New Mexico Critics: ‘Mank’ wins its first Best Picture prize; Mads Mikkelsen named Best Actor

Mank, David Fincher’s behind the scenes saga of the writing of Citizen Kane, was named the Best Picture of 2020 by the New Mexico Film Critics (NMXFC), the film’s first top critics’ prize. The film also won awards for production design and cinematography.

The group’s acting wins also went outside of the box this season with first wins for Mads Mikkelesen (Another Round) for Best Actor, Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) for Best Actress and Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) for Best Supporting Actor. Only Supporting Actress critics’ frontrunner Youn Yuh-jung (Minari) also grabbed a win here.

Other first wins included “Húsavík” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga for Best Original Song and Possessor for Best Original Screenplay.

Here is the full list of winners and runners-up.

Best Picture: Mank (RU: Minari)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (RU: Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man)

Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, Another Round (RU: Steven Yeun, Minari)
Best Actress: Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman (RU: Amaia Aberasturi, Coven)
Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah (RU: Frank Langella, The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari (RU: Amanda Seyfried, Mank)

Best Original Screenplay: Possessor (RU: Mank)
Best Adapted Screenplay: First Cow (RU: The Father)

Best Animated Film: Wolfwalkers (RU: Demon Slayer)
Best Documentary: Collective (RU: A Thousand Cuts)
Best Foreign Language Film: Open Door (RU: The Weeping Woman)

Best Ensemble: Minari (RU: Sound of Metal)

Best Young Actor/Actress: Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always (RU: Alan Kim, Minari)

Best Cinematography: Mank (RU: Nomadland)
Best Editing: Nomadland (RU: Breasts)
Best Production Design: Mank (RU: First Cow)
Best Music/Score: Soul (RU: Minari)
Best Original Song: “Husavik (My Hometown)” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (RU: “Speak Now” from One Night in Miami)

U.S. Route 66 Honorary Award: Bring Me Home

Glenn Strange Honorary Award: Sophia Loren, Ellen Burstyn, Eva Marie Saint, Catherine Deneuve, and Mirtha Legrand

Albuquerque American Award (to celebrate cinema and its legacy): It Happened One Night (1934)

Image courtesy of Netflix