My OFCS Awards Ballot (2024)

Last week, I submitted my nominating votes for the 28th OFCS Awards. Shortly thereafter, the society announced the nominees, and I’ve tried to catch up with as many that I’ve missed as I could in the days since.

(You can read capsules for some of the films I binged here.)

For each category, I rank vote the nominees in films I’ve seen in the category (i.e. I rank them even if I don’t like them). I abstain on films I have not seen. Here’s the ballot I submitted.

Two rules I set for myself:

• In cases where nominees were included that I personally voted for, I would not rearrange the ranked order of my vote. This is to preserve my sanity in relitigating every category on a short timeframe.
• I am not punishing a nominee for “category fraud” in this phase of voting. (E.g. I think Kieran Culkin and Ariana Grande are leads, but I’m not marking either down for being nominated as “Supporting.”)

I am not providing any reasoning here (that will come with my B.A.D.S. in a couple weeks).

Last caveat: Like last year, I watched a challenging and provocative film so close to the ballot wire that I feel especially uncertain how to evaluate it. Last year it was The Zone of Interest; this year, it’s Nickel Boys.

Best Picture

1. The Substance
2. Nosferatu
3. Nickel Boys
4. Challengers
5. I Saw the TV Glow
6. Dune: Part Two
7. The Brutalist
8. Anora
9. Conclave
10. Wicked

Best Animated Feature

1. Flow
2. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
3. The Wild Robot
4. Inside Out 2

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Memoir of a Snail

Best Director

1. Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
2. RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
3. Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two
4. Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
5. Sean Baker – Anora

Best Actor

1. Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
2. Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
3. Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Timothee Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
• Sebastian Stan – A Different Man

Best Actress

1. Mikey Madison – Anora
2. Demi Moore – The Substance
3. Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
• Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best Supporting Actor

1. Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
2. Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
3. Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
4. Yura Borisov – Anora

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown

Best Supporting Actress

1. Margaret Qualley – The Substance
2. Ariana Grande – Wicked
3. Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez
4. Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
5. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Nickel Boys

Best Original Screenplay

1. Challengers
2. A Real Pain
3. The Brutalist
4. The Substance
5. Anora

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Sing Sing
2. Nosferatu
3. Dune: Part Two
4. Nickel Boys
5. Conclave

Best Editing

1. The Substance
2. Challengers
3. Nickel Boys
4. Dune: Part Two
5. Anora

Best Cinematography

1. Dune: Part Two
2. Nosferatu
3. Conclave
4. The Brutalist
5. Nickel Boys

Best Original Score

1. Challengers
2. The Wild Robot
3. The Brutalist
4. Conclave
5. Dune: Part Two

Best Production Design

1. Nosferatu
2. Dune: Part Two
3. Wicked
4. The Brutalist

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Best Costume Design

1. Wicked
2. Nosferatu
3. Conclave
4. Dune: Part Two

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Best Visual Effects

1. Dune: Part Two
2. The Substance
3. Wicked

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Best Debut Feature

1. Annie Baker – Janet Planet
2. India Donaldson – Good One
3. Anna Kendrick – Woman of the Hour
4. Josh Margolin – Thelma
5. Vera Drew – The People’s Joker

Best Film Not in the English Language

1. Flow
2. Emilia Perez

Not seen as of voting deadline:

• All We Imagine as Light
• I’m Still Here
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Documentary

1. Daughters
2. Sugarcane
3. Dahomey
4. Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
5. Will & Harper

Technical Achievement Awards

(The nominee list for this is not public. We were required to select and rank five entries even though I only initially nominated three.)

1. Makeup/Hairstyling – The Substance
2. Sound – Flow
3. Sound – The Substance
4. Sound – Nosferatu
5. Casting – Conclave

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Dan is the founder and head critic of The Goods. Follow Dan on Letterboxd. Join the Discord for updates and discussion.