2020 CFCA Awards Winners!

Last night was a first for the Chicago Film Critics Association, but it was familiar to anyone who’s been communicating with others for the past 9 months. Typically, we would get together at a restaurant and enjoy some needed fellowship, food, and announce the winners of our annual Chicago Critics Awards, celebrating the best of the year in film, but this year we saw each other via Zoom. This is 2020, after all. While it wasn’t the same, especially since some critics couldn’t attend, it was fun and enjoyable to see and hear from my colleagues. It was especially great and a big surprise to have two of the night’s winners appear and deliver acceptance speeches!

That’s right, actor Paul Raci joined our Zoom gathering to accept his award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” (watch it now on Amazon Prime), in which he plays a deafened alcohol counselor who serves as something of a mentor for the newly deafened Ruben (Riz Ahmed). Raci, a native of the Chicago area, was humbled by the win and after giving a wonderful acceptance speech, he not only taught us how to applaud using sign language, he also stayed for a while to see the announcement of the some of the other awards.

Another surprise was the appearance of Bulgarian actress, Maria Bakalova, who was so memorable and terrific as the titular character’s daughter in “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” (also now playing on Amazon Prime), and delivered a lively prerecorded speech, showing her gratitude to Chicago and all involved in the movie she was in.

Both of these appearances were a real treat and made the evening quite special.

As for the other winners…while I was quite happy to see Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland”, it was also great to see Kirsten Johnson’s great documentary “Dick Johnson is Dead” and the gorgeous animated fantasy film, “Wolfwalkers”, take home wins. While it was hard not to see Delroy Lindo win for his powerful work in “Da 5 Bloods”, it’s understandable the the late Chadwick Boseman won for his last acting role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”. It was also great to see “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and “Promising Young Woman” get some love.

The rest of the winners can be found in the official announcement below.

Frances McDormand and David Strathairn in the film NOMADLAND. (Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2020)

NOMADLAND LEADS CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION 2020 AWARDS, WINS FIVE HONORS

Chloé Zhao’s moving rumination on solitude earns Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and more at awards announced Monday evening

Chicago, IL (December 21, 2020) — The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) today announces their 2020 award winners. Claiming the organization’s top honors is Chloé Zhao’s NOMADLAND, which earned a leading five wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography (Joshua James Richards). NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS earned two awards (Best Original Screenplay, Eliza Hittman; Most Promising Performer, Sidney Flanigan), while the rest of the Association’s honors were awarded to a diverse mix of the year’s best films.

Highlights among the winners this year include: Chadwick Boseman named Best Actor for MA’S RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM; ANOTHER ROUND as Best Foreign Language Film); WOLFWAKERS as Best Animated Film; DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD as Best Documentary; and finally, the Milos Stehlik Breakthrough Filmmaker Award was presented to Emerald Fennell for PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN.

The complete list of 2020 Chicago Film Critics Award winners is as follows:

BEST PICTURE: Nomadland

BEST DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST ACTRESS: Frances McDormand, Nomadland

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Nomadland by Chloé Zhao

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Never Rarely Sometimes Always by Eliza Hittman

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Wolfwalkers

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Dick Johnson is Dead

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Another Round

BEST ART DIRECTION: Mank

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nomadland, Joshua James Richards

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Emma., Alexandra Byrne

BEST EDITING: I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Robert Frazen

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Soul, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS: The Invisible Man

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER: Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

MILOS STEHLIK BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER AWARD: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

About the Chicago Film Critics Association

A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) was founded in 1990 to support and celebrate quality filmmaking that has something to say about our world, our lives, and our society. Membership includes Chicago-based journalists, broadcasters, critics and media personalities who actively work in the area of film across a wide variety of local, regional and national outlets. The annual Chicago Critics Film Festival presents a selection of recent festival favorites and as-yet-undistributed works from established voices and talented newcomers alike, curated by the CFCA membership. Every December, the CFCA votes on and announces their selections for best films of the year, contributing to the annual national discourse on cinema. Learn more at www.chicagofilmcritics.org.