A note about how the National Society of Film Critics does their ballots
- Voting is conducted via a weighted ballot system. On the first ballot, members vote for their top three choices (first choice = 3 points, second choice = 2 points, third choice = 1 point). The nominee that receives the most points and appears on a majority of ballots wins.
- If no winner is declared on the first ballot, the category goes to a second ballot, this time without the proxies. Voting continues with as many rounds as needed until a nominee receives the most points and appears on a majority of ballots.
The National Society of Film Critics announced their winners for their 2021 Awards.
Find out more about the NSFC.
Nomadland led the way with 4 wins including Picture, Director, Actress, and Cinematography.
Picture: NOMADLAND (52 points)

Runners-up: FIRST COW (50 points) and NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (41 points)
Director: Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND (58 points)

Runners-up: Steve McQueen, SMALL AXE (41 points) and Kelly Reichardt, FIRST COW (30 points)
Actor: Delroy Lindo, DA 5 BLOODS (52 points)
Runners-up: Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (47 points) and Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL (32 points)
Best Actress: Frances McDormand, NOMADLAND (46 points)

Runners-up: Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (33 points) and Sidney Flanigan, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (29 points)
Supporting Actor: Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL (53 points)

Runners-up: Glynn Turman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (36 points) and Chadwick Boseman, DA 5 BLOODS (35 points)
Supporting Actress: Maria Bakalova, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM (47 points)

Runners-up: Amanda Seyfried, MANK (40 points) and Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI (33 points)
Screenplay: Eliza Hittman, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (38 points)

Runners-up: Jon Raymond and Kelly Reichardt, FIRST COW (35 points) and Charlie Kaufman, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (29 points)
Cinematography: Joshua James Richards, NOMADLAND (47 points)

Runners-up: Shabier Kirchner, LOVERS ROCK (41 points) and Leonardo Simões, VITALINA VARELA (34 points
Foreign-Language Film: COLLECTIVE (38 points)

Runners-up: BACURAU and BEANPOLE (36 points) and VITALINA VARELA (32 points)
Nonfiction Film: TIME (46 points)

Runners-up: CITY HALL (28 points) COLLECTIVE (22 points)
Film Heritage:
- Women Make Movies, which, since the 1970s, has been releasing daring and distinctive female-directed movies that more conventional distributors wouldn’t touch.

- Film Comment, founded in 1962 and currently on hiatus, which has long been the most substantial and wide-ranging American film magazine.

- The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA, among America’s premier repertory houses, showing arthouse movies steadily since 1953, and holding strong in continuing the time-honored tradition of daily double features.
