MORE AWARD NEWS

With award season in complete disarray due to the on-going pandemic, some groups are just getting around to announcing their picks for the best of 2020. The National Board of Review has selected Spike Lee’s "Da 5 Bloods" as their Best Film of 2020 with the drama involving Vietnam vets returning to the country in search of a buried treasure received three awards overall with Lee winning Best Director and the film receiving the Best Ensemble award. Chadwick Boseman, the actor who passed away in August whose last roles were in "Da 5 Bloods" and " Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", was posthumously honored with with NBR Icon Award.

The 2020 National Board of Review Award winners:

Best Film: "Da 5 Bloods"
Best Director: Spike Lee, "Da 5 Bloods"
Best Directorial Debut: Channing Godfrey Peoples, "Miss Juneteenth"
Best Original Screenplay: Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies, "News Of The World"
Best Actor: Riz Ahmed, "Sound Of Metal"
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Raci, "Sound Of Metal"
Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-jung, "Minari"
Best Ensemble: "Da 5 Bloods"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Sidney Flanigan, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Joshua James Richards, "Nomadland"
Best Animated Feature: "Soul"
Best Foreign Language Film: "La LLorona"
Best Documentary: "Time"
NBR Icon Award: Chadwick Boseman
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "One Night In Miami"
NBR Spotlight Award: Radha Blank, "The Forty-Year-Old Version"

The American Film Institute have announced the AFI Movies of the Year with Netflix impressively doing well with four of their films making the list; Spike Lee’s "Da 5 Bloods", David Fincher’s "Mank", George C. Wolfe’s "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" and Aaron Sorkin’s "The Trial of the Chicago 7".

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR:

"Da 5 Bloods"
"Judas and the Black Messiah"
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
"Mank"
"Minari"
"Nomadland"
"One Night in Miami"
"Soul"
"Sound of Metal"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"

And The Film Independent Spirit Awards have presented their nominations with "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" leading all Spirit nominees with seven including Best Feature. Only movies made for a budget of $22.5 million or under are eligible with the other Best Feature nominees include "Minari" (receivng six total nominations), "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom", "Nomadland" (with five total each) and "First Cow" (with three). The Spirit Awards are usually held on the Santa Monica beach the Saturday afternoon before The Oscars the following day. But this year, the ceremony will take place on April 22nd, three days before the Academy Awards on April 25th.

Here are the nominees for the 36th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature:

"First Cow"
"Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
"Minari"
"Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
"Nomadland"

Best First Feature:

"I Carry You With Me"
"The Forty-Year-Old Version"
"Miss Juneteenth"
"Nine Days"
"Sound of Metal"

Best Director:

Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
Eliza Hittman, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Kelly Reichardt, "First Cow"
Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"

Best Screenplay:

Mike Makowsky, "Bad Education"
Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Alice Wu, "The Half Of It"
Eliza Hittman, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"

Best First Screenplay:

Kitty Green, "The Assistant"
Noah Hutton, "Lapsis"
Channing Godfrey Peoples, "Miss Juneteenth"
Andy Siara, "Palm Springs"
James Sweeney, "Straight Up"

Best Female Lead:

Nicole Beharie, "Miss Juneteenth"
Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Sidney Flanigan, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Julia Garner, "The Assistant"
Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"

Best Male Lead:

Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"
Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Adarsh Gourav, "The White Tiger"
Rob Morgan, "Bull"
Steven Yeun, "Minari"

Best Supporting Female:

Alexis Chikaeze, "Miss Juneteenth"
Yeri Han, "Minari"
Valerie Mahaffey, "French Exit"
Talia Ryder, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Yuh-jung Youn, "Minari"

Best Supporting Male:

Colman Domingo, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Orion Lee, "First Cow"
Paul Raci, "Sound of Metal"
Glynn Turman, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Benedict Wong, "Nine Days"

Best Cinematography:

Jay Keitel, "She Dies Tomorrow"
Shabier Kirchner, "Bull"
Michael Latham, "The Assistant"
Hélène Louvart, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Joshua James Richards, "Nomadland"

Best Editing:

Andy Canny, "The Invisible Man"
Scott Cummings, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Merawi Gerima, "Residue"
Enat Sidi, "I Carry You With Me"
Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"

Best Documentary:

"Collective"
"Crip Camp"
"Dick Johnson is Dead"
"The Mole Agent"
"Time"

Best International Film:

"Bacurau" (Brazil)
"The Disciple" (India)
"Night of the Kings" (Ivory Coast)
"Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time" (Hungary)
"Quo Vadis, Aida?" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

John Cassavetes Award (award given for the best feature made for under $500,000)

"The Killing of Two Lovers"
"La Leyenda Negra"
"Lingua Franca"
"Residue"
"Saint Frances"

Robert Altman Award (award given to a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

"One Night in Miami"

The Truer Than Fiction Award (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition):

Cecilia Aldarondo, "Landfall"
Elegance Bratton, "Pier Kids"
Elizabeth Lo, "Stray"

The Someone to Watch Award (recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition):

David Midell, "The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain"
Ekwa Msangi, "Farewell Amor"
Annie Silverstein, "Bull"