Nomadland was a hit with the Toronto Film Critics Association, taking three top awards at the organization’s annual vote. Nomadland was awarded Best Picture, Best Director for Chloé Zhao, and Best Actress for Frances McDormand.
Best International Film went to Bacurau, a Most Dangerous Game-type tale of an isolated and colorful Brazilian village that must protect itself against an invasion by high-tech armed foreigners. Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonca Filho are the co-directors.
Collective, by Alexander Nanaua, a Romanian documentary about investigative journalists putting their lives in jeopardy uncovering corruption, was given the Allan King Documentary Film Award.
The TFCA chose Riz Ahmed as Best Actor for his role as a drummer who loses his hearing in Sound of Metal.
Lee Isaac Chung won in the Best Screenplay category for his film Minari, about a Korean American family that takes over a farm in the 1980s in Arkansas.
Radha Blank’s comedy The Forty-Year Old Version, about a schoolteacher who becomes a hip-hop artist in her 40s, was awarded Best First Feature. Blank wrote, directed, produced and starred.
The awards were voted by TFCA members at a virtual meeting on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. They will be presented along with the prestigious Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at a virtual gala in Toronto, March 9, 2021, which will air live on YouTube at 8 p.m. The three finalists chosen for the $100,000 Rogers award are And the Birds Rained Down by Louise Archambault, Anne at 13,000 Ft. by Kazik Radwanski and White Lie by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas. Runners-up will each receive $5,000. The virtual gala will be co-hosted by Elaine “Lainey” Lui and Kathleen Newman-Bremang.
“Chloé Zhao’s sublime road movie, Nomadland, brilliantly speaks to our shared 21st-century examination of our life journeys, which is why we made it our most celebrated film this year with three prizes,” said Peter Howell, TFCA president and gala executive producer.
“Our three nominees for the $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award represent the best in current Canadian cinema: the emotional directness of Anne at 13,000 Ft., the truth-telling of White Lie, and the late-life discoveries of And the Birds Rained Down,” Howell said.
Also announced was the 2021 recipient of the Clyde Gilmour Award, Jason Ryle, an Indigenous producer, curator, and story editor who is the outgoing executive director of the imagineNATIVE film festival. The award, named for the legendary Toronto Star film critic, recognizes a Canadian industry figure who has made a substantial and outstanding contribution to the advancement and/or history of Canadian cinema.
Kelly Fyffe-Marshall was announced as the winner of the Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist. Her short film Black Bodies debuted to international acclaim last year and earned her a shot at her first feature. The award is named for the late, prestigious Globe & Mail critic, who famously championed young film talent.
2020 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Winners and Runners-up
BEST PICTURE
WINNER
Nomadland (Searchlight)
RUNNERS-UP
First Cow (MK2 Mile End)
Minari (Elevation Pictures)
ROGERS BEST CANADIAN FILM
And the Birds Rained Down (MK2 Mile End)
Anne at 13,000 Ft. (MDFF)
White Lie (levelFilm)
BEST ACTOR
WINNER
Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) (Pacific Northwest Pictures)
RUNNERS-UP
Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) (Netflix)
Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round) (Mongrel Media)
BEST ACTRESS
WINNER
Frances McDormand (Nomadland) (Searchlight)
RUNNERS-UP
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) (Netflix)
Sidney Flanigan (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always) (Focus Features)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER
Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) (Warner Bros)
RUNNERS-UP
Leslie Odom, Jr. (One Night in Miami) (Amazon Prime Video)
Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) (Pacific Northwest Pictures)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER
Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) (Amazon Prime Video)
RUNNERS-UP
Olivia Colman (The Father) (Elevation Pictures)
Yuh-jung Youn (Minari) (Elevation Pictures)
BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER
Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) (Searchlight)
RUNNERS-UP
Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) (MK2 Mile End)
Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) (Elevation Pictures)
BEST SCREENPLAY
WINNER
Minari (Elevation Pictures)
RUNNERS-UP
Nomadland (Searchlight)
Sound of Metal (Pacific Northwest Pictures)
BEST FIRST FEATURE
WINNER
The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
RUNNERS-UP
The Father (Elevation Pictures)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
ANIMATED FEATURE
WINNER
Wolfwalkers (Apple TV+)
RUNNERS-UP
Soul (Disney)
The Willoughbys (Netflix)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
WINNER
Bacurau (Kino Lorber)
RUNNERS-UP
Another Round (Mongrel Media)
Beanpole (Kino Lorber)
ALLAN KING DOCUMENTARY AWARD
WINNER
Collective (Mongrel Media)
RUNNERS-UP
Crip Camp (Netflix)
David Byrne’s American Utopia (Crave/HBO Canada)
Time (Amazon Prime Video)
CLYDE GILMOUR AWARD
Jason Ryle
JAY SCOTT AWARD
Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
TFCA CINEPLEX EMERGING CRITIC AWARD
Mark Hanson
Rose Ho
Related posts:
