February 22, 2021 – The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has named Nomadland as its Best Film of 2020. Chloé Zhao’s intimate, elegiac drama about life in America after the Great Recession also earned the organization’s awards for Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Zhao, and Best Cinematography for Joshua James Richards.
“Nomadland was an overwhelming favorite among our members in this year’s award season,” said SEFCA President Matt Goldberg. “It’s clear that Zhao’s thoughtful, deeply humanistic and heartfelt portrait of life at the fringes of our country connected with our members across the Southeast, and it is our pleasure to name it the Best Film of 2020.”
SEFCA also bestowed its Gene Wyatt Award, which goes to a film that best embodies the spirit of the South, to Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, the story of a Korean immigrant family that moves to Arkansas so the patriarch can realize his dream of becoming a farmer. Like Nomadland, Minari was a clear favorite among our members, and there’s no question that Chung’s film is a moving and authentic portrait of our part of the country.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and changes made across various guilds and academies, SEFCA stretched its voting period from January 1, 2020 to February 15, 2021. Despite a trying and difficult year, we are proud of the membership for continuing their devotion to film criticism and celebrating the best that cinema has to offer.
Founded in 1992, the Southeastern Film Critics Association brings together a diverse coalition of critics across the Southeast to celebrate the year’s best films and craftsmanship in cinema. Winners from past years can be found at sefca.net.
Top 10 Films
1. Nomadland
2. Minari
3. The Trial of the Chicago 7
4. Promising Young Woman
5. Sound of Metal
6. One Night in Miami…
7. Da 5 Bloods
8. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
9. Soul
10. Mank
Best Actor
Winner: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Runner-Up: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Best Actress
Winner: Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Runner-Up: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Yuh-jung Youn, Minari
Runner-Up: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Best Ensemble
Winner: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Runner-Up: One Night in Miami…
Best Director
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Regina King, One Night in Miami…
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Runner-Up: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami…
Best Documentary
Winner: Time
Runner-Up: Dick Johnson Is Dead
Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Another Round
Runner-Up: Bacurau
Best Animated Film
Winner: Soul
Runner-Up: Wolfwalkers
Best Cinematography
Winner: Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Runner-Up: Erik Messerschmidt, Mank
The Gene Wyatt Award
Winner: Minari
Runner-Up: One Night in Miami…
ACED Magazine is a proud member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association
