Latino Entertainment Critics (LEJA) winners: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘Minari,’ ‘Hamilton,’ Alice Braga and more

Erik Anderson March 7, 2021

One Night in Miami, Soul, Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado among winners list

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA) has named Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland the best film of 2020, with Zhao also winning best director and best editing. The film also won best cinematography for a total of four wins of its five nominations.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom led the nominations with 10 and won Best Actor for Chadwick Boseman and the award for Best Hair and Makeup. Minari was next with nine nominations, winning Best Supporting Actress for Youn Yuh-jung and Original Screenplay for director Lee Isaac Chung.

Carey Mulligan (Best Actress for Promising Young Woman) and Daniel Kaluuya (Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah) rounded out the individual acting wins and Hamilton earned the group’s Ensemble prize.

“It’s been an extremely difficult year for our industry and our Latinx community,” said LEJA Founder and President Clayton Davis. “While we are honored to highlight the stunning achievements from this cinematic year, our underserved and undervalued people have faced unprecedented challenges. The beautiful and extraordinary films are pieces of art and we share in their celebration. It’s also incredibly important that the same diversity we are beginning to see in our entertainment medium be adopted in the journalism industry. It is the responsibility of the studios, and their partner publications to seek, hire and welcome more Latinx voices onto the pages of their magazines and websites. Another vibrant and inclusive year is ahead of us, and we hope to no longer be overlooked.”

Rosie Perez was a dual honorary award winner with the Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award and the Latino Activism Award. Perez had a starring role in Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey from earlier in 2020 and a co-starring role in the HBO series The Flight Attendant last fall. The Latino Breakout Award went to Ariana DeBose for Hamilton and The Prom.

Here is the full list of nominees and winners in bold.

Best Picture

I Carry You with Me (Sony Pictures Classics) – Mynette Louie, Heidi Ewing, Gabriela Maire, Edher Campos
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros) – Ryan Coogler, Charles D. King, Shaka King
La Llorona (Shudder) – Jayro Bustamante, Gustavo Matheu
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) – Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany Wolf
Minari (A24) – Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh
Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures) – Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao – WINNER
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios) – Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Jody Klein
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) – Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Ashley Fox
Soul (Pixar) – Dana Murray
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) – Stuart M. Besser, Matt Jackson, Marc Platt, Tyler Thompson

Best Director

Jayro Bustamante, La Llorona (Shudder)
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari (A24)
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Regina King, One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Kelly Reichardt, First Cow (A24)
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures) – WINNER

Best Actor

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) – WINNER
Armando Espitia, I Carry You With Me (Sony Pictures Classics)
Anthony Hopkins, The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Steven Yeun, Minari (A24)

Best Actress

Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) – WINNER
Aubrey Plaza, Black Bear (Momentum Pictures)

Best Supporting Actor

Kingsley Ben-Adir, One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros) – WINNER
Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

Best Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
Sônia Braga, Bacurau (Kino Lorber)
Ellen Burstyn, Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Olivia Colman, The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari (A24) – WINNER

Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance

Cathy Ang, Over the Moon (Netflix)
Alice Braga, Soul (Pixar) – WINNER
Tina Fey, Soul (Pixar)
Jamie Foxx, Soul (Pixar)
Tom Holland, Onward (Pixar)
Phillipa Soo, Over the Moon (Netflix)

Best Animated Feature

On-Gaku: Our Sound (GKIDS) – Kenji Iwaisawa
Onward (Pixar) – Dan Scanlon
Over the Moon (Netflix) – Glen Keane, John Kahrs
Soul (Pixar) – Pete Docter, Kemp Powers – WINNER
Wolfwalkers (Apple TV+/GKIDS) – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewar
The Wolf House (Kimstim Films) – Cristobal León, Joaquín Cociña

Best International Feature

Another Round (Denmark) – Thomas Vinterberg
Bacurau (Brazil) – Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles
I Carry You with Me (Mexico) – Heidi Ewing
I’m No Longer Here (Mexico) – Fernando Frias de la Parra
La Llorona (Guatemala) – Jayro Bustamante – WINNER
Minari (USA) – Lee Isaac Chung

Best Documentary Feature

Boys State (A24/Apple TV Plus) – Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix) – Nicole Newnham, James Lebrecht
Dick Johnson Is Dead (Netflix) – Kirsten Johnson
MLK/FBI (IFC Films) – Sam Pollard
Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (Netflix) – Cristina Costantini Kareem Tabsch – WINNER
Time (Amazon Studios) – Garrett Bradley

Best Original Screenplay

The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix) – Radha Blank
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros) – Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, Kenneth Lucas
La Llorona (Shudder) – Jayro Bustamante
Minari (A24) – Lee Isaac Chung – WINNER
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) – Emerald Fennell
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) – Aaron Sorkin

Best Adapted Screenplay