41st London Film Critics' Circle Awards
7 February 2021
Film of the Year:
Nomadland
British/Irish Film of the Year:
Saint Maud
The 41st London Film Critics' Circle Awards honoured the best in film of 2020, as chosen by the London Film Critics' Circle. The event was held virtually on the Critics' Circle's YouTube channel for the first time on 7 February 2021, with awards presented by member critics who serve on the event's organising committee and acceptance videos from almost all of the winners. An in-person celebration with nominees and winners occurred later in the year along with long-time sponsors The May Fair Hotel and Audi. [1] The nominations were announced on 12 January 2021. [2]
Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface.
Vanessa Nuala Kirby is an English actress. She made her professional acting debut on stage, with acclaimed performances in the plays All My Sons (2010), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2010), Women Beware Women (2011), Three Sisters (2012), and as Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (2014).
Noah Jupe is a British actor. He is known for his roles in the television series The Night Manager (2016); the dark comedy film Suburbicon (2017); the drama film Wonder (2017); the horror film A Quiet Place (2018) and its sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2021); the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari (2019); the drama film Honey Boy (2019), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male; and the miniseries The Undoing (2020).
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 2020 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the 1982 play of the same name by August Wilson. The film stars Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts. Inspired by the career of Ma Rainey, an influential blues singer and the title character, the film dramatizes a turbulent recording session in 1920s Chicago.
Sound of Metal is a 2019 American drama film directed and co-written by Darius Marder. It stars Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer who loses his hearing, and also features Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. Sound of Metal had its world premiere in the Platform Prize program at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019. Amazon Studios released the film in theaters on November 20, 2020, and on Amazon Prime Video on December 4. The film was critically acclaimed, with particular praise for the performances of Ahmed and Raci, the sound design, the editing and Marder's direction and screenplay. It was listed on 52 film critics' top-ten lists for 2020. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Ahmed) and Best Supporting Actor (Raci), and won for Best Sound and Best Film Editing.
The 40th London Film Critics' Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2019, were announced by the London Film Critics' Circle on 30 January 2020 at The May Fair Hotel, in Mayfair, London. The nominations were announced on 17 December 2019. The event was hosted by actor and writer Sally Phillips.
Collective is a 2019 Romanian documentary film directed, written, produced and edited by Alexander Nanau. The film centers on the 2016 public health scandal following the Colectiv nightclub fire. The film follows dual stories of investigative journalists at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor uncovering public healthcare corruption and maladministration, and the government's response to the crisis at the Ministry of Health.
Sidney Jeanne Flanigan is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Flanigan made her acting debut with the acclaimed independent drama film Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), for which she received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Small Axe is a British anthology film series, created and directed by Steve McQueen. The anthology consists of five films that tell distinct stories about the lives of West Indian immigrants in London from the 1960s to the 1980s. Two episodes of the series were selected into the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. The series premiered on 15 November 2020 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on 20 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video in the United States. The title references a proverb – "Small axe fall big tree" or "If you are the big tree, we are the small axe" – that was popularised by Bob Marley in his 1973 song "Small Axe".
Time is an Academy Award-nominated 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson and her fight for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.
The 39th London Film Critics' Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2018, were announced by the London Film Critics' Circle on 20 January 2019 at The May Fair Hotel, in Mayfair, London. The nominations were announced on 18 December 2018. The event was hosted by British comedian Judi Love.
The 42nd London Film Critics' Circle Awards honoured the best in film of 2021, as chosen by the London Film Critics' Circle. All films released in a UK cinema and direct to premiere streaming services between February 2021 and February 2022 were all eligible to be nominated. For the second year in a row, the event took place virtually on the London Critics' Circle YouTube channel, this time with critics presenting awards remotely from the ceremony's usual home at The May Fair Hotel.