North Dakota Critics nominations: ‘Mank’ leads with 8
The North Dakota Film Society announced their nominations on Friday and David Fincher’s Mank received 8 mentions, the most of any film, although it failed to earn one of the five Best Picture slots, which went to Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, and Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman.
The North Dakota Film Society Awards celebrate the best achievements in cinema of 2020. For eligibility, members of NDFS considered all films released in the calendar year in at least one cinema in North Dakota or on a largely accessible streaming service, in addition to those made available for consideration to members of the society between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.
Four of the films nominated for Best Picture were directed by women. Three of those filmmakers also earned Best Director mentions.
Last year, NDFS was the first awards voting body in the world to nominate Honeyland for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature. The film went on to earn the same nominations at the Academy Awards, the first time a film earned nominations in both categories in the same year. NDFS has made a similar distinction this year by nominating Romanian film Collective in both the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature categories.
The winners of the 2nd North Dakota Film Society Awards will be announced Friday, January 15, 2021.
Best Picture
A total of 30 films received nominations from members of the society.
FIRST COW
Directed by Kelly Reichardt
Produced by Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Directed by Charlie Kaufman
Produced by Anthony Bregman, Charlie Kaufman, Robert Salerno, Stefanie Azpiazu
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
Directed by Eliza Hittman
Produced by Eliza Hittman, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy
NOMADLAND
Directed by Chloé Zhao
Produced by Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Directed by Emerald Fennell
Produced by Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Ashley Fox
Best Director
A total of 25 directors received nominations from members of the society.
Emerald Fennell
PROMISING YOIUNG WOMAN
David Fincher
MANK
Charlie Kaufman
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Kelly Reichardt
FIRST COW
Chloé Zhao
NOMADLAND
Best Actress
A total of 19 actresses received nominations by members of the society.
Viola Davis
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Sophia Loren
THE LIFE AHEAD
Frances McDormand
NOMADLAND
Carey Mulligan
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Kate Winslet
AMMONITE
Best Actor
A total of 24 actors received nominations by members of the society.
Riz Ahmed
SOUND OF METAL
Chadwick Boseman
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Delroy Lindo
DA 5 BLOODS
Gary Oldman
MANK
Steven Yeun
MINARI
Best Supporting Actress
A total of 22 actresses received nominations by members of the society.
Maria Bakalova
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
Ellen Burstyn
PIECES OF A WOMAN
Saoirse Ronan
AMMONITE
Amanda Seyfried
MANK
Yuh-Jung Youn
MINARI
Best Supporting Actor
A total of 27 actors received nominations by members of the society.
Bo Burnham
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Sacha Baron Cohen
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Orion Lee
FIRST COW
Paul Raci
SOUND OF METAL
David Straithairn
NOMADLAND
Best Screenplay
A total of 27 screenplays were nominated by members of the society.
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Charlie Kaufman
MANK
Jack Fincher
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
Eliza Hittman
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Emerald Fennell
SOUND OF METAL
Darius Marder, Abraham Marder (screenplay by)
Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance (story by)
Best Production Design
A total of 27 productions were nominated by members of the society.
EMMA.
Kave Quinn (production designer)
Stella Fox (set decorator)
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Molly Hughes (production designer)
Mattie Siegal (set decorator)
MANK
Donald Graham Burt (production designer)
Jan Pascale (set decorator)
NEWS OF THE WORLD
David Crank (production designer)
Elizabeth Keenan (set decorator)
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD
Cristina Casali (production designer)
Charlotte Dirickx (set decorator)
Best Cinematography
A total of 21 directors of photography were nominated by members of the society.
EMMA.
Christopher Blauvelt
FIRST COW
Christopher Blauvelt
MANK
Erik Messerschmidt
NOMADLAND
Joshua James Richards
TENET
Hoyte Van Hoytema
Best Film Editing
A total of 20 film editors were nominated by members of the society.
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Robert Frazen
MANK
Kirk Baxter
NOMADLAND
Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Frédéric Thoraval
TENET
Jennifer Lame
Best Original Score
A total of 25 film scores were nominated by members of the society.
AMMONITE
Dustin O’Halloran, Volker Bertelmann
THE INVISIBLE MAN
Benjamin Wallfisch
MANK
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
SOUL
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
TENET
Ludwig Göransson
Best Original Song
A total of 22 songs were nominated by members of the society.
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
”Wuhan Flu”
Written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Erran Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Swimer, Jena Friedman, Jim Russell, Jerry Holleman
MISS AMERICANA
”Only the Young”
Written by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose
ON THE ROCKS
”Identical”
Written by Thomas Pablo Croquet, Christian Mazzalai, Laurent Mazzalai, Frederic Jean Joseph Moulin
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
”Speak Now”
Written by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
OVER THE MOON
”Rocket to the Moon”
Written by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield, Helen Park
Best International Feature
A total of 16 films were nominated by members of the society.
AND THEN WE DANCED
Directed by Levan Akin
(Georgia)
ANOTHER ROUND
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
(Denmark)
BEANPOLE
Directed by Kantemir Balagov
(Russia)
COLLECTIVE
Directed by Alexander Nanau
(Romania)
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Directed by Matthew Rankin
(Canada)
Best Documentary Feature
A total of 22 films were nominated by members of the society.
ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
Directed by Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortés
Produced by Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortés, Dan Cogan, Stacey Abrams
BOYS STATE
Directed by Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
Produced by Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
COLLECTIVE
Directed by Alexander Nanau
Produced byAlexander Nanau, Bianca Oana, Bernard Michaux, Hanka Kastelicová
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
Directed by Kirsten Johnson
Produced by Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness, Kirsten Johnson
TIME
Directed by Garrett Bradley
Produced by Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley
THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS
Directed by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Produced by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Best Animated Feature
A total of 8 films were nominated by members of the society.
THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
Directed by Joel Crawford
Produced by Joel Crawford, Mark Swift
ONWARD
Directed by Dan Scanlon
Produced by Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae
OVER THE MOON
Directed by Glen Keane; co-directed by John Kahrs
Produced by Glen Keane, Peilin Chou, Gennie Rim
SOUL
Directed by Pete Docter, Kemp Powers
Produced by Peter Docter, Dana Murray
WOLFWALKERS
Directed by Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Produced by Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, Nora Twomey, Paul Young
Image courtesy of Netflix
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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