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)
Love Burnham’s nomination. Hopefully it translates to The Oscars.
A longer shot, but we shall see!