NINE NOMINATIONS FOR THE POWER OF THE DOG AND EIGHT FOR DUNE LEAD ALL FILMS AS THE CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS ANNOUNCE THE NOMINEES FOR THEIR SIXTH ANNUAL AWARDS

From one challenging year to another, theaters are slowly returning and excellence in cinemas can always be found. The Chicago Indie Critics have announced the nominees for their sixth annual film awards. The voting members, including yours truly, completed ballots to select nominees in 24 categories. My fellow CIC members and I will commence a final round of voting ending on January 6, 2021. The 2021 CIC Award winners will be announced on the evening of January 8, 2021 in an online presentation posted on their YouTube Channel.

Leading all films with nine formidable nominations is Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, directed by Best Director nominee Jane Campion. The dramatic western also received nominations for Best Studio Film, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actor for Kodi Smit-McPhee, Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Musical Score. Following next was the Warner Bros. epic Dune with eight nominations and CODA’s six nominations representing AppleTV+.

The CIC’s two awards of special recognition and interest are their annual Trailblazer and Impact Awards. The Trailblazer Award honors the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content. The Impact Award celebrates a person whose work during the past year or beyond made a positive influence on society or the Chicagoland film community. Actress-turned-filmmaker Rebecca Hall, the director of Passing from Netflix, was nominated in both categories. 

In the Trailblazer Award field, Ms. Hall is joined by fellow filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sian Heder, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The other nominees for the Impact Award include filmmaker Steven Spielberg and local Chicago recognition for Rebecca Fons, the Director of Programming at The Gene Siskel Film Center, Ryan Oestreich, the General Manager of the Music Box Theater, and Jill Wheeler, the Director of Publicity and Promotions at the Chicago branch of Allied Global Marketing. 

The complete list of nominees for the 2021 CIC Awards:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (budgets under $20 million)

CODA

Producers: Philippe Rousselot, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger, and Jerome Seydoux

NINE DAYS

Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Laura Tunstall, and Datari Turner

PIG

Producers: Vanessa Block, Dimitra Tsingou, Joseph Restaino, Nicolas Cage, Steve Tisch, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, and Dori Rath

SPENCER

Producers: Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, and Paul Webster

SUMMER OF SOUL

Producers: Ahmir “QuestLove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, and Joseph Patel

BEST STUDIO FILM (budgets over $20 million)

THE HARDER THEY FALL

Producers: Lawrence Bender, Shawn Carter, James Lassiter, and Jeymes Samuel

LICORICE PIZZA

Producers: Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, and Paul Thomas Anderson

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Producers: Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion, and Tanya Seghatchian

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

Producers: Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal

TICK, TICK… BOOM!

Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Julie Oh

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BENEDETTA

Producers: Said Ben Said, Michel Merkt, and Jerome Seydoux

DRIVE MY CAR

Producers: Tsuyoshi Gorô, Misaki Kawamura, Osamu Kubota, Sachio Matsushita, Yoshito Nakabe, Keiji Okumura, Jin Suzuki, and Akihisa Yamamoto

FLEE

Producers: Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen

A HERO

Producers: Alexandre Mallet-Guy and Asghar Farhadi

PARALLEL MOTHERS

Producers: Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar, and Esther Garcia

BEST DOCUMENTARY

FLEE

Producers: Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen

THE RESCUE

Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, John Battsek, and PJ. van Sandwijk

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN

Producers: Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers

THE SPARKS BROTHERS

Producers: Nira Park, Edgar Wright, George Hencken, and Laura Richardson

SUMMER OF SOUL

Producers: Ahmir “QuestLove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, and Joseph Patel

BEST ANIMATED FILM

ENCANTO

Producers: Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

FLEE

Producers: Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen

LUCA

Producers: Andrew Warren

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES

Producers: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

Producers: Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA

Kenneth Branagh, BELFAST

Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG

Pablo Larrain, SPENCER

Edson Oda, NINE DAYS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

THE FRENCH DISPATCH, Wes Anderson

A HERO, Asghar Farhadi

LICORICE PIZZA, Paul Thomas Anderson

NINE DAYS, Edson Oda

PIG, Michael Sarnoski

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CODA, Sian Heder

DRIVE MY CAR, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

PASSING, Rebecca Hall

THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jane Campion

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Joel Coen

BEST ACTOR

Nicolas Cage, PIG

Benedict Cumberbatch, THE POWER OF THE DOG

Andrew Garfield, TICK, TICK… BOOM!

Will Smith, KING RICHARD

Denzel Washington, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

Olivia Colman, THE LOST DAUGHTER

Alana Haim, LICORICE PIZZA

Emilia Jones, CODA

Kristen Stewart, SPENCER

Tessa Thompson, PASSING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Ben Affleck, THE LAST DUEL

Colman Domingo, ZOLA

Mike Faist, WEST SIDE STORY

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Kodi Smit-McPhee, THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jeffrey Wright, THE FRENCH DISPATCH

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY

Kirsten Dunst, THE POWER OF THE DOG

Aunjanue Ellis, KING RICHARD

Marlee Matlin, CODA

Ruth Negga, PASSING

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

BELFAST, Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockman

CODA, Deborah Aquila, Tricia Wood and Lisa Zagoria

THE FRENCH DISPATCH, Douglas Aibel and Antoinette Boulat

THE HARDER THEY FALL, Victoria Thomas

THE POWER OF THE DOG, Nikki Barrett, Tina Cleary, Carmen Cuba and Nina Gold

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Sarah Finn and Chris Zaragosa 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BELFAST, Haris Zambarloukos

DUNE, Grieg Fraser

THE GREEN KNIGHT, Andrew Droz Palermo

THE POWER OF THE DOG, Ari Wegner

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Bruno Delbonne

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

DUNE, Patrice Vermette, Richard Roberts, and Zsuzsanna Sipos

THE LAST DUEL, Arthur Max and Judy Farr

NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Stefan Dechant and Nancy Haigh

WEST SIDE STORY, Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

CRUELLA, Jenny Beavan

DUNE, Bob Morgan, Jacqueline West

THE GREEN KNIGHT, Malgosia Turzanska

NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Luis Sequeira

WEST SIDE STORY, Paul Tazewell

BEST MAKEUP

CRUELLA, Nadia Stacey and Carolyn Cousins

DUNE, Donald Mowat, Love Larson, and Eva von Bahr

THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, and Justin Raleigh

HOUSE OF GUCCI, Jana Carboni, Giuliano Mariano, and Göran Lundström

NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Cliona Furey and Jo-Ann MacNeil

BEST EDITING

DUNE, Joe Walker

THE HARDER THEY FALL, Tom Eagles

NINE DAYS, Michael Taylor and Jeff Betancourt

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Leigh Folsom and Jeffrey Ford

WEST SIDE STORY, Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar

BEST MUSICAL SCORE

DUNE, Hans Zimmer

ENCANTO, Germaine Franco

THE HARDER THEY FALL, Jeymes Samuel

THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jonny Greenwood

SPENCER,  Jonny Greenwood

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Be Alive,” KING RICHARD

Songwriters: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Dixson

“Guns Go Bang,” THE HARDER THEY FALL

Songwriters: Jeymes Samuel, Scott Mescudi, and Shawn Carter

“Just Look Up,” DON’T LOOK UP

Songwriters: Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, and Taura Stinson

“No Time to Die,” NO TIME TO DIE

Songwriters: Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

“So May We Start,” ANNETTE

Songwriters: Ron Mael and Russell Mael

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

DUNE, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Conner, and Gerd Nefzer

FREE GUY, Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, and Dan Sudick

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, Dan Glass, Huw J. Evans, Tom Debenham, and J.D. Schwalm

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Walker, and Dan Oliver

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, and Dan Sudick

BEST STUNTS

BLACK WIDOW, Rob Inch

DUNE, Roger Yuan

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS, Chad Stahelski

NO TIME TO DIE, Lee Morrison

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, Andy Cheng

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, George Cottle

SPECIAL AWARDS

TRAILBLAZER AWARD 

Honors the work of an artist who truly pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content

Paul Thomas Anderson, filmmaker 

Rebecca Hall, filmmaker

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, filmmaker
Sian Heder, filmmaker

Lin-Manuel Miranda, filmmaker

IMPACT AWARD

Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society or the Chicagoland film community

Rebecca Fons, Director of Programming - Gene Siskel Film Center

Rebecca Hall, filmmaker

Ryan Oestreich, General Manager - Music Box Theater

Steven Spielberg, filmmaker

Jill Wheeler, Director of Publicity and Promotions - Allied Global Marketing

CIC AWARD NOMINATIONS BY THE NUMBERS

FILMS:

9: The Power of the Dog

8: Dune

6: CODA

5: The Harder They Fall, Spider-Man: No Way Home, West Side Story

4: Nine Days, Licorice Pizza, Spencer, The Tragedy of Macbeth

3: Belfast, Flee, The French Dispatch, King Richard, Nightmare Alley, Passing, Pig

2: Cruella, Drive My Car, Encanto, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Green Knight, A Hero, The Last Duel, The Matrix Resurrections, No Time to Die, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul, Tick, Tick… Boom!

1: Annette, Benedetta, Black Widow, Free Guy, House of Gucci, Luca, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Parallel Mothers, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Rescue, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, The Sparks Brothers, Zola