My awards picks for the films of 2020.

Only eligible films are ones released in the US in 2020 (using IMDb & other sources to check). Releases can be streaming, theatrical, or home media, just not film festival exclusives. My categories are my own, not all are Oscar categories. Unlike the Oscars, no 2021 releases count (though 2020 awards runs are eligible). I also excluded films sent to me via Twitter DMs.

My previous awards: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016

All eligible films are listed below. The notes lists each nomination. My complete ranking of the films is here.

Each category has 1 winner, 5 nominees, and 5 honourable mentions. Nominees and mentions listed alphabetically.

Best Film:

House of Hummingbird - WINNER
Mank
Nomadland
Time
Vitalina Varela

Honourable Mentions: The Cordillera of Dreams; Dear Comrades!; Kalel, 15; Never Rarely Sometimes Always; Song Without a Name

Best Director:

Garrett Bradley - Time
David Fincher - Mank
Kim Bo-ra - House of Hummingbird - WINNER
Andrei Konchalovsky - Dear Comrades!
Chloé Zhao - Nomadland

Honourable Mentions: Alyx Ayn G. Arumpac (Aswang); Pedro Costa (Vitalina Varela); Eliza Hittmann (Never Rarely Sometimes Always); Melina León (Song Without a Name); Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart (Wolfwalkers)

Best Animated Film:

Children of the Sea
Ride Your Wave
Soul
The Willoughbys
Wolfwalkers - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Legend of Deification; Onward; Over the Moon; A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon; A Whisker Away

Best Documentary Film:

Aswang
Collective
The Cordillera of Dreams
The Painter and the Thief
Time - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Athlete A; Crip Camp; On the Record; The Tree House; Welcome to Chechnya

Best Foreign-Language Film (*):

Dear Comrades!
House of Hummingbird - WINNER
Kalel, 15
Song Without a Name
Vitalina Varela

Honourable Mentions: Happy Old Year; The House of Us; La Llorona; Martin Eden; Minari
* - documentaries and animation ineligible

Best English-Language Film (*):

The Assistant
Mank - WINNER
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland
Supa Modo

Honourable Mentions: The Father; First Cow; Make Up; Possessor; Sound of Metal
* - documentaries and animation ineligible

Best Actor:

Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
Anthony Hopkins - The Father - WINNER
Delroy Lindo - Da 5 Bloods
Mads Mikkelsen - Another Round
Gary Oldman - Mank

Honourable Mentions: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom); Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm); Levan Gelbakhiani (And Then We Danced); Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield); Eddie Redmayne (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Actress:

Chutimon Cheungcharoensukying - Happy Old Year
Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Han Ye-ri - Minari
Frances McDormand - Nomadland - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm); Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman); Atsuko Maeda (To the Ends of the Earth); Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man); Yuliya Vyotskaya (Dear Comrades!)

Best Supporting Actor:

Thomas Bo Larsen - Another Round
Ben Mendelsohn - Babyteeth
Paul Raci - Sound of Metal
Mark Rylance - The Trial of the Chicago 7
David Strathairn - Nomadland -WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Trial of the Chicago 7); Udo Kier (Bacurau); Frank Langella (The Trial of the Chicago 7); Hugh Laurie (The Personal History of David Copperfield); Toby Wallace (Babyteeth)

Best Supporting Actress:

Olivia Cooke - Sound of Metal
Kim Sae-byuk - House of Hummingbird
Talia Ryder - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Amanda Seyfried - Mank
Youn Yuh-jung - Minari - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Gana Bayarsaikhan (Waiting for the Barbarians); Olivia Colman (The Father); Essie Davis (Babyteeth); Stefanie Martini (Make Up); Gabby Padilla (Kalel, 15)

Best Acting Ensemble:

Babyteeth
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Minari - WINNER
Nomadland
The Personal History of David Copperfield

Honourable Mentions: Another Round; Da 5 Bloods; Family Romance, LLC; Never Rarely Sometimes Always; The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Character:

Eun-hee - House of Hummingbird
Fern - Nomadland
Herman J. Mankiewicz - Mank - WINNER
Paul - Da 5 Bloods
Ruben Stone - Sound of Metal

Honourable Mentions: Anthony (The Father); Borat Sagdiyev (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm); Emma Woodhouse (Emma); Olivia (Lingua Franca); Yuma Takada (37 Seconds)

Best Premise:

Another Round
The Assistant - WINNER
Butt Boy
Sound of Metal
Tenet

Honourable Mentions: Dick Johnson Is Dead; Possessor; Promising Young Woman; Swallow; Synchronic

Best Screenplay:

Dear Comrades!
House of Hummingbird - WINNER
Mank
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland

Honourable Mentions: Another Round; Happy Old Year; Kalel, 15; Minari; Wolfwalkers

Best Editing:

House of Hummingbird
Mank
Nomadland
The Painter and the Thief
Time - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Another Round; The Father; La Llorona; Martin Eden; Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Best Music:

Another Round
Da 5 Bloods
Ema - WINNER
Soul
Tenet

Honourable Mentions: Bacurau; I'm No Longer Here; Mank; Tesla; Wolfwalkers

Best Cinematography:

Dear Comrades!
Mank
Nomadland
Song Without a Name
Time - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Kalel, 15; Martin Eden; The Painted Bird; A Sun; Tenet

Best Sound:

Bacurau
Les Misérables
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Sound of Metal - WINNER
The Vast of Night

Honourable Mentions: Colour Out of Space; Ema; The Invisible Man; Mank; Possessor

Best Visuals:

Mank - WINNER
Nomadland
Time
Vitalina Varela
The Wild Goose Lake

Honourable Mentions: Colour Out of Space; Ema; Fire Will Come; The Vast of Night; Wolfwalkers

Best Visual Effects:

Bloodshot
Mank
Soul
Tenet
Welcome to Chechnya - WINNER

Honourable Mentions: Colour Out of Space; The Invisible Man; Mulan; Possessor; Wonder Woman 1984

Best Production Design:

Dear Comrades!
Mank - WINNER
Nomadland
Possessor
The Twentieth Century

Honourable Mentions: Bacurau; I'm Thinking of Ending Things; Martin Eden; News of the World; Wendy

Best Costumes:

Ammonite
Birds of Prey - WINNER
Da 5 Bloods
Emma
Mank

Honourable Mentions: Beanpole; Ema; First Cow; The Personal History of David Copperfield; Waiting for the Barbarians

Best Ending:

And Then We Danced
Another Round - WINNER
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Painter and the Thief
Time

Honourable Mentions: The Father; I'm Thinking of Ending Things; Nomadland; Song Without a Name; Young Ahmed

Best Scene (SPOILERS):

And Then We Danced - Final audition
Another Round - Dance Finale
Da 5 Bloods - Paul's soliloquy
Never Rarely Sometimes Always - Questionnaire - WINNER
Time - Release and reunion

Honourable Mentions: 37 Seconds (Buying sex); The Assistant (HR); Mank (Mank crashes the party); Mr. Jones (Ukraine); To the Ends of the Earth (Goat)

Worst Film:

Dolittle
The Last Days of American Crime
The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson - WINNER
Spree
The Tax Collector

Dishonourable Mentions: Artemis Fowl; Hillbilly Elegy; The Last Thing He Wanted; The Prom; Scoob!

Worst Director:

David Ayer - The Tax Collector
Daniel Farrands - The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson - WINNER
Stephen Gaghan - Dolittle
Ron Howard - Hillbilly Elegy
Olivier Megaton - The Last Days of American Crime

Dishonourable Mentions: Josh Boone (The New Mutants); Niki Caro (Mulan); Tony Cervone (Scoob!); Eugene Kotlyarenko (Spree); Dee Rees (The Last Thing He Wanted)

Worst Performance:

Robert Downey Jr. - Dolittle - WINNER
Will Forte - Scoob!
Josh Gad - Artemis Fowl
Michael Pitt - The Last Days of American Crime
Mena Suvari - The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson

Dishonourable Mentions: James Corden (The Prom); Ricky Gervais (The Willoughbys); Harry Melling (The Old Guard); Bobby Soto (The Tax Collector); Mark Wahlberg (Spenser Confidential)

Worst Screenplay:

Artemis Fowl
The Last Days of American Crime
The Last Thing He Wanted
The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson - WINNER
The Tax Collector

Dishonourable Mentions: Dolittle; Hillbilly Elegy; Mulan; Scoob!; Spree

Worst Scene (SPOILERS):

The Last Thing He Wanted - Plot
The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson - Night of the murder
The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson - Possession dream
Scoob! - Simon Cowell cameo
Spree - All the endless cringe - WINNER

Dishonourable Mentions: Artemis Fowl (Mulch's interrogation); Dolittle (Dragon's arsehole); Peninsula (Cheesy final scene); The Platform (Literal shit); Sonic the Hedgehog (Product placement)

Multiple Wins (excluding negative awards):
4 - House of Hummingbird; Mank
3 - Time
2 - Minari; Nomadland

Multiple Nominations (excluding negative awards):
13 - Mank
12 - Nomadland
8 - Time
7 - House of Hummingbird
6 - Another Round; Sound of Metal
5 - Da 5 Bloods; Dear Comrades!; Never Rarely Sometimes Always
3 - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; Minari; The Painter and the Thief; Soul; Tenet; Vitalina Varela
2 - And Then We Danced; The Assistant; Babyteeth; Song Without a Name

Multiple Mentions (excluding negative awards):
16 - Mank
13 - Nomadland
9 - Another Round; Never Rarely Sometimes Always
8 - Time
7 - Dear Comrades!; House of Hummingbird; Sound of Metal
6 - Da 5 Bloods; The Father
5 - Kalel, 15; Minari; Possessor; Song Without a Name; The Trial of the Chicago 7; Wolfwalkers
4 - Babyteeth; Bacurau; Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Ema; Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; Martin Eden; The Personal History of David Copperfield; Tenet; Vitalina Varela
3 - And Then We Danced; The Assistant; Colour Out of Space; Happy Old Year; The Invisible Man; The Painter and the Thief; Soul
2 - 37 Seconds; Aswang; The Cordillera of Dreams; Emma; First Cow; I'm Thinking of Ending Things; La Llorona; Make Up; To the Ends of the Earth; Waiting for the Barbarians; Welcome to Chechnya