2020 was a challenging year for everyone, in really all walks of life, but in terms of theatrical distribution, there was a particular about-face in terms how films got to audiences throughout the year. Many of the year’s anticipated films either swapped dates, moved fully into day and date streaming, or moved off of 2020 altogether. Despite this, and the overall slimmer slate that comprised 2020’s cinematic output, there were still a number of strong highlights that capped the year, and today the Atlanta Film Critics Circle (AFCC) announced its winners. Most notably, Chloe Zhao‘s excellent Nomadland, the year’s most vital film, took our Best Film prize as well as Best Director. While Riz Ahmed and Carey Mulligan, for their fiery performances in Sound of Metal and Promising Young Woman, earned their respective Best Acting prizes. I was especially pleased to see Paul Raci from Sound of Metal win Best Supporting Actor, along with Maria Bakalova, who came out of nowhere to win Best Supporting Actress for her headline-grabbing performance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
You can find our full list of winners below:
TOP 10 FILMS:
NOMADLAND
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
SOUND OF METAL
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
MINARI
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
FIRST COW
THE FATHER
MANK
DA 5 BLOODS
BEST LEAD ACTOR:
RIZ AHMED, SOUND OF METAL
BEST LEAD ACTRESS:
CAREY MULLIGAN, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
PAUL RACI, SOUND OF METAL
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
MARIA BAKALOVA, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
BEST ENSEMBLE:
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
BEST DIRECTOR:
CHLOE ZHAO, NOMADLAND
BEST SCREENPLAY:
EMERALD FENNELL, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
TIME
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM:
ANOTHER ROUND (DENMARK)
BEST ANIMATED FILM:
SOUL
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
JOSHUA JAMES RICHARDS FOR NOMADLAND
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
TRENT REZNOR AND ATTICUS ROSS FOR SOUL
AFCC Special Award for BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER:
KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR FOR ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
AFCC Special Award for BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM:
EMERALD FENNELL FOR PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN