The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (of which I’m a proud member) bucked the trend and stuck with their 2020 awards nomination announcement date. While the Oscars, Critics Choice Awards, and Golden Globes opted to delay their announcements and awards presentations until early 2021, AWFJ moved forward with their normal December nominations. The winners are set to be announced on January 4, 2021.
Nomadland leads this year’s pack of nominees, scoring nine nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Woman Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Woman Screenwriter, and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). Regina King’s riveting One Night in Miami followed close behind with eight nominations, picking up Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Leslie Odom Jr), and Best Ensemble nods. The critically acclaimed drama Promising Young Woman earned its writer and director, Emerald Fennell, Best Original Screenplay, Best Woman Director, Best Director, and Best Woman Screenwriter nominations. Promising Young Woman also scored Best Film and Best Actress (Carey Mulligan) nominations.
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ 14th annual EDA Awards are divided into three sections – Best Of, Female Focus, and Special Mention – and offer 25 different categories. 92 voting members selected this year’s nominees representing the best in films of 2020.
AWFJ BEST OF AWARDS NOMINEES – These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.
Best Film
• MINARI
• NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• NOMADLAND
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
• PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Best Director
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Regina King – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
• Kelly Reichardt – FIRST COW
• Aaron Sorkin – TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND
Best Screenplay, Original
• MANK – Jack Fincher
• PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN – Emerald Fennell
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Aaron Sorkin
Best Screenplay, Adapted
• FIRST COW – Kelly Reichardt and Jon Raymond
• NOMADLAND – Chloe Zhao
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Kemp Powers
Best Documentary
• ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
• ATHLETE A
• CRIP CAMP
• THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
• TIME
Best Animated Film
• OVER THE MOON
• SOUL
• WOLFWALKERS
Best Actress
• Viola Davis – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• Vanessa Kirby – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Frances McDormand – NOMADLAND
• Carey Mulligan – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Maria Bakalova – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
• Ellen Burstyn – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Amanda Seyfried – MANK
• Yuh-Jung Youn – MINARI
Best Actor
• Riz Ahmed – SOUND OF METAL
• Chadwick Boseman – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• Delroy Lindo – DA 5 BLOODS
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Sacha Baron Cohen – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
• Bill Murray – ON THE ROCKS
• Leslie Odom Jr – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director
• DA 5 BLOODS – Kim Coleman
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Kimberly Hardin
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Francine Maisler
Best Cinematography
• MANK – Erik Messerschmidt
• NOMADLAND – Joshua James Richards
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Tami Reiker
Best Editing
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Tariq Anwar
• NOMADLAND – Chloe Zhao
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Alan Baumgarten
Best Non-English-Language Film
• ANOTHER ROUND – Denmark
• BEANPOLE – Russia
• THE MOLE AGENT – Chile
• THE PAINTED BIRD – Czech Republic
EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS – These awards honor WOMEN only
Best Woman Director
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Eliza Hittman – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Regina King – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
• Channing Godfrey Peoples – MISS JUNETEENTH
• Kelly Reichardt – FIRST COW
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND
Best Woman Screenwriter
• Radha Blank – THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Eliza Hittman – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND
Best Animated Female
• 22 in SOUL, Tina Fey
• Mebh Óg MacTíre in WOLFWALKERS, Eva Whittaker
• Robyn Goodfellowe in WOLFWALKERS, Honor Kneafsey
Best Woman’s Breakthrough Performance
• Radha Blank – THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
• Sidney Flanigan – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Helena Zengel – NEWS OF THE WORLD
Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry
- All female heads of film festivals who successfully transitioned from live to online events to sustain festival culture through the pandemic.
- All indie female writers and directors who normalized abortion as a vital element in the cultural conversation in films such as SAINT FRANCES, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS, SISTER OF THE GROOM, ONCE UPON A RIVER, THE GLORIAS and others.
- Emerald Fennell for creating a film that forces empathy to put an end to the toxic sexist rape culture pervasive through modern history.
- Sophia Loren for a brilliant comeback at age 86 in THE LIFE AHEAD, the latest in her record-setting career. Loren won a Best Actress Oscar in 1962 for TWO WOMEN and was the first actor to win for a foreign language movie. She was also nominated in 1965 for MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE. If she’s nominated in 2021, it will be a 56-year span between her two most recent nominations – the current record is held by Henry Fonda, who had a 41-year gap between nominations.
EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS
Grand Dame Award for defying agism
• Ellen Burstyn – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Tsai Chin – LUCKY GRANDMA
• Sophia Loren – THE LIFE AHEAD
• Frances McDormand – NOMADLAND
Most Egregious Lovers’ Age Difference Award
• THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY – Elizabeth Debicki and Claes Bang (23 years)
• DEVIL ALL THE TIME – Riley Keough and Jason Clarke (20 years)
• MANK – Amanda Seyfried and Charles Dance (39 years), Gary Oldman (27 years)
• TENET – Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh (30 years)
She Deserves A New Agent Award
• Rose Byrne – LIKE A BOSS
• Tiffany Haddish – LIKE A BOSS
• Katie Holmes – DARE TO DREAM
• Uma Thurman – WAR WITH GRANDPA
Most Daring Performance Award
• Maria Bakalova – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
• Haley Bennett – SWALLOW
• Vanessa Kirby – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Elisabeth Moss – INVISIBLE MAN
• Carey Mulligan – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Time Waster Remake or Sequel Award
• THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
• DOOLITTLE
• REBECCA
AWFJ Hall of Shame Award
• Shia LaBeouf for his ongoing abusive behavior
• Christopher Nolan for insisting that TENET be screened exclusively in theaters during a pandemic.
• Dallas Sonnier and Adam Donaghey at Cinestate for sexual harassment and abuse, and cover up.
