Chicago Indie Critics nominations: ‘The Power of the Dog’ leads with nine

The Chicago Indie Critics have announced their nominations for the best in film for 2021 and leading all films with nine is Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, directed by Best Director nominee Jane Campion. The film also received nominations for Best Studio Film (for films with a budget over $20M), Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actor for Kodi Smit-McPhee, Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Musical Score.

Following next was the Warner Bros. epic Dune with eight nominations, all in below the line categories and missing a Best Film nod, and CODA’s six nominations from AppleTV+, which earned a nomination for Best Independent Film (for budgets under $20M).

The CIC’s two awards of special recognition and interest are their annual Trailblazer and Impact Awards. The Trailblazer Award honors the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content. The Impact Award celebrates a person whose work during the past year or beyond made a positive influence on society or the Chicagoland film community. Actress-turned-filmmaker Rebecca Hall, the director of Passing from Netflix, was nominated in both categories. 

For the Trailblazer Award field, Hall is joined by fellow filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sian Heder, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The other nominees for the Impact Award include filmmaker Steven Spielberg and local Chicago recognition for Rebecca Fons, the Director of Programming at The Gene Siskel Film Center, Ryan Oestreich, the General Manager of the Music Box Theater, and Jill Wheeler, the Director of Publicity and Promotions at the Chicago branch of Allied Global Marketing. 

Here is the full list of nominations. Winners will be announced January 8, 2021 in an online presentation posted on their YouTube Channel.

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (BUDGETS UNDER $20 MILLION)

CODA
Producers: Philippe Rousselot, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger, and Jerome Seydoux

NINE DAYS
Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Laura Tunstall, and Datari Turner

PIG
Producers: Vanessa Block, Dimitra Tsingou, Joseph Restaino, Nicolas Cage, Steve Tisch, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, and Dori Rath

SPENCER
Producers: Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, and Paul Webster

SUMMER OF SOUL
Producers: Ahmir “QuestLove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, and Joseph Patel

BEST STUDIO FILM (BUDGETS OVER $20 MILLION)

THE HARDER THEY FALL
Producers: Lawrence Bender, Shawn Carter, James Lassiter, and Jeymes Samuel

LICORICE PIZZA
Producers: Sara Murphy, Adam, Somner, and Paul Thomas Anderson

THE POWER OF THE DOG
Producers: Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion, and Tanya Seghatchian

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Producers: Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal

TICK, TICK… BOOM!
Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Julie Oh

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BENEDETTA
Producers: Said Ben Said, Michel Merkt, and Jerome Seydoux

DRIVE MY CAR
Producers: Tsuyoshi Gorô, Misaki Kawamura, Osamu Kubota, Sachio Matsushita, Yoshito Nakabe, Keiji Okumura, Jin Suzuki, and Akihisa Yamamoto

FLEE
Producers: Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen

A HERO
Producers: Alexandre Mallet-Guy and Asghar Farhadi

PARALLEL MOTHERS
Producers: Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar, and Esther Garcia

BEST DOCUMENTARY

FLEE
Producers: Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen

THE RESCUE
Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, John Battsek, and PJ. van Sandwijk

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN
Producers: Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers

THE SPARKS BROTHERS
Producers: Nira Park, Edgar Wright, George Hencken, and Laura Richardson

SUMMER OF SOUL
Producers: Ahmir “QuestLove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, and Joseph Patel

BEST ANIMATED FILM

ENCANTO
Producers: Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

FLEE
Producers: Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen

LUCA
Producers: Andrew Warren

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
Producers: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
Producers: Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA
Kenneth Branagh, BELFAST
Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Pablo Larraín, SPENCER
Edson Oda, NINE DAYS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

THE FRENCH DISPATCH, Wes Anderson
A HERO, Asghar Farhadi
LICORICE PIZZA, Paul Thomas Anderson
NINE DAYS, Edson Oda
PIG, Michael Sarnoski

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CODA, Sian Heder
DRIVE MY CAR, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
PASSING, Rebecca Hall
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jane Campion
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Joel Coen

BEST ACTOR

Nicolas Cage, PIG
Benedict Cumberbatch, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Andrew Garfield, TICK, TICK… BOOM!
Will Smith, KING RICHARD
Denzel Washington, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
Olivia Colman, THE LOST DAUGHTER
Alana Haim, LICORICE PIZZA
Emilia Jones, CODA
Kristen Stewart, SPENCER
Tessa Thompson, PASSING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Ben Affleck, THE LAST DUEL
Colman Domingo, ZOLA
Mike Faist, WEST SIDE STORY
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Kodi Smit-McPhee, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Jeffrey Wright, THE FRENCH DISPATCH

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY
Kirsten Dunst, THE POWER OF THE DOG
Aunjanue Ellis, KING RICHARD
Marlee Matlin, CODA
Ruth Negga, PASSING

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

BELFAST, Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockman
CODA, Deborah Aquila, Tricia Wood and Lisa Zagoria
THE FRENCH DISPATCH, Douglas Aibel and Antoinette Boulat
THE HARDER THEY FALL, Victoria Thomas
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Nikki Barrett, Tina Cleary, Carmen Cuba and Nina Gold
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Sarah Finn and Chris Zaragosa

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BELFAST, Haris Zambarloukos
DUNE, Grieg Fraser
THE GREEN KNIGHT, Andrew Droz Palermo
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Ari Wegner
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Bruno Delbonnel

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

DUNE, Patrice Vermette, Richard Roberts, and Zsuzsanna Sipos
THE LAST DUEL, Arthur Max and Judy Farr
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Stefan Dechant and Nancy Haigh
WEST SIDE STORY, Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

CRUELLA, Jenny Beavan
DUNE, Bob Morgan, Jacqueline West
THE GREEN KNIGHT, Malgosia Turzanska
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Luis Sequeira
WEST SIDE STORY, Paul Tazewell

BEST MAKEUP

CRUELLA, Nadia Stacey and Carolyn Cousins
DUNE, Donald Mowat, Love Larson, and Eva von Bahr
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, and Justin Raleigh
HOUSE OF GUCCI, Jana Carboni, Giuliano Mariano, and Göran Lundström
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Cliona Furey and Jo-Ann MacNeil

BEST EDITING

DUNE, Joe Walker
THE HARDER THEY FALL, Tom Eagles
NINE DAYS, Michael Taylor and Jeff Betancourt
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Leigh Folsom and Jeffrey Ford
WEST SIDE STORY, Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar

BEST MUSICAL SCORE

DUNE, Hans Zimmer
ENCANTO, Germaine Franco
THE HARDER THEY FALL, Jeymes Samuel
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jonny Greenwood
SPENCER, Jonny Greenwood

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Be Alive,” KING RICHARD
Songwriters: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Dixson

“Guns Go Bang,” THE HARDER THEY FALL
Songwriters: Jeymes Samuel, Scott Mescudi, and Shawn Carter

“Just Look Up,” DON’T LOOK UP
Songwriters: Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, and Taura Stinson

“No Time to Die,” NO TIME TO DIE
Songwriters: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

“So May We Start,” ANNETTE
Songwriters: Ron Mael and Russell Mael

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

DUNE, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Conner, and Gerd Nefzer
FREE GUY, Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, and Dan Sudick
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, Dan Glass, Huw J. Evans, Tom Debenham, and J.D. Schwalm
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Walker, and Dan Oliver
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, and Dan Sudick

BEST STUNTS

BLACK WIDOW, Rob Inch
DUNE, Roger Yuan
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, Chad Stahelski
NO TIME TO DIE, Lee Morrison
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, Andy Cheng
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, George Cottle

SPECIAL AWARDS:

TRAILBLAZER AWARD

Honors the work of an artist who truly pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content

Paul Thomas Anderson, filmmaker
Rebecca Hall, filmmaker
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, filmmaker
Sian Heder, filmmaker
Lin-Manuel Miranda, filmmaker

IMPACT AWARD

Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society or the Chicagoland film community

Rebecca Fons, Director of Programming – Gene Siskel Film Center
Rebecca Hall, filmmaker
Ryan Oestreich, General Manager – Music Box Theater
Steven Spielberg, filmmaker
Jill Wheeler, Director of Publicity and Promotions – Allied Global Marketing

Photo: Kirsty Griffin/Netflix