Francis McDormond won the SEFCA’s Best Actress award for her performance in Nomadland.
The Southeastern Film Critic’s Association (SEFCA) has released the results of their annual members’ poll of the best films of the year. The big winner was Nomadland, which topped the list of best films released between January 1, 2020 and Feb. 15 2021—an extended voting period due to COVID pandemic-related delays. The film also earned the Best Actress award for Francis McDormand, Best Director for Chloé Zhao, Best Cinematography for Joshua James Richards, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Zhao. The film, in which McDormand plays a van-dwelling itinerant worker in the American west, is currently playing in Memphis theaters and available on Hulu. “Nomadland was an overwhelming favorite among our members in this year’s award season,” says SEFCA president Matt Goldberg. “It’s clear that Zhao’s thoughtful, deeply humanistic, and heartfelt portrait of life at the fringes of our country connected with our members across the Southeast, and it is our pleasure to name it the Best Film of 2020.”
Youn Yuh-jung (center) won the SEFCA’s Best Supporting Actress award for Minari.
The #2 film Minari took home three trophies, including Best Original Screenplay for writer/director Lee Issac Chung, Best Supporting Actress for Youn Yuh-jung, and the Gene Wyatt Award, dedicated to the film that best embodies the spirit of the South. Minari is director Chung’s semi-autobiographical story of growing up as a Korean immigrant to rural Arkansas in the 1980s.
Best Actor went to Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Boseman, famous for his role as Black Panther, was suffering from terminal cancer when he portrayed a volatile trumpeter in the jazz-era saga. The Best Ensemble acting award went to The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Sacha Baron Cohen won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Abbie Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s historical drama.
The SEFCA first began polling their members for their annual awards in 1992. Here is the complete list of this year’s recipients.
Top Ten Films of 2020
1. Nomadland
2. Minari
3. The Trial of the Chicago 7
4. Promising Young Woman
5. Sound of Metal
6. One Night in Miami...
7. Da 5 Bloods
8. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
9. Soul
10. Mank
Best Actor
Winner: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Runner-Up: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Best Actress
Winner: Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Runner-Up: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Runner-Up: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Best Ensemble
Winner: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Runner-Up: One Night in Miami…
Best Director
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Regina King, One Night in Miami…
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Runner-Up: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami…
Best Documentary
Winner: Time
Runner-Up: Dick Johnson Is Dead
Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Another Round
Runner-Up: Bacurau
Best Animated Film
Winner: Soul
Runner-Up: Wolfwalkers
Best Cinematography
Winner: Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Erik Messerschmidt, Mank
The Gene Wyatt Award
Winner: Minari
Runner-Up: One Night in Miami…