Austin Film Critics Association announces shortlists for 2021: The Power of the Dog leads the pack with nine nominations – Screenshots

Awards season has arrived in the ATX. The Austin Film Critics Association has released its list of nominees for its 2021 Film Awards.

The most nominated film this year (well, not quite a year) is Jane Campion’s Frozen Western The power of the dog, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst (both nominated for their performances), and scored by Johnny Greenwood (competing against himself as a double nominated for score with this and Spencer), while Campion herself is nominated as director and screenwriter, for her adaptation of the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage.

The power of the dog disputed nine nods, but faces stiff competition from two films that garnered eight nominations each: Denis Villeneuve’s Space Epic Dune, and the historical reminiscence of Paul Thomas Anderson in Los Angeles Licorice Pizza.

The AFCA also released its nominees for Best Austin Picture released last year. All titles are produced by filmmakers residing in Austin during production. This year’s roster includes Caleb’s black comedy Michael Johnson Carnivores; Will Bakke’s Coming of Age Party Movie The meeting; Robert Rodriguez’s concert film for Billie Eilish, Happier than ever: a love letter to Los Angeles; roller derby doc Queens of pain, co-directed by Cassie Hay; and SXSW-selected Without getting killed or caught, Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield’s story of the complicated life and love of Guy Clark, the dean of Texas songwriters.

All included films were released between February 27 and December 24, 2021. Due to the pandemic, AFCA members voted to extend the eligibility period for the 2020 awards until February 26 of the year last, which means movies like Minari and Functional identification were not eligible this year. However, that cropped window did not appear to detract from the quality of the contenders.

The shortlists now go to AFCA members for second-round voting, and AFCA will announce the winners on Tuesday, January 11.

Best film

• Dune

• The green knight

• Licorice Pizza

• Pork

• The power of the dog

Best director

• Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

• Jeanne Campion, The power of the dog

• Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive my car

• David Lowery, The green knight

• Denis Villeneuve, Dune

Best actress

• Olivia Colman, The lost girl

• Penelope Cruz, Parallel mothers

• Alana Haïm, Licorice Pizza

• Kristen Stewart, Spencer

• Agathe Rouselle, Titanium

Best actor

• Nicolas Cage, Pork

• Benedict Cumberbatch, The power of the dog

• Andrew Garfield, ticking… boom!

• Simon Rex, Red rocket

• Denzel Washington, Macbeth’s tragedy

Best Supporting Actress

• Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

• Ann Dowd, Mass

• Kirsten Dunst, The power of the dog

• Catherine Hunter, Macbeth’s tragedy

• Ruth Negga, Who passed

Best Supporting Actor

• Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza

• Colman Domingue, Zola

• Vincent Lindon, Titanium

• Kodi Smit-McPhee, The power of the dog

• Jeffrey Wright, The French dispatch

Best overall

• Dune

• The French dispatch

• The more they fall

• Licorice Pizza

• Mass

Best Original Screenplay

• Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

• Wes Anderson, The French dispatch

• Vanessa Block and Michael Sarnoski, Pork

• Fran Kranz, Mass

• Mike Mills, go! Go on

Best Adapted Scenario

• Jeanne Campion, The power of the dog

• Ryusuke Hamagucki and Takamasa Oe, Drive my car

• Sian Heder, CODA

• David Lowery, The green knight

• Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth, Dune

Best photography

• Bruno Delbonnel, Macbeth’s tragedy

• Greig Fraser, Dune

• Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story

• Andrew Droz Palermo, The green knight

• Ari Wegner, The power of the dog

Best Editing

• Andy Jurgensen, Licorice Pizza

• Pierre Sciberras, The power of the dog

• Claire Simpson, The last duel

• Thomas Stanford, West Side Story

• Joe Walker, Dune

Best Original Music

• Jonny Greenwood, The power of the dog

• Jonny Greenwood, Spencer

• Daniel Hart, The green knight

• Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Candy

• Hans Zimmer, Dune

Best international film

• Drive my car

• Lamb

• Parallel mothers

• Titanium

• The worst person in the world

Best Documentary

• To flee

• The rescue

• The Sparks brothers

• Summer of Soul (… Or, when the revolution couldn’t be televised)

• The velvet metro

Best animated film

• Beautiful

• Encanto

• To flee

• Luca

• The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Best vocal / animated / digital performance

• Stéphanie Beatriz, Encanto

• Abbi Jacobson, The Mitchells vs. the Machines

• Jean Leguizamo, Encanto

• Danny McBride, The Mitchell vs. the Machines

• Kaho Nakamura, Beautiful

Best waterfalls

• Dune

• No time to die

• Shang Chi and the legend of the ten rings

• Spiderman: No way home

• Raging fire

Best first film

• Maggie Gyllenhaal, The lost girl

• Rebecca Room, Who passed

• Fran Kranz, Mass

• Michel Samoski, Pork

• Emma Seligman, baby shiva

The Robert R. “Bobby” McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award

• Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

• Alana Haïm, Licorice Pizza

• Emilia Jones, CODA

• Agathe Rousselle, Titanium

• Rachel Sennott, baby shiva

Best Austin Movie 2021

• Carnivores (D: Caleb Michael Johnson)

• The meeting (D: Will Bakke)

• Happier than ever: a love letter to Los Angeles (D: Robert Rodriguez)

• Queens of pain (D: Cassie Hay)

• Without getting killed or caught (D: Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield)

Founded in 2005, AFCA is made up of active critics from print, television, radio and the Internet. Its members include writers for the Austin Chronicle, as good as Austin American-Stateman, Austin360.com, Bloody Disgusting, But Why Tho Podcast, Certified Forgotten, Cinapse, Daily Grindhouse, the Daily Dot, the Daily Texan, Double Grilled, Fangoria, Film School Rejects, FirstShowing.net, GotchaMovies, Hammer to Nail, News from the hill country, Horror’s Not Dead, KOOP 91.7 FM Radio, Movies.com, Nerdist, Next Projection, One Movie Punch, One Of Us, Slashfilm, Smells Like Screen Spirit, True View Reviews and Uproxx.