A refreshing change from the status quo of film award lists is the just-released nominees from the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA) which has revealed the top film picks for this year’s award season.
And the critically acclaimed film Minari is folded into the best film category instead of being relegated to the foreign film category.
The Dorian Film Award Nominees are finally here, as Monsters & Critics is a member of the organization and was part of the nomination process that saw Minari and Nomadland take the lead with the most noms.
About the Dorian Awards
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 and now includes over 280 professional journalists covering film and television. Their Dorian Film Awards are considered to be the freshest and most encompassing of all award shows.
As ever, the Society’s Dorians honor both mainstream and queer titles, but according to executive director, John Griffiths, the pandemic necessitated special allowances.
He said, “Movies given a theatrical or digital theatrical release from January 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021, were considered. Winners will be revealed in the group’s Dorians Film Toast 2021 special set to air on the queer platform Revry on April 18.”
The nominees are
Defying other award-giving entities desire to pigeonhole the film as just a “foreign film,” Griffiths noted in a press statement that the “heartfelt Koreans-in-Arkansas drama Minari leads with six Dorian nominations, including Best Film and Best Foreign Language Film,” adding, “Take that, Golden Globes.”
Following with five nominations is Nomadland, with nods for lead Frances McDormand, two for the director and screenwriter Chloé Zhao, and a nom nod as Most Visually Striking Film.
“It’s not a surprise that the films that came out in 2020, one of the country’s most tumultuous years, are fascinating works that feel both deeply personal and subversively political,” says GALECA President Diane Anderson-Minshall in a press statement.
“And I’m thrilled that unlike some other critics groups, our members have not relegated Minari—one of the year’s most quintessentially American films—just to the foreign language category. More than anything, Minari and Nomadland show what it means to live with autonomy and self-direction in America today.”
The Chinese-born Zhao is also up for the group’s Wilde Artist Award alongside actress and first-time film director Regina King (One Night in Miami).
Dolly Parton, Elliot Page, and the late Chadwick Boseman, also honored with a posthumous Best Actor nomination for his dynamic turn in the period drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
The Artist honor, named for GALECA’s patron saint Oscar Wilde, goes to “a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment.”
Griffiths added: “Emerald Fennell, writer-director of fellow Best Film contender Promising Young Woman (4 nominations), is a double-nominee herself. Woman’s star Carey Mulligan joins McDormand in the best actress race, alongside Miss Juneteenth’s pageant-mom Nicole Beharie, Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ pregnant teen Sidney Flanigan (also competing for the group’s Rising Star honor), and Viola Davis for her turn as a certain famed blues singer in Ma Rainey’s.”
Along with Boseman in the Best Actor category are Anthony Hopkins for The Father, Delroy Lindo for director Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, Riz Ahmed for the addiction drama Sound of Metal, and Steven Yeun of Minari.
Campiest film
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ Dorian Awards go to all of film and TV, from mainstream to queer, helping remind bullies, bigots, and at-risk youth that the world looks to “the Q eye” for tips on what’s great in movies and shows.
Griffiths said: “After all, how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy?”
The Campiest Flick race includes Bad Hair, Birds of Prey, Eurovision Song Contest, The Prom, and Wonder Woman 1984.
Timeless star
The winner of the Society’s Timeless Star career achievement award—past recipients have included Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Sir Ian McKellen, and Lily Tomlin—will be announced in the group’s April 18 Dorians Film Toast special.
GALECA’s previous awards special, Dorians TV Toast 2020 on Revry, hosted by queer broadcasting star Karel, featured tributes to Hugh Jackman, Regina King, Janelle Monáe, Billy Porter, John Oliver, Dan Levy, and Damon Lindelof.
Presenters are
Presenters include Alex Newell, Margaret Cho, Dave Koz, Josh Thomas, and Shangela. The program, and its behind-the-scenes companion half-hour Dorians Dish, can be viewed on Revry.
Complete list of Dorian Film Awards nominees
Best Film
FIRST COW
MINARI
NOMADLAND
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
SOUND OF METAL
Best LGBTQ Film
AMMONITE
THE BOYS IN THE BAND
I CARRY YOU WITH ME
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
SUPERNOVA
UNCLE FRANK
Best Foreign Language Film
ANOTHER ROUND
BACURAU
I CARRY YOU WITH ME
LA LLORONA
MINARI
TWO OF US
Best Director
CHLOÉ ZHAO, NOMADLAND
EMERALD FENNELL, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
KELLY REICHARDT, FIRST COW
LEE ISAAC CHUNG, MINARI
REGINA KING, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Best Screenplay (original or adapted)
CHLOE ZHAO, NOMADLAND
ELIZA HITTMAN, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
EMERALD FENNELL, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
LEE ISAAC CHUNG, MINARI
RADHA BLANK, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
Best Unsung Film
DISCLOSURE
THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
DRIVEWAYS
FIRST COW
MISS JUNETEENTH
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
SHIRLEY
THE ASSISTANT
Best Documentary
COLLECTIVE
CRIP CAMP
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
TIME
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA
Best LGBTQ Documentary
A SECRET LOVE
BORN TO BE
DISCLOSURE
MUCHO MUCHO AMOR: THE LEGEND OF WALTER MERCADO
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA
Best Film Performance — Actress
CAREY MULLIGAN, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
FRANCES MCDORMAND, NOMADLAND
NICOLE BEHARIE, MISS JUNETEENTH
SIDNEY FLANIGAN, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
VIOLA DAVIS, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Best Film Performance — Actor
ANTHONY HOPKINS, THE FATHER
CHADWICK BOSEMAN, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
DELROY LINDO, DA 5 BLOODS
RIZ AHMED, SOUND OF METAL
STEVEN YEUN, MINARI
Best Film Performance — SUPPORTING Actress
AMANDA SEYFRIED, MANK
CANDICE BERGEN, LET THEM ALL TALK
MARIA BAKALOVA, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
OLIVIA COLMAN, THE FATHER
YUH-JUNG YOUN, MINARI
Best Film Performance — SUPPORTING Actor
CHADWICK BOSEMAN, DA 5 BLOODS
DANIEL KALUUYA, JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
LESLIE ODOM JR., ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
PAUL RACI, SOUND OF METAL
SACHA BARON COHEN, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Most Visually Striking Film
BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN
MANK
NOMADLAND
SOUL
WOLFWALKERS
Campiest Flick
BAD HAIR
BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA
THE PROM
WONDER WOMAN 1984
“We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award
ALAN S. KIM
KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR
MARIA BAKALOVA
RADHA BLANK
SIDNEY FLANIGAN
Wilde Artist Award
(to a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment)
CHADWICK BOSEMAN
CHLOE ZHAO
DOLLY PARTON
ELLIOT PAGE
REGINA KING