Nomadland, the tale of a woman who eschews convention to live out of her van while exploring her own spiritual road map, took top honors at the 2020 Indiana Film Journalists Association awards, winning four prizes including Best Film, Best Actress for Frances McDormand and Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director for Chloé Zhao.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom won the runner-up prize for Best Film as well Best Ensemble Acting. In addition, eight other movies were announced as Finalists, which along with the winners represent the IFJA’s picks for the top 10 films of the year.
Delroy Lindo won Best Actor for his work in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, Maria Bakalova was named Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Tutar in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Leslie Odom Jr. won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Sam Cooke in One Night in Miami. Jamie Foxx won for Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance as the voice of Joe Gardner in Pixar’s latest, Soul.
Indiana University graduate Eliza Hittman took Best Original Screenplay for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. The Danish drama Another Round was named Best Foreign Language Film, Soul won Best Animated Film and Kirsten Johnson’s form-bending Dick Johnson is Dead won Best Documentary Film.
The Hoosier Award was given to the documentary Athlete A, which chronicles the sexual abuse of gymnasts, the attempt to cover it and the heroic journalism that brought it to light. The IFJA issued the following statement along with the award:
“We congratulate The Indianapolis Star investigative team, the filmmakers and especially the survivors for having the bravery and persistence to speak an uncomfortable truth and tell a story that needed to be told. ‘Athlete A’ represents the finest achievement in both journalism and documentary filmmaking.”
Below is a complete list of winners and runners-up in all IFJA categories:
BEST FILM
Winner: Nomadland
Runner-Up: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Other Finalists (listed alphabetically):
Da 5 Bloods
Another Round
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Minari
The Twentieth Century
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: Soul
Runner-Up: Wolfwalkers
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: Another Round
Runner-Up: Song Without a Name
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Dick Johnson is Dead
Runner-Up: Athlete A
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Runner-Up: Matthew Rankin, The Twentieth Century
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Charlie Kaufman, i’m thinking of ending things
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Regina King, One Night in Miami
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Jessie Buckley, i’m thinking of ending things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Runner-Up: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
Runner-Up: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Runner-Up: Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
BEST VOCAL / MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Winner: Jamie Foxx, Soul
Runner-Up: Sean Bean, Wolfwalkers
BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
Winner: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Runner-Up: One Night in Miami
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Winner: Ludwig Göransson, Tenet
Runner-Up: Emile Mosseri, Minari
BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR
Winner: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Runner-Up: Andrew Patterson, The Vast of Night
ORIGINAL VISION AWARD
Winner: The Twentieth Century
Runner-Up: Dick Johnson is Dead
HOOSIER AWARD
Winner: Athlete A
(As a special award, no runner-up is declared in this category.)
About the IFJA: The Indiana Film Journalists Association was established in 2009 to celebrate the cinematic arts and support Hoosier film criticism.