Alliance of Women Film Journalists 2020 Awards Winners: ‘Nomadland’ Scores Best Film Honors

Nomadland Alliance of Women Film Journalists Winner
Frances McDormand and Director/Writer Chloé Zhao on the set of ‘Nomadland’ (Photo by Joshua James Richards. © 2020 20th Century Studios)

The 92 voting members of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists – myself included – cast our votes in one of the most confusing, confounding awards seasons to date. Once totaled, Nomadland emerged the year’s big winner, picking up six wins out of its nine nominations. The engaging drama was named the year’s best film and Chloe Zhao snagged wins in the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay categories.

“All in all, 2020 saw a bumper crop of female-directed and female-centered films that reached widespread audiences via online releases,” stated Jennifer Merin, EDA AWARDS and AWJF founder and film critic. “From AWFJ’s point of view, that’s one ray of sunlight that has shown through this year’s pandemic darkness. We hope that trend will continue as our nation heals from its various ailments.”

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.

AWFJ BEST OF AWARDS NOMINEES AND WINNERS – These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.

Best Film
• MINARI
• NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND

Best Screenplay, Original
• MANK – Jack Fincher
WINNER: PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN – Emerald Fennell
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Aaron Sorkin

Best Screenplay, Adapted
• FIRST COW – Kelly Reichardt and Jon Raymond
WINNER: NOMADLAND – Chloe Zhao
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Kemp Powers

Best Documentary (TIE)
WINNER: ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
• ATHLETE A
• CRIP CAMP
WINNER: THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
• TIME

Best Animated Film
• OVER THE MOON
WINNER: SOUL
• WOLFWALKERS

Best Actress
• Viola Davis – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• Vanessa Kirby – PIECES OF A WOMAN
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Yuh-Jung Youn – MINARI

Best Actor
• Riz Ahmed – SOUND OF METAL
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Leslie Odom Jr – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director (TIE)
• DA 5 BLOODS – Kim Coleman
WINNER: ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Kimberly Hardin
WINNER: THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Francine Maisler

Best Cinematography
• MANK – Erik Messerschmidt
WINNER: NOMADLAND – Joshua James Richards
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Tami Reiker

Best Editing
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Tariq Anwar
WINNER: NOMADLAND – Chloe Zhao
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Alan Baumgarten

Best Non-English-Language Film
WINNER: 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
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Radha Blank – THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Eliza Hittman – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND

Best Animated Female
WINNER: 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
WINNER: 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.
  • WINNER: 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
WINNER: 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)
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Uma Thurman – WAR WITH GRANDPA

Most Daring Performance Award
WINNER: 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
WINNER: DOOLITTLE
• REBECCA

AWFJ Hall of Shame Award
• Shia LaBeouf for his ongoing abusive behavior
WINNER: Christopher Nolan for insisting that TENET be screened exclusively in theaters during a pandemic.
WINNER: Dallas Sonnier and Adam Donaghey at Cinestate for sexual harassment and abuse, and cover-up.