On February 13, 2021, after the strangest moviegoing year since ISHTAR, the Utah Film Critics Association will meet to dole out its annual awards to the best of cinema. And while we weren’t able to spend a lot of time in theaters this past year, that didn’t stop directors, writers, composers, cinematographers and actors from putting out some of the best films in quite some time.

Here is my ballot for 2020 and here’s to hoping for brighter days at the theater and box office.

Best Picture

1. THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
2. NOMADLAND
3. MINARI
4. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
5. JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

Best Achievement in Directing 

1. NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao
2. THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Aaron Sorkin
3. JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH, Shaka King
4. MINARI, Lee Isaac Chung
5. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, Emerald Fennell

Best Lead Performance by an Actor, Female 

1. Frances McDormand, NOMADLAND
2. Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
3. Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
4. Elizabeth Moss, THE INVISIBLE MAN
5. Evan Rachel Wood, KAJIILLIONAIRE

Best Lead Performance by an Actor, Male 

1. Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL
2. Steven Yeun, MINARI
3. Delroy Lindo, DA 5 BLOODS
4. Colin Firth, SUPERNOVA
5. Gary Oldman, MANK

Best Supporting Performance by an Actor, Female

1. Maria Bakalova, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
2. Glenn Close, HILLBILLY ELEGY
3. Helena Zengel, NEWS OF THE WORLD
4. Talia Ryder, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
5. Swankie, NOMADLAND

Best Supporting Performance by an Actor, Male

1. Sacha Baron Cohen, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
2. Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL
3. Stanley Tucci, SUPERNOVA
4. Daniel Kaluuya, JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
5. Leslie Odom Jr., ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

Vice/Martin Award for Best Performance in a Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror Film

1. Riley Keough, THE LODGE
2. Elizabeth Moss, THE INVISIBLE MAN
3. Elizabeth Debicki, TENET
4. Oksana Akinshinia, SPUTNIK
5. Sunita Mani, SAVE YOURSELVES

Best Original Screenplay 

1. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, Emerald Fennell
2. THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Aaron Sorkin
3. MINARI, Lee Isaac Chung
4. SOUND OF METAL, Abraham Marder, Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance
5. MANK, Jack Fincher

 Best Adapted Screenplay

1. NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao
2. NEWS OF THE WORLD, Luke Davies & Paul Greengrass
3. FIRST COW, Kelly Reichardt & Jonathan Raymond
4. I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, Charlie Kaufman
5. THE WHITE TIGER, Ramin Bahrani

Best Achievement in Cinematography

1. NOMADLAND, Joshua James Richards
2. NEWS OF THE WORLD, Dariusz Wolski
3. TENET, Hoyt van Hoytema
4. FIRST COW, Christopher Blauvelt
5. AMMONITE, Stéphane Fontaine

Best Achievement in Editing

1. THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Alan Baumgarten
2. NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao
3. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, Frédéric Thorava
4. SOUND OF METAL, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
5. TENET, Jennifer Lame

Best Original Score

1. SUPERNOVA, Keaton Henson
2. NEWS OF THE WORLD, James Newton Howard
3. TENET, Ludwig Göransson
4. MINARI, Emile Mosseri
5. THE MIDNIGHT SKY, Alexandre Desplat

Best Animated Feature

1. OVER THE MOON
2. WOLFWALKERS
3. ONWARD
4. SOUL

Best Documentary Feature

1. THE DISSIDENT
2. DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
3. BOYS STATE
4. MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
5. THE SOCIAL DILEMMA

Best Non-English Language Feature

1. MINARI
2. ANOTHER ROUND
3. THE MOLE AGENT