2020 Muriel Awards

Best Feature-Length Film

  1. Yourself and Yours
  2. Martin Eden
  3. To the Ends of the Earth
  4. Fourteen
  5. The Grand Bizarre
  6. I Was at Home, But…
  7. The Traitor
  8. Heimat Is a Space in Time
  9. First Cow
  10. Vitalina Varela

Best Lead Performance

  1. Luca Marinelli, Martin Eden
  2. Lee Yoo-young, Yourself and Yours
  3. Atsuko Maeda, To the Ends of the Earth
  4. Pierfrancesco Favino, The Traitor
  5. Tallie Medel, Fourteen
  6. John Boyega, Red, White and Blue
  7. Vitalina Varela, Vitalina Varela
  8. Ethan Hawke, Tesla
  9. Norma Kuhling, Fourteen
  10. Vlad Ivanov, The Whistlers

Best Supporting Performance

  1. Sandra Hüller, Sibyl
  2. Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
  3. Udo Kier, Bacurau
  4. Shaun Parkes, Mangrove
  5. C. Mason Wells, Fourteen
  6. Kyle MacLachlan, Tesla
  7. Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
  8. Silvero Pereira, Bacurau
  9. Mikako Ichikawa, A Girl Missing
  10. Franz Rogowski, I Was at Home, But…

Best Direction

  1. Pedro Costa, Vitalina Varela
  2. Pietro Marcello, Martin Eden
  3. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, To the Ends of the Earth
  4. Angela Schanelec, I Was at Home, But…
  5. Steve McQueen, Lovers Rock

Best Cinematic Moment

  1. Yoko sings (first time), To the Ends of the Earth
  2. Filmmaking ethics, I Was at Home, But…
  3. “Silly Games,” Lovers Rock
  4. Yoko sings (second time), To the Ends of the Earth
  5. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” Tesla
  6. Skype remix, The Grand Bizarre
  7. “Kunta Kinte Dub,” Lovers Rock
  8. Factory chase, Red, White and Blue
  9. Martin’s speech, Martin Eden
  10. On the roof, Vitalina Varela

Best Documentary

  1. The Grand Bizarre
  2. Heimat Is a Space in Time
  3. City Hall
  4. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
  5. Time

Best Screenplay

  1. Yourself and Yours
  2. Martin Eden
  3. Fourteen
  4. Heimat Is a Space in Time
  5. The Whistlers

Best Ensemble Performance

  1. To the Ends of the Earth
  2. Mangrove
  3. Bacurau
  4. Sibyl
  5. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

Best Cinematography

  1. Vitalina Varela
  2. Martin Eden
  3. Ghost Tropic
  4. Liberté
  5. First Cow

Best Editing

  1. The Grand Bizarre
  2. Martin Eden
  3. Bacurau
  4. City Hall
  5. The Wild Goose Lake

Best Music

  1. The Grand Bizarre
  2. Martin Eden
  3. Lovers Rock
  4. Tesla
  5. Bacurau

Best Cinematic Breakthrough

  1. Pietro Marcello
  2. Thomas Heise
  3. Bas Devos
  4. Justine Triet
  5. Tyler Taormina

Best Body of Work

  1. Steve McQueen
  2. Luca Marinelli
  3. Chadwick Boseman
  4. Shabier Kirchner
  5. Sean Price Williams

Best Youth Performance

  1. Jakob Lassalle, I Was at Home, But…
  2. Clara Möller, I Was at Home, But…
  3. Kenyah Sandy, Education

10th Anniversary Award, Best Feature Film of 2010

  1. Mysteries of Lisbon
  2. Certified Copy
  3. Meek’s Cutoff
  4. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
  5. Hahaha

25th Anniversary Award, Best Feature Film of 1995

  1. Heat
  2. Fallen Angels
  3. The Bridges of Madison County
  4. Before Sunrise
  5. Safe

50th Anniversary Award, Best Feature Film of 1970

  1. Zorns Lemma
  2. Claire’s Knee
  3. Othon
  4. Le Boucher
  5. Le Rupture

Top 22 of 2020

While I certainly wouldn’t say 2020 approached the greatness of 2019’s release year, it certainly held up much better than could have been reasonably expected, given all the obstacles eventually overcome. The amount of films is a bit misleading; there were definitely fewer films that I adored, and Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology accounts for a not insignificant percentage of this list.

The following list is formed from the reds, oranges, greens, and blues that I have seen at time of writing that were commercially released in New York City or received a virtual commercial release in 2020. A list, not the list.

1. Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello)

2. To the Ends of the Earth (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

3. Fourteen (Dan Sallitt)

4. I Was at Home, But… (Angela Schanelec)

5. The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack)

6. The Traitor (Marco Bellocchio)

7. Heimat Is a Space in Time (Thomas Heise)

8. Vitalina Varela (Pedro Costa)

9. First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)

10. The Whistlers (Corneliu Porumboiu)

11. Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen)

12. Ghost Tropic (Bas Devos)

13. Tesla (Michael Almereyda)

14. Liberté (Albert Serra)

15. Bacurau (Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelles)

16. The Wild Goose Lake (Diao Yinan)

17. City Hall (Frederick Wiseman)

18. Sibyl (Justine Triet)

19. Red, White and Blue (Steve McQueen)

20. Education (Steve McQueen)

21. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Bill & Turner Ross)

22. Mangrove (Steve McQueen)

My Top 10 Discoveries During 2020 (for first-time viewings of films made before 2000)

  1. Perceval le Gallois (1978, Eric Rohmer)
  2. Femmes Femmes (1974, Paul Vecchiali)
  3. High and Low (1963, Akira Kurosawa)
  4. Beijing Watermelon (1989, Nobuhiko Obayashi)
  5. His Girl Friday (1940, Howard Hawks)
  6. The Love Eterne (1963, Li Han-hsiang)
  7. Peking Opera Blues (1986, Tsui Hark)
  8. Yearning (1964, Mikio Naruse)
  9. The Rocking Horsemen (1992, Nobuhiko Obayashi)
  10. Dirty Ho (1979, Lau Kar-leung)