previous winner Anthony Hopkins (as dementia sufferer Anthony) in The Father, Riz Ahmed (as deaf drummer Ruben Stone) in Sound of Metal and Steven Yeun (as Korean-American farmer Jacob Yi) in Minari.

In the supporting line-ups, Glenn Close is looking to finally end her long wait for a first Oscar success with her eighth nod as grandmother Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance in the critically-maligned Hillbilly Elegy. Her competition includes former adversary Olivia Colman (as concerned daughter Anne) in The Father and veteran Korean actress Yuh-jung Youn (as loving grandmother Soonja) in Minari.

The fifth nominee of that category is that of Bulgarian starlet Maria Bakalova who pulled off another remarkable nomination for her role as Borat Saddiyev’s daughter Tutar in the mockumentary sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

Her co-star Sacha Baron Cohen received two mentions by the Academy including another Screenplay nod for the Borat follow-up. Additionally, the British actor is also shortlisted in Best Supporting Actor for his performance as real-life activist Abby Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7.

However, he faces stern competition in his category from Judas and the Black Messiah pair Daniel Kaluuya (as real-life Black Panther Party Leader Fred Hampton) and LaKeith Stanfield (as criminal William O’Neal), Leslie Odom Jr. (as real-life singer Sam Cooke) in One Night in Miami and veteran newcomer Paul Raci (as deaf counselor Joe) in Sound of Metal.

Elsewhere, Pixar’s Soul is the heavy favourite to land Best Animated Film and faces resilience from Pixar rival Onward and the Aardman animated sequel A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.

The Danish drama Another Round is also a strong candidate to win Best International Feature especially after filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg received a surprise Best Director nomination.

Other notable films to receive mentions by the Academy this year include The White Tiger, News of the World, Tenet, Mulan, Pinocchio, The Midnight Sky, Da 5 Bloods and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Compared to recent Oscar seasons, there weren’t too many shocks barring a surprise Best Director snub for Aaron Sorkin and his work on The Trial of the Chicago 7. Despite their recent Golden Globe victories, both Jodie Foster and Rosamund Pike were overlooked for their performances in The Mauritanian and I Care a Lot.

Additionally, films that failed to land a single nomination included First Cow, Ammonite, Birds of Prey, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, The Invisible Man, The Little Things, The Prom and Welcome to Chechnya.

Owing to the current restrictions, the 93rd Academy Awards will take place at both Los Angeles’s Union Station and the Dolby Theatre.

The full list of Oscar nominations can be seen below (winner predictions in blue).

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
Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI
Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
David Fincher, MANK
Thomas Vinterberg, ANOTHER ROUND
Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND

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’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

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
Yuh-jung Youn, MINARI

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM (Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern & Nina Pedrad)
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 & Kenny Lucas)
MINARI (Lee Isaac Chung)
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (Emerald Fennell)
SOUND OF METAL (Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder & Darius Marder)
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (Aaron Sorkin)

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 PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE FATHER (Peter Francis & Cathy Featherstone)
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara & Diana Stoughton)
MANK (Donald Graham & Jan Pascale)
NEWS OF THE WORLD (David Crank & Elizabeth Keenan)
TENET (Nathan Crowley & Kathy Lucas)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (Sean Bobbitt)
MANK (Erik Messerschmid)
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 MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
EMMA (Marese Langan, Laura Allen & Claudia Stolz)
HILLBILLY ELEGY (Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle & Patricia Dehaney)
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal & Jamika Wilson)
MANK (Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri & Colleen LaBaff)
PINOCCHIO (Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli & Francesco Pegoretti)

BEST SOUND
GREYHOUND (Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders & David Wyman)
MANK (Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance & Drew Kunin)
NEWS OF THE WORLD (Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller & John Pritchett)
SOUL (Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott & David Parker)
SOUND OF METAL (Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés & Phillip Bladh)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
LOVE AND MONSTERS (Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt & Brian Cox)
THE MIDNIGHT SKY (Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon & David Watkins)
MULAN (Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury & Steve Ingram
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones & Santiago Colomo Martinez)
TENET (Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley & Scott Fisher)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
DA 5 BLOODS (Terence Blanchard)
MANK (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)
MINARI (Emile Rossen)
NEWS OF THE WORLD (James Newton Howard)
SOUL (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA, “Husavick”
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH, “Fight For You”
THE LIFE AHEAD, “Io sì (Seen)”
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, “Speak Now”
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, “Hear My Voice”

BEST ANIMATED FILM
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON
SOUL
WOLFWALKERS

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
ANOTHER ROUND (Denmark)
BETTER DAYS (Hong Kong)
COLLECTIVE (Romania)
THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN (Tunisia)
QUO VADIS, AIDA? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
COLLECTIVE
CRIP CAMP
THE MOLE AGENT
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
TIME

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
COLETTE
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION
DO NOT SPLIT
HUNGER WARD
A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
FEELING THROUGH
THE LETTER ROOM
THE PRESENT
TWO DISTANT STRANGERS
WHITE EYE

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
BURROW
GENIUS LOCI
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU
OPERA
YES-PEOPLE

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