Ah, the Oscars. You win some, you lose some. But this year, it’s big wins all around, particularly for women-led films. True to form, and following her wins at the Golden Globes, BAAFTAs, and Director’s Guild of America, Chloe Zhao has won the coveted award for Best Director for Nomadland, making her only the second female director to win the title, and the first woman of colour to do so. Zhao bagged the prize beating out fellow nominees David Fincher (Mank), Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7), Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round), and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). Nomadland is Zhao’s third feature directorial endeavour, following Songs My Brother Taught Me and The Rider. She is also the first Asian woman to be nominated for, and to win the Oscar for Best Director.
Prior to the announcement of the 2021 nominations, only five women had ever been chosen in the Best Director category: Lina Wertmüller (1976′s Seven Beauties), Jane Campion (1993′s The Piano), Sofia Coppola (2003′s Lost in Translation), Kathryn Bigelow (2009′s The Hurt Locker), and Greta Gerwig (2017′s Lady Bird). Adding to the list Zhao’s and Fennell’s nominations for this award season, the total number of Oscar-nominated woman for Best Director rose to seven. The 93rd Academy Awards is also the first time two women made the cut in the Best Director category in the same year.
Detailed below is the list of nominations under each category:
Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland – Winner
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father – Winner
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
Best Actress
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
Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland – Winner
Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari – Winner
Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah – Winner
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
Best International Feature
Another Round – Winner
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul – Winner
Wolfwalkers
Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher – Winner
Time
Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul – Winner
Best Original Song
“Fight for You,” Judas and the Black Messiah – Winner
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest
“Io Si (Seen),” The Life Ahead
“Speak Now,” One Night in Miami
Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman – Winner
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father – Winner
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger
Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank Winner
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Winner
Mank
Pinocchio
Best Costume Design
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Winner
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio
Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal – Winner
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal – Winner
Best Live-Action Short
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers – Winner
White Eye
Best Animated Short
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You – Winner
Opera
Yes-People
Best Documentary Short
Colette – Winner
A Concerto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha
Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet – Winner
Best Production Design
The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank – Winner
News of the World
Tenet