Female directors rule Chicago Indie Critics (CIC) nominations as ‘Little Women,’ ‘The Farewell’ lead

Erik Anderson December 28, 2019

The recently rebranded Chicago Indie Critics (formerly known as the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle) have announced their nominees for the fourth annual film awards. The voting members completed ballots to compile five nominees for 23 categories. The CIC members will commence a final round of voting ending on January 2, 2020.

Leading all films with an impressive eight nominations is Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women. Two of those nominations highlight Gerwig’s work as a director and screenwriter. Following next with seven nominations each is the quartet of The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, and Parasite. On an individual level leading the field, Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho earned five personal nominations and Lulu Wang of The Farewell earned four across the 23 categories. In all, 42 films are represented with nominations for the 2019 CIC Awards.

Two awards of special recognition and interest are the annual Trailblazer and Impact Awards. The CIC’s Trailblazer Award honors the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content. Nominated this year are filmmakers Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Rian Johnson (Knives Out), Sam Mendes (1917), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Lena Waithe (Queen & Slim), and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit). Secondly, the Impact Award celebrates a person whose work during the past year or beyond made a positive impact on society. The nominees include Pedro Almodovar (Pain and Glory), Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), and late Chicago film critic Milos Stehlik.

The 2019 CIC Award winners will be announced on the evening of January 4, 2020. This year’s Awards Party will be emceed by stand-up comedienne and former film critic Katie Baker. Fans and followers can watch the awards event live-streaming on the CIC’s YouTube channel. Here is the full list of nominations.

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (budgets under $20 million)

Booksmart, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfield, Jessica Elbaum, Megan Ellison, and Katie Silberman (producers)
The Farewell, Anita Gou, Daniele Melia, Andrew Miano, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng, and Lulu Wang (producers)
Jojo Rabbit, Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi, and Chelsea Winstanley (producers)
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach and David Heyman (producers)
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, and Jang Young-hwan (producers)

BEST STUDIO FILM (budgets over $20 million)

The Irishman, Gerald Chamales, Robert De Niro, Randall Emmett, Gabriele Israilovici, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Jane Rosenthal, Gastón Pavlovich, Martin Scorsese, and Irwin Winkler (producers)
Knives Out, Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson (producers)
Little Women, Denise Di Novi, Amy Pascal, and Robin Swicord (producers)
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, and Quentin Tarantino (producers)
1917, Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Brian Oliver, and Jayne-Ann Tenggren, (producers)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Birds of Passage, Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (producers)
Monos, Fernando Epstein, Alejandro Landes, Cristina Landes, and Santiago Zapata, (producers)
Pain and Glory, Agustin Almodovar (producer)
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, and Jang Young-hwan (producers)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Véronique Cayla and Bénédicte Couvreur (producers)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Apollo 11, Evan Krauss, Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen (producers)
Hail, Satan?, Gabriel Sedgwick (producer)
Honeyland, Atanis Georgiev (producer)
The Kingmaker, Frank Evers and Laura Greenfield (producers)
One Child Nation, Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Christoph Jorg, Nanfu Wang, and Jialing Zhang (producers)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Bonnie Arnold and Brad Lewis (producers)
I Lost My Body, Marc du Pontavice (producer)
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Jinko Gotoh, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller, (producers)
Missing Link, Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner (producers)
Toy Story 4, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera (producers)

BEST DIRECTOR

Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Lulu Wang, The Farewell

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Farewell- Lulu Wang
Knives Out– Rian Johnson
Marriage Story– Noam Baumbach
Parasite– Bong Joon-Ho and Jin Won-Han
Portrait of a Lady on Fire– Céline Sciamma

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Irishman– Steve Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit– Taika Waititi
Little Women– Greta Gerwig
Luce– J.C. Lee and Julius Onah
The Two Popes– Anthony McCarten

BEST ACTOR

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Eddie Murphy, Dolemite is My Name
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems

BEST ACTRESS

Awkwafina, The Farewell
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Florence Pugh, Midsommar

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Kang-ho Song, Parasite

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Octavia Spencer, Luce

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

Avengers: Endgame- Sarah Finn (casting director)
The Irishman- Ellen Lewis (casting director)
Knives Out- Mary Vernieu (casting director)
Little Women- Kathy Driscoll and Francine Maisler (casting directors)
Marriage Story- Francine Maisler and Douglas Aibel (casting directors)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ad Astra- Hoyte Van Hoytema
Ford v. Ferrari– Phedon Papamichael
The Lighthouse– Jarin Blaschke
1917– Roger Deakins
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood– Robert Richardson

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Ad Astra– Kevin Thompson
Knives Out– David Crank
1917– Dennis Gassner
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood– Barbara Ling
Parasite- Ha-Jun Lee

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Dolemite is My Name– Ruth E. Carter
Knives Out– Jenny Eagan
Little Women– Jacqueline Durran
Midsommar– Andrea Flesch
Once Upon a Time.. in Hollywood– Arianne Phillips

BEST MAKEUP

Bombshell– Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, and Anne Morgan
Dolemite is My Name– Debra Denson, Carla Joi Farmer, Stacey L. Morris, Vera Steimberg
The Irishman– Sean Flanigan, Nicki Ledermann, and Carla White
Joker- Kay Georgiou and Nicki Ledermann
Us– Camille Friend and Scott Wheeler

BEST EDITING

Ford v. Ferrari– Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker, and Dirk Westervelt
Knives Out– Bob Ducsay
Little Women– Nick Houy
1917– Lee Smith
Parasite– Jinmo Yang

BEST MUSICAL SCORE

Avengers: Endgame– Alan Silvestri
Little Women– Alexandre Desplat
Marriage Story– Randy Newman
1917– Thomas Newman
Us– Michael Abels

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Catchy Song” from The LEGO Movie Part 2: The Second Part (performed by Dillion Francis featuring T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay and written by Jon Lajoie)
“Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” from Wild Rose (performed by Jessie Buckley and written by Mary Steenburgen, Caitlin Smith, and Kate York)
“I Punched Keanu Reeves” from Always Be My Maybe (performed and written by Randall Park)
“Not Evil” from The LEGO Movie Part 2: The Second Part (performed by Tiffany Haddish and written by Jon Lajoie)
“Speechless” from Aladdin (performed by Naomi Scott and written by Pasek & Paul)
“Stand Up” from Harriet (performed by Cynthia Erivo and written by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Ad Astra– Scott R. Fisher, Allan Maris, Guillaume Rocheron, and Jedediah Smith
Avengers: Endgame– Matt Aitken, Russell Earl, Dan Leeluw, and Dan Sudick
The Irishman– Leandro Estebecorena, Stephanie Grabli, Pablo Helman, and Nelson Sepulveda
1917– Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Tuohy
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker– Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach, and Dominic Tuohy

SPECIAL AWARDS

TRAILBLAZER AWARD

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

Greta Gerwig
Rian Johnson
Sam Mendes
Martin Scorsese
Lena Waithe
Taika Waititi

IMPACT AWARD

Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society

Pedro Almodovar
Bong Joon-Ho
Martin Scorsese
Milos Stehlik
Lulu Wang

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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), 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.