2020 WAFCA Award Winners

The 19th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards were announced on February 8, 2021. 

Best Film

  • Nomadland
    • First Cow
    • Minari
    • One Night in Miami…
    • Promising Young Woman

Best Director

  • Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
    • Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
    • Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
    • Regina King – One Night in Miami…
    • Kelly Reichardt – First Cow

Best Actor

  • Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as Levee Green (posthumous)
    • Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone
    • Anthony Hopkins – The Father as Anthony
    • Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods as Paul
    • Steven Yeun – Minari as Jacob Yi

Best Actress

  • Frances McDormand – Nomadland as Fern
    • Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as Ma Rainey
    • Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman as Martha Weiss
    • Elisabeth Moss – The Invisible Man as Cecilia Kass
    • Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman as Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas

Best Supporting Actor

  • Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami… as Sam Cooke
    • Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 as Abbie Hoffman
    • Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton
    • Bill Murray – On the Rocks as Felix Keane
    • Paul Raci – Sound of Metal as Joe

Best Supporting Actress

  • Youn Yuh-jung – Minari as Soon-ja
    • Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as Tutar Sagdiyev
    • Olivia Colman – The Father as Anne
    • Dominique Fishback – Judas and the Black Messiah as Deborah Johnson
    • Amanda Seyfried – Mank as Marion Davies

Best Original Screenplay

  • Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
    • Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
    • Darius Marder and Abraham Marder (story by Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance) – Sound of Metal
    • Andy Siara – Palm Springs
    • Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
    • Charlie Kaufman – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
    • Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami…
    • Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
    • Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Animated Feature

  • Soul
    • The Croods: A New Age
    • Onward
    • Over the Moon
    • Wolfwalkers

Best Documentary Film

  • Boys State
    • Collective
    • Crip Camp
    • Dick Johnson Is Dead
    • Time

Best International/Foreign Language Film

  • Another Round
    • Bacurau
    • La Llorona
    • The Mole Agent
    • Night of the Kings

Best Cinematography

  • Joshua James Richards – Nomadland
    • Erik Messerschmidt – Mank
    • Newton Thomas Sigel – Da 5 Bloods
    • Hoyte van Hoytema – Tenet
    • Dariusz Wolski – News of the World

Best Editing

  • Jennifer Lame – Tenet
    • Alan Baumgarten – The Trial of the Chicago 7
    • Kirk Baxter – Mank
    • Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound of Metal
    • Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

Best Original Score

  • Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross – Soul
    • Ludwig Göransson – Tenet
    • James Newton Howard – News of the World
    • Emile Mosseri – Minari
    • Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Mank

Best Production Design

  • Donald Graham Burt (production design) and Jan Pascale (set decoration) – Mank
    • David Crank (production design) and Elizabeth Keenan (set decoration) – News of the World
    • Nathan Crowley (production design) and Kathy Lucas (set decoration) – Tenet
    • Kave Quinn (production design) and Stella Fox (set decoration) – Emma
    • Mark Ricker (production design) and Karen O’Hara (set decoration) – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Acting Ensemble

  • One Night in Miami…
    • Da 5 Bloods
    • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
    • Minari
    • The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Youth Performance

  • Alan Kim – Minari as David Yi
    • Millie Bobby Brown – Enola Holmes as Enola Holmes
    • Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always as Autumn Callaghan
    • Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always as Skylar
    • Helena Zengel – News of the World as Johanna Leonberger

Best Voice Performance

  • Jamie Foxx – Soul as Joe Gardner
    • Tina Fey – Soul as 22
    • Tom Holland – Onward as Ian Lightfoot
    • Honor Kneafsey – Wolfwalkers as Robyn Goodfellowe
    • Octavia Spencer – Onward as Corey

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, D.C.

  • Wonder Woman 1984
    • Crip Camp
    • The Fight
    • Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President
    • John Lewis: Good Trouble