North Dakota Film Society Awards Led By ‘Mank’

The North Dakota Film Society Awards have announced their nominees for the 2020 awards season, with Mank leading the pack with 8 nominations, including Best Director for David Fincher. Interestingly, the nomination leader was not nominated for Best Picture. That category almost entirely consisted of female directed films, with the nominees being First Cow, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Nomadland, and Promising Young Woman. 

Elsewhere, Francis Lee’s seemingly DOA awards prospect Ammonite made a surprise show in 3 categories, with nominations for Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, as well as a nomination for Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann’s Original Score. 

These are the 2nd annual nominations from the NDFS. Their inaugural awards last year saw the Best Picture prize go to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with eventual Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho winning Best Director for Parasite. 

See the full list of this year’s NDFS nominees below: 

BEST PICTURE

First Cow, Kelly Reichardt (director), Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, and Anish Savjani (producers) 

I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Charlie Kaufman (director), Anthony Bregman, Charlie Kaufman, Robert Salerno, and Stefanie Azpiazu (producers) 

Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Eliza Hittman (director),  Eliza Hittman, Adele Romanski, and Sara Murphy (producers) 

Nomadland, Chloé Zhao (directors), Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, and Chloé Zhao (producers) 

Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell (director), Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, and Ashley Fox (producers) 

BEST DIRECTOR

Emerald Fennel, Promising Young Woman

David Fincher, Mank 

Charlie Kaufman, I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Kelly Reichardt, First Cow

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Sophia Loren, The Life Ahead

Frances McDormand, Nomadland

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Kate Winslet, Ammonite

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods

Gary Oldman, Mank

Steven Yeun, Minari

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Ellen Burstyn, Pieces of a Woman

Saoirse Ronan, Ammonite

Amanda Seyfried, Mank

Yuh-Jung Young, Minari 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 

Bo Burnham, Promising Young Woman

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 

Orion Lee, First Cow 

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

David Strathairn, Nomadland 

BEST SCREENPLAY

I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Charlie Kaufman 

Mank, Jack Fincher 

Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Eliza Hittman 

Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell 

Sound of Metal, Darius Marder and Abraham Marder (screenplay), Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance (story) 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Emma, Kave Quinn (production designer) and Stella Fox (set decorator) 

I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Molly Hughes (production designer) and Mattie Siegal (set decorator) 

Mank, Donald Graham Burt (production designer) and Jan Pascale (set decorator) 

News of the World, David Crank (production designer) and Elizabeth Keenan (set decorator) 

The Personal History of David Copperfield, Cristina Casali (production designer) and Charlotte Dirickx (set decorator) 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emma, Christopher Blauvelt

First Cow, Christopher Blauvelt 

Mank, Erik Messerschmidt 

Nomadland, Joshua James Richards 

Tenet, Hoyte Van Hoytema 

BEST FILM EDITING

I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Robert Frazen 

Mank, Kirk Baxter 

Nomadland, Chloé Zhao 

Promising Young Woman, Frédéric Thoraval

Tenet, Jennifer Lame 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Ammonite, Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann 

The Invisible Man, Benjamin Wallfisch

Mank, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross 

Soul, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Tenet, Ludwig Göransson

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, “Wuhan Flu” (written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Erran Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Swimer, Jena Friedman, Jim Russell, Jerry Holleman) 

Miss Americana, “Only the Young” (written by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose)

On the Rocks, “Identical” (written by Thomas Pablo Croquet, Christian Mazzalai, Laurent Mazzalai, Frederic Jean Joseph Moulin) 

One Night in Miami, “Speak Now” (written by Leslie Odom Jr. and Sam Ashworth) 

Over the Moon, “Rocket to the Moon” (written by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield, and Helen Park) 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE 

And Then We Danced, Levan Akin (Georgia) 

Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark) 

Beanpole, Kantemir Balagov (Russia) 

Collective, Alexander Nana (Romania) 

The Twentieth Century, Matthew Rankin (Canada) 

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

All In: The Fight for Democracy,  Liz Garber and Lisa Cortés (directors), Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortés, Dan Cogan, and Stacey Abrams (producers) 

Boys State, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (directors/producers) 

Collective, Alexander Nanau (director), Alexander Nanau, Bianca Oana, Bernard Michaux, and Hanka Kastelicová (producers) 

Dick Johnson Is Dead, Kirsten Johnson (director), Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness, and Kirsten Johnson (producers) 

Time, Garrett Bradley (director), Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, and Garrett Bradley (producers) 

The Truffle Hunters, Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw (directors/producers) 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Croods: A New Age, Joel Crawford (director), Joel Crawford and Mark Swift (producers) 

Onward, Dan Scanlon (director), Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae (producers)

Over the Moon, Glen Keane and John Kahrs (directors), Glen Keane, Peilin Chou, and Gennie Rim (producers) 

Soul, Pete Docter and Kemp Powers (directors), Pete Docter and Dana Murray (producers) 

Wolfwalkers, Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart (directors), Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, Nora Twomey, and Paul Young (producers)