Austin Film Critics nominations: ‘The Power of the Dog,’ ‘Dune,’ ‘Licorice Pizza’ lead

The Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) announced its 2021 awards nominations today, where The Power of the Dog leads with nine — including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Other Best Film nominees include Dune and Licorice Pizza, which each earned eight nominations, and The Green Knight and Pig, which earned five and four, respectively.

In Best Actress we have Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter, Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers, Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza, Kristen Stewart in Spencer and Agathe Rousselle in Titane. Best Actor is made up of Nicolas Cage in Pig, Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog, Andrew Garfield in tick, tick…BOOM!, Simon Rex in Red Rocket and Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth.

The supporting nominations for actors are: Bradley Cooper in Licorice Pizza, Colman Domingo in Zola, Vincent Lindon in Titane, Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Power of the Dog and Jeffrey Wright in The French Dispatch while supporting actress contenders are Ariana DeBose in West Side Story, Ann Dowd in Mass, Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog, Kathryn Hunter in The Tragedy of Macbeth and Ruth Negga in Passing.

The Austin Film Critics Association also awards titles with local ties — works made by directors who live in Austin. This award is distinct to the group of critics, recognizing the talent of Austin filmmakers as they celebrate the best films of the year.

Here is the full list of nominations. Winners TBA at a later date.

Best Film
Dune
The Green Knight
Licorice Pizza
Pig
The Power of the Dog

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
David Lowery, The Green Knight
Denis Villeneuve, Dune

Best Actress
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Agathe Rouselle, Titane

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage, Pig
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick Tick… Boom!
Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Ann Dowd, Mass
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Kathryn Hunter, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Ruth Negga, Passing

Best Supporting Actor
Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
Colman Domingo, Zola
Vincent Lindon, Titane
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
Jeffrey Wright, The French Dispatch

Best Ensemble
Dune
The French Dispatch
The Harder they Fall
Licorice Pizza
Mass

Best Original Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch
Vanessa Block and Michael Sarnoski, Pig
Fran Kranz, Mass
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Ryusuke Hamagucki and Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car
Sian Heder, CODA
David Lowery, The Green Knight
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth, Dune

Best Cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Greig Fraser, Dune
Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story
Andrew Droz Palermo, The Green Knight
Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog

Best Editing
Andy Jurgensen, Licorice Pizza
Peter Sciberras, The Power of the Dog
Claire Simpson, The Last Duel
Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar, West Side Story
Joe Walker, Dune

Best Original Score
Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog
Jonny Greenwood, Spencer
Daniel Hart, The Green Knight
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Candyman
Hans Zimmer, Dune

Best International Film
Drive My Car
Lamb
Parallel Mothers
Titane
The Worst Person in the World

Best Documentary
Flee
The Rescue
The Sparks Brothers
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
The Velvet Underground

Best Animated Film
Belle
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Best Voice Acting/Animated/Digital Performance
Stephanie Beatriz, Encanto
Abbi Jacobson, The Mitchells vs The Machines
John Leguizamo, Encanto
Danny McBride, The Mitchells vs the Machines
Kaho Nakamura, Belle

Best Stunts
Dune
No Time to Die
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spiderman: No Way Home
Raging Fire

Best First Film
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Rebecca Hall, Passing
Fran Kranz, Mass
Michael Samoski, Pig
Emma Seligman, Shiva Baby

The Robert R. “Bobby” McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza
Emilia Jones, CODA
Agathe Rousselle, Titane
Rachel Sennott, Shiva Baby

Best Austin Film 2021
The Carnivores (dir. Caleb Michael Johnson)
The Get Together (dir. Will Bakke)
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (co-dir. Robert Rodriguez)
Queens of Pain (co-dir. Cassie Hay)
Without Getting Killed or Caught (dirs. Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield)