Due to this year's jumbled awards calendar, the ballot has been trimmed to the top 6 categories: Picture, Director, and the four Acting categories. So, here are your instructions: "Imagine you're an honorary member of the Academy, and you're asked to nominate films and performers in their respective categories. Make your selections accordingly." Only the films on the Academy’s Reminder List are eligible for selection. If you change your mind, submit an updated nomination form.  Your last submission in each branch will be used. Voting will be closed at 11PM (PST) on Wednesday 3/10. AWARDS DAILY 2020 NOMINATIONS BALLOT

Are we having fun yet? We must be, right? In the words of the great Iggy Pop, "It'll all be over soon!" The Critics Choice Awards will be the second televised awards show in the march towards the Oscar telecast in - wait for it - late April. That's almost two months away. We had the Globes. That was, um. That was -- what was that? Now we'll have the Critics Choice, which is usually a fun show to tease. But now? How can anyone tease anyone about anything? We are all just too freaked out for a wide variety...

Awards Daily’s Megan McLachlan talks to Sound of Metal supervising sound editor Nicolas Becker about his groundbreaking work on Darius Marder’s film.  Sound of Metal’s supervising sound editor Nicolas Becker has worked on many high-profile films, including Gravity and Arrival, but his sound work on the Darius Marder film has proven to be one that has had everyone talking for the way it forms a relationship between the audience and protagonist.  Sound of Metal follows heavy metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) as he accepts losing his hearing and joining a new community, a journey that utilizes sound to take the...

Imagine being told you only have three months to live? Then, nine years later, the film you made about the maddening, heartbreaking, soul-searching experience of surviving brain cancer has been shortlisted for the International Feature Film Academy Award! That is the short version of Norwegian filmmaker Maria Sødahl’s journey from living the story to creating the movie, aptly titled, Hope. Prior to her health scare, Sødahl worked on numerous TV dramas, docs and shorts. In 2010, her feature debut, Limbo, opened the Norwegian International Film Festival—Haugesund. The film won five Amanda Awards including Best Director. Now, a decade later, she...

The shorts can make or break your Oscar pool. Thanks to Shorts TV, the animated, live action, and documentary short films are easier to find every year, but what about those films that just missed the cut? Earlier this month, the Academy released their shortlist of films for all three shorts categories, and we will be looking at all the entries before the nominations are announced.  Hair Love, last year's winner of Best Animated Short, still remains one of the best wins in recent memory of the category. A true Cinderella Kickstarter story, Marc Cherry created a film that is...

In the past, Oscar voters had the holidays to gather around the hearth with their family, watch movies and celebrate while on vacation from the daily grind. Now, it's this weekend in March with ballots due in just four days. Some will do it quickly to get it over with. Some will do it carefully, new members usually, and watch everything to make sure they have made all of the right choices. And some will procrastinate until the last minute and then jot them down as quickly as possible. A lot of the films that populate the Oscar race in...

Agnieszka Holland is a truly international filmmaker who has blazed a trail for politically and socially relevant work in her five decades in the entertainment field. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Holland witnessed the tumultuous events of her youth, including the Prague Spring of 1968 in Czechoslovakia, when she was arrested and imprisoned. The experience had a profound effect on her and shifted her desires to the arts. But she has always remained politically active, especially fighting for women’s rights. Holland went on to direct and/or script over 30 films in many different countries including Bitter Harvest (also called Angry Harvest)...

So that was it. Another year, another – very unusual – Berlinale. Compressed and entirely virtual, with a 24-hour screening window that induces paralyzing FOMO, the 71st edition of the festival came to an end. Here's a look at the winners of the main competition, chosen by a jury composed of six previous Golden Bear winners: Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Yibrán Asuad for the editing of A COP MOVIE Kudos to the Berlinale for having a tech award category and this is a good call. Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios’ A COP MOVIE is the last competition title I saw and it...

The new rules for the BAFTA voting takes them out of bounds a bit in terms of predicting how the Oscars might go. Until such time as the Academy and other industry groups decide to start selecting via jury who should be nominated, rather than leaving it up to the voters themselves, the will BAFTAs no longer tell us much. Instead we will be need to look to the Directors and Producers Guilds, along with SAG, to find our trends and bellwethers among consensus voters. On the the had, the Oscar nominees might end up being the same as those...

Disney/Pixar's Soul, which recently won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, tells the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher yearning for his big break into the New York jazz scene. Music, particularly the unique sounds and rhythms of jazz, serves as the main inspiration for Joe and propels the story forward. The filmmaking team behind Soul settled on jazz as Joe's deep passion, something that would drive his quest for the rest of the film. Their jazz-influenced score, coupled with more ethereal work required for the otherworldly scenes of the film, also received a Golden Globe for Best...

Regina King’s presence is felt throughout One Night in Miami. For her feature debut she chose to cast herself as a silent observer, as a fly on the wall, and a witness to history. The reimagining of a pivotal moment in Civil Rights history has already been nominated for a Best Director at the Golden Globes, along with a SAG ensemble nomination, not to mention being named one of the 10 AFI Movies of the Year, and the recipient of many guild plaudits. Its remarkable lessons are now being used as a resource to help educate students. Among the many...