January 17, 2021 Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Names Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom the Best Film of 2020.
The Philadelphia Film Critics Circle today voted on its fourth annual year-end awards, and the choice for Best Film of 2020 was director George C. Wolfe’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. That film also won Best Actress honors for Viola Davis. It was a year in which the winners were spread across a wide variety of films, with ten different movies winning at least one award, with four movies winning two awards and none winning more than that.
Pixar’s Soul won for Best Animated Film and for Best Soundtrack/Score. Nomadland was the choice for Best Director (Chloe Zhao) and Best Cinematography (Joshua James Richards.) And Da 5 Bloods won a pair of acting awards, for Delroy Lindo (Best Actor) and the late Chadwick Boseman (Best Supporting Actor.)
“I am once again blown away by the variety of winners we’ve selected. I couldn’t be happier with our selections.” Rich Heimlich, cofounder of the Circle, said. “This was a year unlike any other, so it’s perhaps not surprising that so many different films received awards. But I’m proud that we were able to honor some special work this year,” said Stephen Silver, the group’s other cofounder.
Full list of winners:
Best Film: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Runner-up: Da 5 Bloods
Best Director: Chloe Zhao, for Nomadland
Runner-up Kelly Reichardt, for First Cow
Best Actress: Viola Davis for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Runners-up: Aubrey Plaza for Black Bear and Carey Mulligan for Promising Young Woman (tie)
Best Actor: Delroy Lindo, for Da 5 Bloods
Runner-up: Chadwick Boseman, for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Best Supporting Actress: Amanda Seyfried, for Mank
Runner-up: Maria Bakalova, for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for MakeBenefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Best Supporting Actor: Chadwick Boseman, for Da 5 Bloods
Runner-up: Leslie Odom, Jr., for One Night in Miami
Best Foreign Film: Jumbo
Runner-up: La Llorona
Best Animated Film: Soul, directed by Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers
Runner-up: Wolfwalkers, directed by Tom Moore and Ross Stewart
Best Documentary: Time, directed by Garrett Bradley
Runner-up: Dick Johnson is Dead, directed by Kirsten Johnson
Best Cinematography: Nomadland (Joshua James Richards)
Runner-up: First Cow (Chris Blauvelt)
Best Breakthrough Performance: Sidney Flanigan, for Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Runner-up: Maria Bakalova, for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Best Directorial Debut: Regina King, for One Night in Miami
Runner-up: Andrew Patterson, for The Vast of Night
Best Script: First Cow (written by Kelly Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond)
Runner-up: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (written by Eliza Hittman)
Best Score/Soundtrack: Soul.
Runner-up: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
This was the fourth year of awards since the Circle’s inception in 2017. Get Out was the 2017 winner for Best Film, while Roma was the choice in 2018, and Knives Out won in 2019.
Jacob is a film critic and co-founder of the Music City Drive-In. He is a member of the Music City Film Critics’ Association and specializes in the awards season. You can find him on Twitter @Tberry57.
