Oscars 2021: History made as two women, Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell, nominated for Best Director

The 2021 Academy Award nominations have seen two women up for Best Director for the first time ever. 

Nomadland director Chloe Zhao and Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell were given Oscar nods this year, along with David Fincher for his film Mank, Lee Isaac Chung for Minari and Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round.

Zhao and Fennell are only the sixth and seventh women ever to be nominated for Best Director in the awards ceremony's 93-year-long history, and only one woman - Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow - has ever won, prompting many social media users to point out the obvious gender discrimination throughout Hollywood and within the academy. 

"A small step in the right direction, can't wait for the day there are five female directors nominated and it doesn't make the news because it's not a big deal, just like almost every year when it's been five men," one Twitter user wrote.  

"This is fantastic but... I'm willing to bet serious money a man will still win," said another. 

Both Zhao and Fennell also received nominations for Best Picture and were recognised for their screenwriting with nods for Best Adapted and Original Screenplay respectively. Zhao picked up a fourth nomination for Best Film Editing. 

Meanwhile, Viola Davis became the most nominated Black actress in Hollywood history with her fourth nod for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Davis is now the only Black woman to have ever been nominated for Best Actress twice. 

Speaking to Variety about the prospect of earning a fourth nomination earlier this year, Davis also highlighted the Oscars' diversity problem. 

"For me, it's a reflection of the lack of opportunities and access to opportunities people of color have had in this business," she told Variety of her multiple nominations.  "If me, going back to the Oscars four times in 2021, makes me the most nominated Black actress in history, that's a testament to the sheer lack of material there has been out there for artists of color."

Leading the nominations is David Fincher's Mank, picking up 10 nods, while The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7 all received six nominations. 

The full list of nominees for the 2021 Academy Awards is as follows: 

Best picture

  • The Father
  • Judas and the Black Messiah
  • Mank
  • Minari
  • Nomadland
  • Promising Young Woman
  • Sound of Metal
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best actress

  • Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
  • Andra Day - The United States vs Billie Holiday
  • Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman
  • Frances McDormand - Nomadland
  • Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

Best actor

  • Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
  • Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
  • Anthony Hopkins - The Father
  • Gary Oldman - Mank
  • Steven Yeun - Minari

Best supporting actress

  • Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  • Glenn Close - Hillbilly Elegy
  • Olivia Colman - The Father
  • Amanda Seyfried - Mank
  • Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

Best supporting actor

  • Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
  • Leslie Odom Jr - One Night in Miami
  • Paul Raci - Sound of Metal
  • Lakeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah

Best director

  • Another Round - Thomas Vinterberg
  • Mank - David Fincher
  • Minari - Lee Isaac Chung
  • Nomadland - Chloe Zhao
  • Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell

Best original screenplay

  • Judas and the Black Messiah - Will Berson, Shaka King, Will Berson, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas
  • Minari - Lee Isaac Chung
  • Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell
  • Sound of Metal - Darius Marder, Abraham Marder, Derek Cianfrance
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Aaron Sorkin

Best adapted screenplay

  • Borat Subsequent Moviefilm - Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman and Lee Kern
  • The Father - Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
  • The Mauritanian - Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, MB Traven
  • Nomadland - Chloé Zhao
  • The White Tiger - Ramin Bahrani

Best animated feature

  • Onward
  • Over the Moon
  • A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
  • Soul
  • Wolfwalkers

Best documentary feature

  • Collective - Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
  • Crip Camp - Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
  • The Mole Agent - Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
  • My Octopus Teacher - Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
  • Time - Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn

Best international feature

  • Another Round (Denmark)
  • Better Days (Hong Kong)
  • Collective (Romania)
  • The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia)
  • Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Best original song

  • 'Fight For You' - Judas and the Black Messiah (H.E.R., Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas)
  • 'Hear my Voice' - The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite)
  • 'Husavik' - Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson)
  • 'Io Si (Seen)' - The Life Ahead [La Vita Davanti a Se] (Diane Warren and Laura Pausini)
  • 'Speak Now' - One Night in Miami... (Leslie Odom, Jr and Sam Ashworth)

Best original score

  • Da 5 Bloods - Terence Blanchard
  • Mank - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
  • Minari - Emile Mosseri
  • News of the World - James Newton Howard
  • Soul - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

Best cinematography

  • Judas and the Black Messiah - Sean Bobbitt
  • Mank - Erik Messerschmidt
  • News of the World - Dariusz Wolski
  • Nomadland - Joshua James Richards
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Phedon Papamichael

Best visual effects

  • Love and Monsters - Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
  • The Midnight Sky - Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
  • Mulan - Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
  • The One and Only Ivan - Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher
  • Tenet - Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

Best film editing

  • The Father - Yorgos Lamprinos
  • Nomadland - Chloé Zhao
  • Promising Young Woman - Frédéric Thoraval
  • Sound of Metal - Mikkel EG Nielsen
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Alan Baumgarten

Best costume design

  • Emma - Alexandra Byrne
  • Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Ann Roth
  • Mank - Trish Summerville
  • Mulan - Bina Daigeler
  • Pinocchio - Massimo Cantini Parrini

Best sound

  • Greyhound - Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
  • Mank - Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
  • News of the World - Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
  • Soul - Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
  • Sound of Metal - Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

Best production design

  • The Father - Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone
  • Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Mark Ricker, Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton
  • Mank - Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale
  • News of the World - David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan
  • Tenet - Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas

Best make-up and hairstyling

  • Emma - Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze
  • Hillbilly Elegy - Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney
  • Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
  • Mank - Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff
  • Pinocchio - Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti

Best live action short

  • Feeling Through - Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
  • The Letter Room - Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
  • The Present - Farah Nabulsi
  • Two Distant Strangers - Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
  • White Eye - Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman

Best animated short

  • Burrow - Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
  • Genius Loci - Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
  • If Anything Happens I Love You - Will McCormack and Michael Govier
  • Opera - Erick Oh
  • Yes-People - Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson

Best documentary short

  • Colette - Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
  • A Concerto is a Conversation - Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
  • Do Not Split - Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
  • Hunger Ward - Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman
  • A Love Song for Latasha - Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan