Overview
Reaching its 93rd year in 2021, the Academy Awards has now spent almost a century handing out shiny trophies for filmmaking excellence. But, over that time, it has routinely nominated and awarded its gongs to male filmmakers, to white creatives across all categories, and to folks and films from English-speaking nations. In 2015, the #OscarsSoWhite campaign drew attention to the awards' lack of diversity, in a year where all 20 acting nominees were white. The fact that so few women have been nominated for Best Director — five up until 2020, with only one winning — has rightfully always stood out. And last year's big wins for Parasite, the first film in a language other than English to pick up Best Picture, underscored the fact that the accolades normally barely pay attention to the movies made across much of the globe.
This year's Oscar nominees have just been announced overnight, and they've made history — with diversity championed in multiple ways. For the first time ever, two women have been nominated for Best Director, with Nomadland's Chloé Zhao and Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell earning recognition.
The four acting categories also represent the Academy's most diverse lineup of nominations to-date, including nods for Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Steven Yeun (Minari) for Best Actor, and for Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Andra Day (The United States vs Billie Holiday) for Best Actress. Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari) was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress, while Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami), Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield (both for Judas and the Black Messiah) received nods for Best Supporting Actor.
Film-wise, it was actually David Fincher's Mank that topped the list, picking up ten nominations — including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried). Next came The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7, all with six nods apiece, while Promising Young Woman scored five.
Other standout nods: Thomas Vinterberg's Best Director nomination for his Danish day-drinking flick Another Round, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's Maria Bakalova getting recognised in the Best Supporting Actress category, Sound of Metal's Paul Raci doing the same for Best Supporting Actor, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross picking up two Best Original Score nods for the vastly dissimilar Mank and Soul. Boseman's nomination for Best Actor — his first ever — was always going to be a highlight, of course.
It wouldn't be the Oscars without a few oddities and omissions, though. Kaluuya and Stanfield's supporting nods for Judas and the Black Messiah means that the Academy considered neither to be the film's lead, for instance. And, while two female filmmakers were recognised, One Night in Miami's Regina King — a Best Supporting Actress winner in 2019 for If Beale Street Could Talk — was overlooked, as was her film for Best Picture. Da 5 Bloods' phenomenal Delroy Lindo missed out on a Best Actor nomination, too.
As for who'll end up actually clasping a trophy this year, that'll be revealed on Monday, April 26, Australian and New Zealand time. Yes, that's later than usual. Yes, by mid-February last year, not only were the nominees out, but the awards themselves had been held. But, as we all know, the past 12 months have been unlike any other in recent memory.
The 93rd Academy Awards will take place on Monday, April 26, Australian and New Zealand time. Here's the full list of nominations:
OSCAR NOMINEES 2021
BEST MOTION 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
Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg
Mank, David Fincher
Minari, Lee Isaac Chung
Nomadland, Chloé Zhao
Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
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 ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Judas and the Black Messiah, Will Berson, Shaka King, Will Berson, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas
Minari, Lee Isaac Chung
Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal, Darius Marder, Abraham Marder and Derek Cianfrance
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
The Mauritanian, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani and MB Traven
Nomadland, Chloé Zhao
The White Tiger, Ramin Bahrani
BEST 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
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
'Fight For You', Judas and the Black Messiah (HER, Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas)
'Hear my Voice', The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite)
'Husavik', Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson)
'Io Si (Seen)', The Life Ahead (Diane Warren and Laura Pausini)
'Speak Now', One Night in Miami (Leslie Odom, Jr and Sam Ashworth)
BEST FILM EDITING
The Father, Yorgos Lamprinos
Nomadland, Chloé Zhao
Promising Young Woman, Frédéric Thoraval
Sound of Metal, Mikkel EG Nielsen
The Trial of the Chicago 7, Alan Baumgarten
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Another Round
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Collective
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time
BEST 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
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Father, Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Mark Ricker, Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton
Mank, Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale
News of the World, David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan
Tenet, Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas
BEST 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, Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher
Tenet, Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Emma, Alexandra Byrne
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Ann Roth
Mank, Trish Summerville
Mulan, Bina Daigeler
Pinocchio, Massimo Cantini Parrini
BEST 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
BEST 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
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Colette
A Concerto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye