by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

With Award Season 2021 quashed by the Pandemic and forced to go virtual for the first time in Hollywood's long history, the 25th Annual Satellite Award kicked off the season with a promising field of nominees this year.

After the insider buzz about Carey Mulligan’s rough ride through trade reviews, the International Press Academy (IPA) member voters picked Mulligan and PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN out of the line-up for this year’s top honors, including Best Picture for the #MeToo themed bell-ringer.

The film's director Emerald Fennell also picked up a Special Achievement Award for Best First Feature.

Mulligan joins formidable possible topper Frances McDormand for NOMADLAND, as well as powerhouse Viola Davis from MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM. This is an exciting category for leading women in 2021.

In male lead, Delroy Lindo shines out from Spike Lee’s DA 5 BLOODS as a season darling with the inevitable Gary Oldman in MANK, but also a posthumous MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM nomination for Chadwick Boseman, whose sudden loss in 2020 echoed throughout the industry.

Finally, Steven Yeun in lead joins supporting Yuh-Jung Youn in MINARI. Comedy’s Sacha Baron Cohen also gets his due.

IPA's Special Achievement Award recipients are the revered Tilda Swinton for the Mary Pickford Award, Mark Wahlberg as this year's Humanitarian recipient, plus Dick Pope for the Auteur nod, other honorees are as follows.

Nominees for Motion Pictures and Television Announced

LOS ANGELES, CA: The International Press Academy (IPA) today announced its nominations for the 25th SatelliteTM Awards in Motion Pictures and Television, along with Special Achievement Award Recipients.

The IPA was first to change the category Foreign Films to International Films over a decade ago and created a separate category for Animated and Mixed Media in Motion Pictures. It should be noted that other major awards shows have subsequently added similar changes.

The International Press Academy selects the SatelliteTM Awards nominees from domestic and international submissions in 35 categories: 22 Motion Picture and 13 Television categories. Nominations are derived from advanced screenings, worldwide film festivals (including BAFTA, Cannes, Sundance, Telluride, TIFF) as well as from screeners to journalists and/or sanctioned lists available by the stated deadline.

One of the primary goals of the IPA and its SatelliteTM Awards is to celebrate new works from both established and developing independent filmmakers, giving them access to the widest audience from around the globe.

Despite this difficult time of confinement for our members throughout the world, we believe we have come up with a comprehensive and representative list of nominees, and the winners will be announced on February 15.

The International Press Academy (IPA) is a global media association of domestic and foreign entertainment journalists in print, TV, radio, broadcast, and online outlets; including critics, interviewers, reviewers, bloggers, and photographers. President Mirjana Van Blaricom is also the Founder of IPA. The Satellite Awards and 25th Annual Satellite Award Nominations are part of Award Season 2021. 

For a complete list of nominees, contact info@pressacademy.com, or visit here.

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