Columbus Film Critics name ‘Promising Young Woman’ in Best Film, Carey Mulligan is Best Actress

The Columbus Film Critics Association (COFCA) surprised on Thursday, naming Emerald Fennell’s debut film Promising Young Woman the best film of 2020. Its star Carey Mulligan was named best actress and Fennell also picked up the group’s original screenplay prize and breakthrough film artist.

Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari had led the nominations with 10 but ended up with just two wins: supporting actress for Youn Yuh-jung and for foreign language film.

Chadwick Boseman was selected for his body of work in 2020 and was runner-up in best actor (for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and supporting actor (for Da 5 Bloods). Sound of Metal took the best actor and supporting actor prizes for Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci, respectively.

Andrew Patterson’s The Vast of Night was chosen as the year’s most overlooked film.

Here is the full list of winners and runners-up and the group ranked top 10 films of 2020.

Best Film

1. Promising Young Woman
2. Nomadland
3. Sound of Metal
4. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
5. Minari
6. Soul
7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
8. The Trial of the Chicago 7
9. First Cow
10. Mank

Best Director

• Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
• Runner-up: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Best Actor

• Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
• Runner-up: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Actress

• Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
• Runner-up: Frances McDormand, Nomadland

Best Supporting Actor

• Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
• Runners-up (tie): Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods and Mark Rylance, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Supporting Actress

• Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
• Runner-up: Olivia Colman, The Father

Best Ensemble

• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Runner-up: Promising Young Woman

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work)

• Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
• Runner-up: Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man and Shirley)

Breakthrough Film Artist

• Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) – (for producing, directing, and screenwriting)
• Runner-up: Radha Blank, The Forty-Year-Old Version – (for producing, directing, screenwriting,
  and acting)

Best Cinematography

• Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
• Runner-up: Eric Messerschmidt, Mank

Best Film Editing

• Alan Baumgarten, The Trial of the Chicago 7
• Runner-up: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, Sound of Metal

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
• Runner-up: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Original Screenplay

• Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
• Runner-up: Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Score

• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Soul
• Runner-up: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Mank

Best Documentary

• Dick Johnson is Dead
• Runner-up: Boys State

Best Foreign Language Film

• Minari
• Runner-up: Martin Eden

Best Animated Film

• Wolfwalkers
• Runner-up: Soul

Best Overlooked Film

• The Vast of Night
• Runner-up: Palm Springs

Promising Young Woman image courtesy of Focus Features

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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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