By Dana Feeney
The nominations for the 2021 Oscars have finally been announced. In June 2020 it was announced that the awards show would be postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Oscars were originally scheduled for February 21 but they will now be on April 25. The award show is run by the Academy of Motion Pictures, which was founded in the 1930s. This is the third time in Oscar’s history that the show has been postponed: the first time was in 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the second in 1981 due to an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, there are many incredible films that have been created in the past year. This is the first time in Oscars history that the Academy will allow streaming films meaning films that did not have a box office debut. According to the Academy announcement last April, it will be a one time exception made to the eligibility rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting theater closures. This makes films like 2021 awards season powerhouse Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which exclusively premiered on Amazon Prime Video, eligible for award nominations.
Landmarks in Diversity
This is the first time in the Academy’s history that two women have been nominated for Best Director; Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” and Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman.” Zhao is the first woman of color to be nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. She is also the first woman to ever receive four nominations in one year.
This is the first time that the Best Actor category is not majority white. Steven Yeun was the first Asian American to be nominated for Best Actor for his role in “Minari“. Also nominated for Best Actor, Riz Ahmed is the first person of Pakistani descent and the first Muslim person ever nominated for an acting Oscar for his performance in “Sound of Metal.” They are nominated alongside Chadwick Boseman for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Anthony Hopkins for “The Father” and Gary Oldman for “Mank.” Chadwick Boseman is the first black actor to be nominated for a posthumous Oscar and may be the first black actor to win a posthumous Oscar considering his Golden Globes win.
Many black filmmakers and professionals made history this year including Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson, who are the first Black women nominated for best makeup and hairstyling for their work on “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Additionally, “Judas and the Black Messiah” is the first movie with an all-Black producing team, Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, to be nominated for best picture. Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield’s acting nominations for “Judas and the Black Messiah” marks the first time two Black actors from the same film were nominated. “Judas and the Black Messiah” now holds the record for most Black nominees ever from the same film with 10 nominations compared to the past record which was “The Color Purple” with 7 nominations.
The best actress nominees include Viola Davis for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” who is now the most nominated Black actress ever and Andra Day for her performance in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” The best supporting actor nominees include Daniel Kaluuya for “Judas and the Black Messiah”, Leslie Odom Jr. for “One Night in Miami…” and LaKeith Stanfield for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Additionally, Yuh-Jung Youn, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “Minari”, is the first Korean person ever nominated for an acting Oscar.
As expected, the nominations for the Oscars have many familiar titles from the Golden Globes nominations. You can read more about this year’s Golden Globes here. It’ll be interesting to see how the Oscars winners compare to the Golden Globes winners considering last year’s parallel with Parasite’s Oscars win for Best Picture versus it’s Golden Globes snub.
This year’s nominations are as diverse as the Oscars have ever been, though the bar still is on the floor considering the nominees are still predominantly old, white, and male. In 2020 the Oscars earned the hastag, #OscarsSoWhite so The influx of recognition for minorities is significant in comparison. For reference last year the only non-white person nominated was Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for Best Actress.
The Academy is working on improving their organization and have increased the number of female identifying members from 25% in 2015 to 33% in 2020, and increased members from racial and ethnic minorities, from 10% in 2015 to 19% in 2020. Considering the significant lack of diversity and recognition in categories like Best Picture and the lack of representation for Latinx individuals almost entirely, the Academy still has a way to go til its awards actually recognize and represent the diversity of the film community.
Full List of 2021 Oscar Nominations
Similar to college basketball’s March Madness brackets, we highly recommend making Oscars ballots. It’s a super fun way to engage in awards shows which tend to be pretty monotonous and motivates people to actually watch the nominated films.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES:
RIZ AHMED
Sound of Metal
CHADWICK BOSEMAN
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
ANTHONY HOPKINS
The Father
GARY OLDMAN
Mank
STEVEN YEUN
Minari
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES:
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 LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES:
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
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES:
MARIA BAKALOVA
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
GLENN CLOSE
Hillbilly Elegy
OLIVIA COLMAN
The Father
AMANDA SEYFRIED
Mank
YUH-JUNG YOUN
Minari
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES:
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
CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES:
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
COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES:
EMMA
Alexandra Byrne
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Ann Roth
MANK
Trish Summerville
MULAN
Bina Daigeler
PINOCCHIO
Massimo Cantini Parrini
DIRECTING
NOMINEES:
ANOTHER ROUND
Thomas Vinterberg
MANK
David Fincher
MINARI
Lee Isaac Chung
NOMADLAND
Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Emerald Fennell
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
NOMINEES:
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
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
NOMINEES:
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
FILM EDITING
NOMINEES:
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
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES:
ANOTHER ROUND
Denmark
BETTER DAYS
Hong Kong
COLLECTIVE
Romania
THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
Tunisia
QUO VADIS, AIDA?
Bosnia and Herzegovina
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES:
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
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
NOMINEES:
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)
NOMINEES:
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 PICTURE
NOMINEES:
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
PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES:
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
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
NOMINEES:
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
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
NOMINEES:
FEELING THROUGH
Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
THE LETTER ROOM
Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
THE PRESENT
Farah Nabulsi and Ossama Bawardi
TWO DISTANT STRANGERS
Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
WHITE EYE
Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman
SOUND
NOMINEES
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
NOMINEES:
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
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES:
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 TIGER
Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES:
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
