The Chicago Indie Critics announced the winners of their sixth annual film awards and after leading the field with nine nominations, The Power of the Dog emerged as the top winner with three CIC awards. The Netflix western drama won for Best Studio film and earned three trophies for Jane Campion, one as a producer of the film and the other two for her direction and adaptation of Thomas Savage’s novel.
Other top awards went to CODA won for Best Independent Film, Parallel Mothers for Best Foreign Language Film and Summer of Soul for Best Documentary. Only two other films, Passing and The French Dispatch, won multiple awards.
The Chicago Indie Critics annually present two awards of special recognition. Honoring the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content, the Trailblazer Award this year went to Lin-Manuel Miranda. The filmmaker enjoyed a busy 2021 with his directorial debut of tick, tick… BOOM! and producer and musical contributions across In the Heights, Encanto, Vivo, and the documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It. The Impact Award recognizing a person whose work during the past year or beyond made a positive influence on society or the Chicagoland film community was given to Music Box Theater general manager Ryan Oestreich.
Complete List of Winners for the 2021 Chicago Indie Critics Awards
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (BUDGETS UNDER $20 MILLION)
CODA
Producers: Philippe Rousselot, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger, and Jérôme Seydoux
BEST STUDIO FILM (BUDGETS OVER $20 MILLION)
THE POWER OF THE DOG
Producers: Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion, and Tanya Seghatchian
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
PARALLEL MOTHERS
Producers: Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar, and Esther Garcia
BEST DOCUMENTARY
SUMMER OF SOUL
Producers: Ahmir “QuestLove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, and Joseph Patel
BEST ANIMATED FILM
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
Producers: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht
BEST DIRECTOR
Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
PIG, Michael Sarnoski
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jane Campion
BEST ACTOR
Andrew Garfield, TICK, TICK… BOOM!
BEST ACTRESS
Tessa Thompson, PASSING
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jeffrey Wright, THE FRENCH DISPATCH
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ruth Negga, PASSING
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
THE FRENCH DISPATCH
Casting Directors: Douglas Aibel and Antoinette Boulat
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE GREEN KNIGHT, Andrew Droz Palermo
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
CRUELLA, Jenny Beavan
BEST MAKEUP
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, and Justin Raleigh
BEST EDITING
WEST SIDE STORY, Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
DUNE, Hans Zimmer
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“No Time to Die,” NO TIME TO DIE
Songwriters: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, and Dan Sudick
BEST STUNTS
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, Andy Cheng
SPECIAL AWARDS
TRAILBLAZER AWARD
Honors the work of an artist who truly pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content
Lin-Manuel Miranda, filmmaker
IMPACT AWARD
Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society or the Chicagoland film community
Ryan Oestreich, General Manager – Music Box Theater