"All of Us Strangers" leads the Dorian Award nominations

ALL OF US STRANGERS Searchlight Pictures

You’ve heard us talk about GALECA The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics before as a few of us here at The Film Experience are members. The annual Film awards are known as the "Dorian Awards". The organization probably has too many names / acronyms (the result of name adjustments over the years). But it's always fun to see the results of the voting in a group that is 500ish members wide but still not entirely mainstream homogenous due to the queer factor. The nominations have been announed for the 2023 film year with Andrew Haigh's beautiful and upsetting All of Us Strangers leading the pack with 9 nominations. Its closest rival? Barbie's "rainbow-hued feminist fable" with 7 nods.

The nominees and a few comments are after the jumps...

Film of the Year

• All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Barbie (Warner Bros.)
• May December (Netflix) 
• Past Lives (A24) 
• Poor Things (Searchlight)

That's a pleasing list, right? Nice mix of genres and styles and all critically acclaimed.

LGBTQ Film of the Year

• All of Us Strangers (Searchlight) 
• Bottoms (MGM)
• Passages (MUBI, SBS)
• Rustin (Netflix)
• Saltburn (Amazon MGM) 

It’s nice not to see too much overlap in the top categories as it gets dull if the same films score everywhere. I can’t remember what I voted for here but it’s a pity not to see Cassandro or Maestro here -- yes yes you may quibble with either of those pictures as "Best" for various reasons but both are far more accomplished pieces of cinema than... Rustin. (Colman Domingo is fabulous, of course, but the movie around him is too generic as biopics go)

Director of the Year

• Greta Gerwig, Barbie (Warner Bros.)
• Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Todd Haynes, My December (Netflix)
• Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer (Universal)
• Celine Song, Past Lives (A24)

Screenplay of the Year -Original or adapted

• Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, Barbie (Warner Bros.)
• Samy Burch, May December (Netflix)
• Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Arthur Harari, Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall (NEON)
• Celine Song, Past Lives (A24) 

LGBTQ Screenplay of the Year (new)

PASSAGES

• Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Arthur Harari, Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall (NEON)
• Dustin Lance Black, Julian Breece, Rustin (Netflix)
• Arlette Langmann, Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias, Passages (MUBI)
• Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott, Bottoms (MGM) 

Non-English Language Film of the Year

• Anatomy of a Fall (NEON) 
• The Boy and the Heron (GKIDS, Toho)
• Godzilla Minus One (Toho)
• Past Lives (A24)
• The Zone of Interest (A24)

LGBTQ Non-English Language Film of the Year (new)

• Afire (Janus Films, Sideshow)
• Anatomy of a Fall (NEON)
• Cassandro (Amazon MGM)
• Monster (Well Go USA, Gaga, Toho)
• Rotting in the Sun (MUBI)

Though Sandra Huller's character in Anatomy of a Fall is bisexual it does seem strange to classify it as an LGBTQ character since the bisexuality is such a minor character detail. (Note that it doesn't show up in LGBTQ Film of the year but shows up heavily elsewhere)  But perhaps the bisexual community appreciates the representation as bisexuality is not generally represented in cinema in a character detail kind of way. 

Unsung Film of the Year -To an exceptional movie worthy of greater attention

• Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (Lionsgate)
• Monica (IFC)
• Origin (NEON)
• Theater Camp (Searchlight)
• A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

 Nice list here.

Film Performance of the Year

• Colman Domingo, Rustin (Netflix)
• Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers (Focus Features)
• Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple, Paramount)
• Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall (NEON)
• Greta Lee, Past Lives (A24)
• Trace Lysette, Monica (IFC)
• Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer (Universal)
• Natalie Portman, May December (Netflix)
• Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Emma Stone, Poor Things (Searchlight)

Wonderful line-up, don't you think? 

Supporting Film Performance of the Year

• Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)
• Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer (Universal)
• Jodie Foster, NYAD (Netflix)
• Claire Foy, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Ryan Gosling, Barbie (Warner Bros.) 
• Rachel McAdams, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (Lionsgate)
• Charles Melton, May December (Netflix)
• Paul Mescal, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Rosamund Pike, Saltburn (Amazon MGM)
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers (Focus Features)

Pleased to see Claire Foy and Rachel McAdams land nominations here as the rest of the competitors were far better represented during precursor season.

Documentary of the Year

KOKOMO CITY

• American Symphony (Netflix)
• Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions, Fathom Events)
• Kokomo City (Magnolia)
• Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
• 20 Days in Mariupol (PBS Distribution)

Kokomo City did very very well for itself in precursor season so it was a glaring omission in Oscar's finalist list for documentary. 

LGBTQ Documentary of the Year

• Every Body (Focus Features) 
• Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (HBO, Confluential Films)
• Kokomo City (Magnolia)
• Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia)
• Orlando, My Political Biography (Janus Film, Sideshow)

Animated Film of the Year

• The Boy and the Heron (GKIDS, Toho)
• Elemental (Disney)
• Nimona (Netflix, Annapurna)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (SONY)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount) 

It’s pretty rare when critics groups line-ups aren’t as good as Oscar lineups in this category. I will chalk this up to not enough journalists having seen Robot Dreams, yet. (This is not a knock against Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as that’s a fun picture… but it’s not Robot Dreams!)

Genre Film of the Year (new) -For excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror

• All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
• Godzilla Minus One (Toho)
• M3GAN (Universal)
• Poor Things (Searchlight)
• Talk To Me (A24)

Interesting to see All of Us Strangers land in this category though given its plentiful nominations elsewhere. It does technically qualify with its ghostly elements but it might have been nice to see a less-honored picture here. 

Film Music of the Year

• Barbie — Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, et al. (Warner Bros.)
• The Boy and the Heron — Joe Hisaishi (GKIDS, Toho)
• The Color Purple — Stephen Bray, Allee Willis, Brenda Russell, Kris Bowers, et al. (Warner Bros.)
• Oppenheimer — Ludwig Göransson (Universal) 
• The Zone of Interest — Mica Levi (A24)

Visually Striking Film of the Year

ASTEROID CITY

• Asteroid City (Focus Features)
• Barbie (Warner Bros.)
• Oppenheimer (Universal)
• Poor Things (Searchlight)
• Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (SONY) 

I voted for Asteroid City so it’s nice to see it land since it struggled to win any plaudits in awards season.

Campiest Flick 

• Barbie (Warner Bros.)
• Bottoms (MGM)
• Dicks: The Musical (A24)
• M3GAN (Universal) 
• Saltburn (Amazon MGM)

 I always abstain from voting in this category as "camp" means wildly different things to different people. But all in all this is a cute lineup with a variety of meanings for that word.

“We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award

• Ayo Edebiri
• Lily Gladstone
• Jacob Elordi
• Charles Melton
• Dominic Sessa

Wilde Artist Award -To a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment

• Quinta Brunson
• Ayo Edebiri
• Greta Gerwig
• Lily Gladstone
• Todd Haynes

GALECA LGBTQIA+ Film Trailblazer Award  -For creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity

• Colman Domingo
• Jodie Foster
• Andrew Haigh
• Todd Haynes
• Andrew Scott

Five excellent excellent excellent LGBTQ talents so we’re quite pleased with this list. 

What do you think of the choices this year?

Comments

[Amy Camus]

All of Us Strangers may be the most nominated film, but, if anything, it's under-nominated. Jamie Bell's fantastic work (more deserving than Paul Mescal's) should certainly have gotten him a Supporting nomination.

[Mr Ripley79]

I agree with Amy his is the performance other than Scott's that I remember the best.

Yeah Jodie again,I think people we're really pleased to see her back.

A Thousand and One and Are You There God are 2 of last years best films that I enjoyed and I hardly heard a whisper about either in our UK press but then I couldn't move for Barbie breaking box office records and Oppenheimer's domination.

[Tony L]

Too bad Passages couldn’t get any performance nominations or Gael Garcia Bernal.

And yes, Jamie Bell should have been here too!!!

[Joe G.]

I'm a bit bummed that Passages isn't in the top category. It got great reviews, so I'm surprised to see it missing. I also think Ira Sachs is woefully under rewarded.

I'm very happy to see Claire Foy here and I hope she wins. Still, I'm a bit bummed she's not joined by Jamie Bell.

[Robert G]

That is the best genre film list I've seen come out of 2023 so far. I'm on board with placing All Of Us Strangers there. It fits, even if it's minor.

As for Anatomy of a Fall as a queer film, I'm glad to see bisexuality included openly as part of the community in film discourse. We're often forgotten or treated as a twist or a joke. It is a part of Huller's character even if it's not the focus of the film.

[Mr Ripley79]

I'd say the one of the main thrusts in the story is her bisexuality,key testimony about her love life is also an integral part of the narrative.

[Eric Henderson]

Campiest flick was the only place where I actually DID give a nod to OPPENHEIMER.

[par]

speaking of bisexuality, nice to see maestro rejected across the board

[Mike Johnson]

Much better list than the Oscar's. Love "All of Us Strangers" love. The film completely gutted me. Loved Bell, but Mescal was crucial to the film's success. Without his super nova charisma, the film does not work. Near perfect list of nominations.