The time has come yet again for the film world’s most prestigious ceremony. I’m speaking, of course, of the Miles Awards. They may not be as prestigious as the Oscars, or as well-known as the Golden Globes, but I personally think they’re the only awards ceremony that seems to get it right every year. Because I’m the only person in charge of choosing the winners. I will say that it does seem strange putting these together when the rest of the awards circuit has been put on hold, but that’s the nice thing about being a small-scale operation: our awards ceremony has ALWAYS been socially distanced (and non-existent).
A few notes about this year’s Miles Awards. I’m only considering films released in 2020. So there are films that will be in contention for the Oscars this year that I’m not considering (like The Father and Judas and the Black Messiah). Also, I made the choice to no longer divide the acting awards by gender—there’s just a Leading and Supporting category now. It’s a decision that’s honestly long overdue. Otherwise, the procedure is the same as with the past Miles Awards—the winners specified, and the other nominees are listed in ranked order (so the first nominee mentioned is my 2nd place pick, followed by my 3rd place pick, etc.)
If you'd like to hear my thoughts on the Best Picture nominees, be sure to read my writeup on my favorite films of the year. And while you're at it, you can also check out my list of the top 100 performances of the year.
And now, here are the winners and nominees for the Sixth Annual Miles Awards for Achievement in Film!
BEST PICTURE:
Other Nominees:
World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
Dick Johnson is Dead
We Are Little Zombies
Residue
Collective
Sound of Metal
The Hater
Nobody Knows I’m Here
Farewell Amor
BEST DIRECTOR:
Winner: Kirsten Johnson—Dick Johnson is Dead
Other Nominees:
Makoto Nagahisa—We Are Little Zombies
Merawi Gerima—Residue
Charlie Kaufman—I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Jan Komasa—The Hater
Alexander Nanau—Collective
Chung Mong-hong—A Sun
Darius Marder—Sound of Metal
Annie Silverstein—Bull
Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunan, and Suzanne Hillinger—Totally Under Control
BEST LEADING ACTOR:
Winner: Viola Davis as Ma Rainey—Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Other Nominees:
Jorge Garcia as Memo Garrido—Nobody Knows I’m Here
Petr Kotlár as Joska—The Painted Bird
Jessie Buckley as Young Woman—I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Ntare Mwine as Walter—Farewell Amor
Andrea Riseborough as Tasya Vos—Possessor
Maciej Musiałowski as Tomasz Giemza—The Hater
Zainab Jah as Esther—Farewell Amor
Jean Dujardin as Georges—Deerskin
Radha Blank as Radha Blank—The 40-Year-Old Version
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Winner: Paul Raci as Joe—Sound of Metal
Other Nominees:
Youn Yuh-jung as Soon-ja—Minari
Glynn Turman as Toledo—Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Margo Martindale as Enid Nora Devlin—Blow the Man Down
Imelda Staunton as Sister Claire—Amulet
Chen Yi-win as A-wen—A Sun
Fiona Shaw as Margaret—Kindred
Robyn Nevin as Edna—Relic
Samantha Ko as Qin—A Sun
Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi—The Platform
BEST CHILD ACTOR:
Winner: Petr Kotlár as Joska—The Painted Bird
Other Nominees:
Keita Ninomiya as Hikari—We Are Little Zombies
Amber Havard as Kris—Bull
Sena Nakajima as Ikuko—We Are Little Zombies
Fathia Youssouf as Amy Diop—Cuties
Satoshi Mizuno as Ishi—We Are Little Zombies
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:
Winner: We Are Little Zombies (Satoshi Mizuno, Sena Nakajima, Keita Ninomiya, Mondo Okumura)
Other Nominees:
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Chadwick Boseman, Dusan Brown, Jonny Coyne, Viola Davis, Colman Domingo, Taylour Paige, Michael Potts, Jeremy Shamos, Glynn Turman)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Guy Boyd, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, Colby Minifie, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis)
One Night in Miami (Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Joaquina Kalukango, Christian Magby, Leslie Odom Jr., Lance Reddick)
Minari (Noel Kate Cho, Alan Kim, Will Patton, Han Ye-ri, Steven Yeun, Youn Yuh-jung)
The 40-Year-Old Version (Jackie Adam, TJ Atoms, Oswin Benjamin, Reed Birney, Radha Blank, Ashlee Brian, Peter Kim, Imani Lewis, Jacob Ming-Trent, Meghan O’Neill, Antonio Ortiz, Stacey Sargeant, Haskiri Velazquez, André Ward, William Oliver Watkins, Welker White)
Residue (Mama Hasinatu Camara, Jamal Graham, Dennis Lindsey, Obi Nwachukwu, Derron “Rizo” Scott, Taline Stewart, Melody Tally, Ramon Thompson)
The Painted Bird (Michaela Doležalová, Lech Dyblik, Petr Kotlár, Harvey Keitel, Udo Kier, Aleksei Kravchenko, Barry Pepper, Ala Sakalova, Julian Sands, Stellan Skarsgård, Nina Šunevič, Petr Vaněk, Júlia Vidrnáková)
Survival Skills (Madeline Anderson, Emily Chisholm, Tyra Colar, Bradford Farwell, Spencer Garrett, Stacy Keach, Ericka Kreutz, Vayu O’Donnell)
Relic (Chris Bunton, Bella Heathcote, Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Winner: Makoto Nagahisa—We Are Little Zombies
Other Nominees:
Radha Blank—The 40-Year-Old Version
Mateusz Pacewicz—The Hater
Ekwa Msangi—Farewell Amor
Kelly O’Sullivan—Saint Frances
Kiyoshi Kurosawa—To the Ends of the Earth
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Winner: Don Hertzfeldt—World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
Other Nominees
Charlie Kaufman—I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Mike Makowsky—Bad Education
Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin—The Climb
Fernando Frías de la Parra—I’m No Longer Here
Kemp Powers—One Night in Miami
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Winner: Vladimír Smutný—The Painted Bird
Other Nominees:
Hiroaki Takeda—We Are Little Zombies
Mark Jeevaratnam—Residue
Nagao Nakashima—A Sun
Laura Bellingham—Amulet
Dmitriy Ulyukaev—Why Don’t You Just Die!
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Winner: The Wolf House
Other Nominees:
We Are Little Zombies
Emma
Why Don’t You Just Die!
The Platform
Deerskin
BEST SOUND:
Winner: The Wolf House
Other Nominees:
Sound of Metal
We Are Little Zombies
World of Tomorrow Episode 3: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
The Vast of Night
Blow the Man Down
BEST SCORE:
Winner:
Makoto
Nagahisa and Hideaki Shirato—We Are Little Zombies SAMPLE TRACK
Other Nominees:
Lin
Shen-xiang—A Sun SAMPLE TRACK
Ludovico
Einaudi—Nomadland SAMPLE TRACK
Bruno
Coulais and Kíla— Wolfwalkers SAMPLE TRACK
Andrew
Orkin—Lucky Grandma SAMPLE TRACK
Erick
Alexander—The Vast of Night SAMPLE TRACK
BEST ISOLATED SCENE:
Winner: I’m Thinking of Ending Things (The Dream Ballet)
Other Nominees:
World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime (The murder of David)
Dick Johnson is Dead (Dick Johnson’s “Funeral”)
Residue (Jay visits Dion)
Another Round (Martin dances)
Sound of Metal (Ruben leaves the community)
The Climb (I’m Sorry)
The Vast of Night (Billy calls in)
Nobody Knows I’m Here (Face to Face)
To the Ends of the Earth (Freeing Okoo)
Congratulations to all winners and nominees!
STATISTICS:
We Are Little Zombies: 11 nominations, 3 wins
I’m Thinking of Ending Things: 6 nominations, 2 wins
The Painted Bird: 4 nominations, 2 wins
The Wolf House: 2 nominations, 2 wins
Sound of Metal: 5 nominations, 1 win
World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime: 4 nominations, 1 win
Dick Johnson is Dead: 3 nominations, 1 win
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: 3 nominations, 1 win
Residue: 5 nominations
A Sun: 5 nominations
The Hater: 4 nominations
Farewell Amor: 4 nominations
Nobody Knows I’m Here: 3 nominations
The 40-Year-Old Version: 3 nominations
The Vast of Night: 3 nominations
Minari: 2 nominations
Bull: 2 nominations
Amulet: 2 nominations
The Climb: 2 nominations
To the Ends of the Earth: 2 nominations
Blow the Man Down: 2 nominations
Relic: 2 nominations
One Night in Miami: 2 nominations
The Platform: 2 nominations
Why Don’t You Just Die!: 2 nominations
Deerskin: 2 nominations
Collective: 1 nomination
Saint Frances: 1 nomination
I’m No Longer Here: 1 nomination
Nomadland: 1 nomination
Survival Skills: 1 nomination
Cuties: 1 nomination
Lucky Grandma: 1 nominations
Bad Education: 1 nomination
Kindred: 1 nomination
Another Round: 1 nomination
Totally Under Control: 1 nomination
Possessor: 1 nomination
Wolfwalkers: 1 nomination
Emma: 1 nomination
