IFJA 2021 Award Winners
The Indiana Film Journalists Association has named Mass, an intimate and harrowing drama about two sets of parents facing off over a shared tragedy, as Best Film of the Year. It won four awards total, including Best Original Screenplay for Fran Kranz, the first-time writer/director who also was named Breakout of the Year, and Best Ensemble Acting for the cast of Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton.
Drive My Car, a Japanese drama about loss and connections, was runner-up for Best Film and also won Best Foreign Language Film and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe.
Eight other films were voted Finalists for Best Film, collectively with the winner and runner-up representing the IFJA’s Top 10 of the Year.
Kristen Stewart took Best Actress for Spencer and Gaby Hoffmann won Best Supporting Actress for C’mon C’mon. Oscar Isaac was named Best Actor for The Card Counter and Troy Kotsur of CODA won Best Supporting Actor.
Best Director went to Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog, her first feature film in 12 years, which also won Best Musical Score for composer Jonny Greenwood. Other winners include Flee as Best Animated Film and Olivia Colman for Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance for The Mitchells vs. the Machines.
The IFJA’s Original Vision Award, recognizing a film with innovative and distinct storytelling, went to Annette for its expressive and daring approach to the musical genre.
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, a documentary about the life and work of the Indiana author, was the winner of the Edward Johnson-Ott Hoosier Award, which recognizes a significant cinematic contribution by a person or persons with roots in Indiana or a film that depicts Hoosier State locales and stories. It was also named Best Documentary.
IFJA members issued this statement for the Edward Johnson-Ott Hoosier Award, which was renamed earlier this year upon the passing of our beloved founding member:
“Robert B. Weide’s extraordinary undertaking to document the life and writings of Indianapolis’ iconic native son leaps beyond mere biography, also chronicling the friendship that grew between filmmaker and subject over the course of decades. The resulting film gives a far richer and more revealing portrait of Kurt Vonnegut and his creative life than seen in any medium.”
Below is a complete list of winners and runners-up in all IFJA categories:
BEST FILM
Mass
Runner-Up: Drive My Car
Other Finalists (listed alphabetically):
Annette
The Card Counter
C’mon C’mon
CODA
The Green Knight
The Last Duel
Pig (2021)
The Power of the Dog
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: Flee
Runner-Up: Luca
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: Drive My Car
Runner-Up: Lamb
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
Runner-Up: Procession
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Fran Kranz, Mass
Runner-Up: Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car
Runner-Up: Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, The Last Duel
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Fran Kranz, Mass
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Runner-Up: Jodie Comer, The Last Duel
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Gaby Hoffmann, C’mon C’mon
Runner-Up: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story (2021)
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter
Runner-Up: Nicolas Cage, Pig (2021)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Troy Kotsur, CODA
Runner-Up: Jason Isaacs, Mass
BEST VOCAL / MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Winner: Olivia Colman, The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Runner-Up: Tom Hardy, Venom: Let There Be Carnage
BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
Winner: Mass
Runner-Up: The Humans
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Winner: Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Hans Zimmer, Dune (2021)
BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR
Winner: Fran Kranz (writer-director), Mass
Runner-Up: Michael Sarnoski (director / co-writer), Pig (2021)
ORIGINAL VISION AWARD
Winner: Annette
Runner-Up: Titane
EDWARD JOHNSON-OTT HOOSIER AWARD
Winner: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
(As a special award named after IFJA founding member Edward Johnson-Ott, no runner-up is declared in this category.)
Established in 2009 by a dedicated group of six Indiana journalists, the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) endeavors to promote quality film criticism in the Hoosier state and support Indiana’s growing film industry.
For more information, visit http://indianafilmjournalists.com.