Mank leads what are otherwise welcomely diverse Oscar nominees for 2021

This year’s Oscar nominations have been announced—read on for our thoughts and the full list of nominees.

David Fincher’s Mank leads this year with 10 nominations, one of which sees the film competing with The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Pr omising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7 for best picture.

Of those other best picture nominees, The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7 all tie for second-most-nominated, each earning six nominations—including The Father‘s Sir Anthony Hopkins who has made history as the oldest Best Actor nominee ever at age 83.

One of this year’s biggest surprises can be found in the best director category, with Another Round‘s Thomas Vinterberg unexpectedly joining David Fincher, Lee Isaac Chung, Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell. It’s the first time two women have been nominated for best director, while Zhao is the first woman of colour.

Variety observes that Zhao “is also the first woman to receive four nominations in a single year, while Fennell becomes only the third woman with three nominations in a single year, joining Sofia Coppola and Fran Walsh, who both accomplished that feat in 2003”.

Notable omissions this year include Spike Lee and Regina King, overlooked for Da 5 Bloods and One Night in Miami respectively. One Night in Miami features in the nominations perhaps less frequently than some had imagined, as is the case with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom which some had tipped for a best picture nomination. And Da 5 Bloods is completely missing in action outside of best original score, which comes as a surprise after best picture and best director speculation and superb performances by Delroy Lindo and Chadwick Boseman.

But with Minari and Sound of Metal so prominent, and so many great performances recognised, the list of nominations feels on first impression to be a pretty fair reflection of the past year in film, with even Borat Subsequent Moviefilm very much in contention for Oscars (if, sadly, not in the Best Original Song category).

Read on for the full list of nominees competing for Oscars April 26th (local time).

Best Picture

The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director

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

Best Actor

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

Best Actress

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

Best Supporting Actor

Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
LaKeith Stanfield – Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Yuh-Jung Young – Minari

Best Original Screenplay

Judas and the Black Messiah – Will Berson & Shaka King
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal – Darius Marder & Abraham Marder
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin

Best Adapted Screenplay

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, and Lee Kern
The Father – Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
One Night in Miami – Kemp Powers
The White Tiger – Ramin Bahrani

Best International Film

Another Round – Demark
Better Days – Hong Kong
Collective – Romania
The Man Who Sold His Skin – Tunisia
Quo Vadis, Aida? – Bosnia and Herzegovinia

Best Original Song

“Fight for You” – Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice” – The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik” – Eurovision
“Io Si (Seen)” – The Life Ahead
“Speak Now” – One Night in Miami

Best Sound

Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

Best Live-Action Short Film

Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

Best Animated Short Film

Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens, I Love You
Opera
Yes-People

Best Documentary – Short Subject

Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Oscars

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