Netflix’s Mank has swept the 2021 Oscar nominations with 10 nods in various categories including Best Picture and Best Director for David Fincher.
The Academy Award nominations are in, and it revealed more than its share of surprises. For starters, Netflix’s Mank emerged as the odds-on favourite with a maximum 10 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
More importantly though, the 2021 Oscar nominations are being hailed as the most diverse ever with multiple nods to civil rights films, persons of colour, and women. Nominations in all 23 categories of the 93rd Academy Awards were announced on Monday, March 15, 2021.
Judas and the Black Messiah earned six nominations, including supporting actors for Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield. The two were joined by Leslie Odom Jr. in the category for One Night in Miami.
Diversity Rules
This year witnessed a record 70 women getting nominated in 76 categories. Of them were Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell nominated Best Director for Nomadland and Promising Young Woman, respectively — the first time two women have been nominated in this category the same year.
Zhao is also the first woman of colour ever nominated as director. Fennel posted a tweet expressing her emotions following the honour.
So proud and grateful to every amazing person who worked on this film. Never going to stop crying.
— Emerald Fennell (@emeraldfennell) March 15, 2021
Nominated for Best Actress in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Viola Davis became the only Black woman with two best actress nods and the most-nominated Black actress ever with four nominations in total. Davis took to Twitter to congratulate the team behind the film.
Absolutely thrilled!! Congratulations to the whole @MaRaineyFilm team! Deserved! 💛 pic.twitter.com/Dx9GEsLRaz
— Viola Davis (@violadavis) March 15, 2021
A Boost For Asian Talents
It was also the first time that two actors of Asian descent were nominated in the Best Actor category. While Pakistani-origin Riz Ahmed became the first Muslim to earn the nod for his performance in Sound of Metal, Korean-American Steven Yeun found himself in the category for Minari.
While expressing gratitude for his nomination, Ahmed gave a shout out to the film’s writer-director Darius Marder, actor Paul Raci and the rest of the crew members in a series of tweets and an Instagram post.
Chadwick Boseman also became the first actor of colour ever to earn a posthumous Oscar nomination for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Streaming platforms dominated this year’s nominees list. Films by Netflix earned a total of 35 nominations. Besides Mank, the streamer earned nominations for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
The 2021 Oscar nominations were presented by actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas and her singer-songwriter husband Nick Jonas. The presentation was aired live from London on the Academy’s official website and digital platforms.
Due to COVID-19, the ceremony will be held on April 25 this year instead of in its usual early April slot. The organisation also changed the eligibility criteria to allow films that would have gone to cinemas to still be eligible if they debuted on streaming services.
Academy president David Rubin confirmed that this year’s ceremony would be broadcast from Union Station in Los Angeles as well as the Oscars’ traditional Dolby Theatre home in Hollywood.
Here is a rundown of the 2021 Oscar nominations
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 Vinterburg, Another Round
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woma
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Best Actress in a Leading Role
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 Actor in a Leading Role
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
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Colman, The Father
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari
Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas And The Black Messiah
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas And The Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr, One Night In Miami
Paul Raci, Sound Of Metal
Best Original Screenplay
Judas And The Black Messiah; Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas
Minari; Lee Isaac Chung
Promising Young Woman; Emerald Fennell
Sound Of Metal; Screenplay by Darius Marder, Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance
The Trial Of The Chicago 7; Aaron Sorkin
Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; 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; Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
Nomadland; Chloé Zhao
One Night In Miami; Kemp Powers
The White Tiger; Ramin Bahrani
Best International Feature
Another Round (Denmark)
Better Days (Hong Kong)
Collective (Romania)
The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia)
Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods; Terence Blanchard
Mank; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Minari; Emile Mosseri
News Of The World; James Newton Howard
Soul; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Best Original Song
Husavik, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Fight For You, Judas and the Black Messiah
Io Si (Seen), The Life Ahead
Speak Now, One Night in Miami
Hear My Voice, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Documentary Feature
My Octopus Teacher
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
Time
Best Documentary Short
Colette
A Concierto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha
Best Live Action Short
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye
Best Animated Short
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People
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
Sound of Metal; Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
Soul; Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
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
Mank; Trish Summerville
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Ann Roth
Mulan; Bina Daigeler
Pinocchio; Massimo Cantini Parrini
Best Film 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 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 Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma; Marese Langan, Laura Allen, Claudia Stolze
Hillbilly Elegy; Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, Matthew Mungle
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson
Mank; Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams, Colleen LaBaff
Pinocchio; Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti
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