Oscars 2021: ‘Nomadland’ Wins Best Picture

The 93rd Academy Awards nearly ended with Nomadland winning the prize for Best Picture, ending a long and strange awards season that was changed by the coronavirus pandemic. The ceremony itself played out in a strange series of events at the end, with Best Picture being announced before Best Actress and Actor in a move best described as anticlimactic.

Picking Nomadland for Best Picture was a choice that many expected but came at a strange time in the show. After Nomadland won, its star, Frances McDormand, picked up Best Actress. The show ended with Best Actor, possibly because the producers hoped the show could end with a tribute to Chadwick Boseman. Instead, Anthony Hopkins won for The Father and he was not even there, so the show ended without a speech.

The Best Picture Oscar field this year included Promising Young Woman, Mank, Judas and the Black Massiah, Minari, The Father, Sound of Metal, and The Trial of the Chicago 7. The ceremony also included Nomadland director Chloe Zhao winning Best Director earlier than usual, as that award is typically held back until late in the night. Zhao became just the second woman to win the award and the first woman of color to win.

The awards were well distributed Sunday night, with very few multi-award-winners. The acting field winners included Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Massiah and Youn Yuh-jung for Minari. Promising Young Woman writer/director Emerald Fennell won Best Original Screenplay while Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller won Best Adapted Screenplay for The Father.

Pixar’s Soul took home Best Animated Feature Film, while Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round won Best International Feature Film. My Octopus Teacher won Best Documentary Feature, while Colette won the Best Documentary Short Subject award. The live-action film Two Distant Strangers and the animated If Anything Happens I Love You won the short film awards.

Sound of Metal won Best Sound while Mank took home Best Production Design and Best Cinematography. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom won both Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Costume Design. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet won Best Visual Effects. “Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Massiah won Best Original Song.