The Oscar Nominations Are Here for 2021, and They’re… Ordinary?

Academy Awards Oscar nominations 2021 Nomadland Mank Minari

It is obviously a weird year for movies, but the lack of releases and the upside-down industry isn’t going to stop Hollywood from celebrating itself, and given the slump in theatrical releases it’s a chance for a lot of smaller films to shine this year. The nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards are now here, and they’re pretty much in line with what we’ve seen throughout the awards season. Eight films, out of a possible 10, made it into the Best Picture category, all of which are dramatic films with none of the recent big blockbusters sneaking in, but that’s mostly because no blockbusters were released all year.

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There weren’t too many surprises in the nominations, as most of them were films that had been popping up as Oscar hopefuls. The biggest surprise might be Thomas Vinterberg grabbing a best director nomination for his Danish film Another Round. The director hadn’t had much buzz leading into the awards and he probably shoved out Regina King, who was heavily favored for a nom for One Night in Miami. Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods missed out on any nominations except for Best Score, which comes after the movie was shut out of the Golden Globes as well. It’s exciting to see Sound of Metal grab a slew of nominations after getting only one Golden Globe, but given the film’s momentum during the awards season, it’s hardly surprising it landed a Best Picture nod.

We should also all be ready for Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams to sing “Husavik (My Hometown)” as the song from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga actually got a nomination.

Check out the full list of Oscar nominations below.

2021 Oscar Nominations

Performance by an actor in a leading role

  • Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal”
  • Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
  • Anthony Hopkins in “The Father”
  • Gary Oldman in “Mank”
  • Steven Yeun in “Minari”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

  • Sacha Baron Cohen in “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
  • Daniel Kaluuya in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
  • Leslie Odom, Jr. in “One Night in Miami…”
  • Paul Raci in “Sound of Metal”
  • Lakeith Stanfield in “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

  • Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
  • Andra Day in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
  • Vanessa Kirby in “Pieces of a Woman”
  • Frances McDormand in “Nomadland”
  • Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

  • Maria Bakalova in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
  • Glenn Close in “Hillbilly Elegy”
  • Olivia Colman in “The Father”
  • Amanda Seyfried in “Mank”
  • Yuh-Jung Youn in “Minari”

Best animated feature film of the year

  • “Onward” Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
  • “Over the Moon” Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou
  • “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley
  • “Soul” Pete Docter and Dana Murray
  • “Wolfwalkers” Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants

Achievement in cinematography

  • “Judas and the Black Messiah” Sean Bobbitt
  • “Mank” Erik Messerschmidt
  • “News of the World” Dariusz Wolski
  • “Nomadland” Joshua James Richards
  • “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Phedon Papamichael

Achievement in costume design

  • “Emma” Alexandra Byrne
  • “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Ann Roth
  • “Mank” Trish Summerville
  • “Mulan” Bina Daigeler
  • “Pinocchio” Massimo Cantini Parrini

Achievement in directing

  • “Another Round” Thomas Vinterberg
  • “Mank” David Fincher
  • “Minari” Lee Isaac Chung
  • “Nomadland” Chloé Zhao
  • “Promising Young Woman” Emerald Fennell

Best documentary feature

  • “Collective” Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
  • “Crip Camp” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
  • “The Mole Agent” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
  • “My Octopus Teacher” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
  • “Time” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn

Best documentary short subject

  • “Colette” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
  • “A Concerto Is a Conversation” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
  • “Do Not Split” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
  • “Hunger Ward” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman
  • “A Love Song for Latasha” Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan

Achievement in film editing

  • “The Father” Yorgos Lamprinos
  • “Nomadland” Chloé Zhao
  • “Promising Young Woman” Frédéric Thoraval
  • “Sound of Metal” Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
  • “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Alan Baumgarten

Best international feature film of the year

  • “Another Round” Denmark
  • “Better Days” Hong Kong
  • “Collective” Romania
  • “The Man Who Sold His Skin” Tunisia
  • “Quo Vadis, Aida?” Bosnia and Herzegovina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

  • “Emma” Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze
  • “Hillbilly Elegy” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney
  • “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
  • “Mank” Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff
  • “Pinocchio” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

  • “Da 5 Bloods” Terence Blanchard
  • “Mank” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
  • “Minari” Emile Mosseri
  • “News of the World” James Newton Howard
  • “Soul” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

  • “Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”
    Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
  • “Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
    Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
  • “Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
    Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
  • “Io Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
    Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
  • “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami…”
    Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

Best motion picture of the year

  • “The Father” David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
  • “Judas and the Black Messiah” Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
  • “Mank” Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
  • “Minari” Christina Oh, Producer
  • “Nomadland” Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
  • “Promising Young Woman” Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
  • “Sound of Metal” Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
  • “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers

Achievement in production design

  • “The Father” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
  • “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton
  • “Mank” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
  • “News of the World” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
  • “Tenet” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

Best animated short film

  • “Burrow” Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
  • “Genius Loci” Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
  • “If Anything Happens I Love You” Will McCormack and Michael Govier
  • “Opera” Erick Oh
  • “Yes-People” Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson

Best live action short film

  • “Feeling Through” Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
  • “The Letter Room” Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
  • “The Present” Farah Nabulsi
  • “Two Distant Strangers” Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
  • “White Eye” Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman

Achievement in sound

  • “Greyhound” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
  • “Mank” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
  • “News of the World” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
  • “Soul” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
  • “Sound of Metal” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

Achievement in visual effects

  • “Love and Monsters” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
  • “The Midnight Sky” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
  • “Mulan” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
  • “The One and Only Ivan” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez
  • “Tenet” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

Adapted screenplay

  • “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad
  • “The Father” Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
  • “Nomadland” Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao
  • “One Night in Miami…” Screenplay by Kemp Powers
  • “The White Tigers” Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani

Original screenplay

  • “Judas and the Black Messiah” Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
  • “Minari” Written by Lee Isaac Chung
  • “Promising Young Woman” Written by Emerald Fennell
  • “Sound of Metal” Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
  • “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Written by Aaron Sorkin

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Matthew Razak
Matthew Razak is a News Writer and film aficionado at Escapist. He has been writing for Escapist for nearly five years and has nearly 20 years of experience reviewing and talking about movies, TV shows, and video games for both print and online outlets. He has a degree in Film from Vassar College and a degree in gaming from growing up in the '80s and '90s. He runs the website Flixist.com and has written for The Washington Post, Destructoid, MTV, and more. He will gladly talk your ear off about horror, Marvel, Stallone, James Bond movies, Doctor Who, Zelda, and Star Trek.