Dorian Film Award Nominations Announced

‘I Saw the TV Glow,’ ‘The Substance’ Lead in LGBTQ Critics

Friday Jan. 17, 2025 – Los Angeles – GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists, and media icons, today announced the group’s democratically chosen nominees for its 16th Dorian Film Awards. The Dorians go to both mainstream and LGBTQ-themed content, celebrating what the group calls “the expert Q+ eye on entertainment.”

Leading with an impressive nine nominations is writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s thought-provoking horror tale I Saw the TV Glow, a film overlooked by many other kudos groups considering 2024’s theatrical and digital releases. Star Demi Moore’s thriller of a comeback The Substance is a close second, with 8 Dorian nods.

From there, the genre-defying trans mobster musical Emilia Peréz and tense ménage-à-trois drama Challengers each hold six nominations, and Dorian-nominated director Brady Corbet’s artful epic The Brutalist makes more than good with five. Other movies GALECA anointed with multi-nominations: Anora, Nickel Boys, and Wicked all with four nods each, and Problemista and Queer with three apiece.

In the per-studio counts, A24 has a whopping 25 nominations. Other outfits posting impressive scores: Amazon MGM with 13 nominations, Netflix (11), and Mubi (10).

Some notable titles in the group’s trademark races include the inventive slapstick comedy Hundreds of Beavers vying for Unsung Film of the Year, Madame Web and Trap looking at Campiest Flick honors, and The Brutalist, Nosferatu, and Dune: Part Two among the cinematic dazzlers aiming for Visually Striking Film.

The group’s Timeless Star career achievement honoree will be named when the winners are announced Thursday, Feb. 13. GALECA’s members are tentatively scheduled to toast winners and nominees in a brunch the following Sunday.

Along with its film nominations, GALECA announced it is donating $1000 to The Los Angeles Press Club’s emergency relief fund, the amount earmarked for entertainment journalists directly affected by the historically devastating wildfires that have destroyed vast swaths of LA, leaving thousands of residents homeless.

“Entertainment journalists are an obviously integral part of the Hollywood ecosystem, and we want to make sure they aren’t forgotten in what’s already a very tough environment for those in our profession,” said GALECA Executive Director John Griffiths. Added Vice President Diane Anderson-Minshall: “We applaud our friends at the Press Club and its sister organization the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards for coming to our brethren’s need.”

Professional journalists whose main livelihood involves entertainment criticism, editing and/or reportage can apply for help at lapressclub.org. Additional donations may be made there as well.

GALECA: THE SOCIETY OF LGBTQ ENTERTAINMENT CRITICS
16TH DORIAN FILM AWARDS LIST OF NOMINEES

FILM OF THE YEAR

• Anora (Neon)
• Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
• I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
• The Substance (Mubi)

LGBTQ FILM OF THE YEAR

• Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
• Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
• I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
• Queer (A24)

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Brady Corbet, The Brutalist (A24)
• Coralie Fargeat, The Substance (Mubi)
• Luca Guadagnino, Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
• RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
• Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)

SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR
— Original or adapted

• Anora (Neon)
• Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
• Conclave (Focus Features)
• I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• The Substance (Mubi)

LGBTQ SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR

• Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
• I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
• Problemista (A24)
• Queer (A24)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

• All We Imagine as Light (Sideshow / Janus Films)
• Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
• Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
• I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics)
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon)

LGBTQ NON-ENGLISH FILM OF THE YEAR

• Crossing (Mubi)
• Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
• Queendom (Greenwich Entertainment)
• Vermiglio (Sideshow / Janus Films)
• All Shall Be Well (Strand Releasing)

UNSUNG FILM OF THE YEAR
— To an exceptional movie worthy of greater attention

• Didi (Focus Features)
• Hundreds of Beavers (Cineverse, Vinegar Syndrome)
• My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
• Problemista (A24)
• Thelma (Magnolia)

UNSUNG LGBTQ FILM OF THE YEAR

• Femme (Utopia)
• My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
• National Anthem (Variance, LD Entertainment)
• The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence)
• Problemista (A24)

FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• Adrien Brody, The Brutalist (A24)
• Daniel Craig, Queer (A24)
• Colman Domingo, Sing Sing (A24)
• Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked (Universal)
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
• Nicole Kidman, Babygirl (A24)
• Mikey Madison, Anora (Neon)
• Demi Moore, The Substance (Mubi)
• Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)

SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• Michele Austin, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
• Yura Borisov, Anora (Neon)
• Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
• Ariana Grande, Wicked (Universal)
• Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
• Brigette Lundy-Paine, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (A24)
• Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (A24)
• Margaret Qualley, The Substance (Mubi)
• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Peréz (Netflix)

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR

• Dahomey (Mubi)
• Daughters (Netflix)
• The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
• Sugarcane (National Geographic)
• Will & Harper (Netflix)

LGBTQ DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR

• Chasing Chasing Amy (Level 33)
• Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
• Merchant Ivory (Cohen Media Group)
• Queendom (Greenwich Entertainment)
• Will & Harper (Netflix)

ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR

• Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
• Inside Out 2 (Disney)
• Memoir of a Snail (IFC Films)
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
• The Wild Robot (Universal, DreamWorks)

GENRE FILM OF THE YEAR
For excellence in science fiction, fantasy, and horror

• Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
• I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• Nosferatu (Focus Features)
• The Substance (Mubi)
• Wicked (Universal)

FILM MUSIC OF THE YEAR

• The Brutalist (A24)
• Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
• Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
• I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
• Wicked (Universal)

VISUALLY STRIKING FILM OF THE YEAR

• The Brutalist (A24)
• Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
• Nosferatu (Focus Features)
• Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
• The Substance (Mubi)

CAMPIEST FLICK

• Hundreds of Beavers (Cineverse, Vinegar Syndrome)
• Madame Web (Sony)
• Megalopolis (Lionsgate)
• The Substance (Mubi)
• Trap (Warner Bros.)

“WE’RE WILDE ABOUT YOU!” RISING STAR AWARD

• Jonathan Bailey
• Vera Drew
• Karla Sofía Gascón
• Brigette Lundy-Paine
• Mikey Madison
• Katy O’Brian
• Drew Starkey

WILDE ARTIST AWARD
To a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment

• Colman Domingo
• Luca Guadagnino
• Coralie Fargeat
• Jane Schoenbrun
• Tilda Swinton

GALECA LGBTQIA+ FILM TRAILBLAZER
For creating art that inspires empathy, truth, and equity

• Vera Drew
• Cynthia Erivo
• Luca Guadagnino
• Jane Schoenbrun
• Julio Torres

TIMELESS STAR (Career achievement award)
Honoring an exemplary career marked by character, wisdom, and wit

• To be announced February 13 with all winners.

Nomination counts per studio:

• Altered Innocence – 1
• Amazon/MGM + Orion – 13
• A24 – 25
• Bleecker Street – 2
• Cineverse / Vinegar Syndrome – 2
• Cohen Media Group – 1
• Disney – 1
• Focus Features – 4
• Greenwich Entertainment – 2
• IFC – 1
• Level 33 – 1
• Lionsgate – 1
• Magnolia – 1
• Mubi – 10
• National Geographic – 1
• Neon – 5
• Netflix – 11
• Searchlight – 1
• Sideshow / Janus Films – 4
• Sony – 1
• Sony Pictures Classics – 1
• Strand – 1
• Universal – 5
• Utopia – 1
• Variance / LD Entertainment – 1
• Warner Bros. – 3