Hollywood period drama “Mank” led a list of Golden Globe nominations on Wednesday that were strong on diversity and dominated by Netflix in a reflection of the upheaval wrought by the coronavirus pandemic on the traditional American film industry.
From the movie version of rap-infused musical “Hamilton” to LGBTQ musical “The Prom” and director nods for three women, the nominations – which kick off the Hollywood awards season – recognized multiple stories and performers in an industry that critics have long complained is dominated by white men.
The contest for the best drama movie will also include modern Great Recession story “Nomadland,” 1960s Vietnam War protest drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” #MeToo revenge story “Promising Young Woman and ageing family drama “The Father.”
Sacha Baron Cohen’s satire on former President Donald Trump’s America, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm;” “Hamilton;” “The Prom;” autism story “Music” and time-loop comedy “Palm Springs” will compete in a separate category for musicals and comedies.
For television, British royal family drama “The Crown,” whose season focused on the late Princess Diana, led the way with six nods, followed by quirky small-town comedy “Schitt’s Creek.”
Streaming service Netflix Inc beat all comers in both films, with 22 nods, and television, with 20, after a year in which the coronavirus pandemic led Hollywood studios to push back dozens of their film releases or put them on streaming services, and many movie theatres were closed for months.
Amazon Studios was a distant second with seven nominations in the movie field.
Three of the five directors nominated on Wednesday were women, including Regina King for the story of a meeting of four Black icons in the 1960s in “One Night in Miami,” Britain’s Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman” and Chinese-born filmmaker Chloe Zhao for “Nomadland.”
Among the acting nominees were Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, in his last film role, in jazz period piece “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed as a drummer losing his hearing in “Sound of Metal,” Andra Day for her role in “The United States Vs Billie Holiday,” and Dev Patel for the modern twist on Charles Dickens “The Personal History of David Copperfield.”
“Without question, things are changing,” said actor Leslie Odom Jr., who was involved in “Hamilton,” “Music” and “One Night in Miami” where he played “A Change is Gonna Come” singer Sam Cooke.
“The table is getting longer, the room is getting larger, and the lens is finding new people and new interesting stories to tell,” Odom said in a phone interview.
The Golden Globes are to be handed out at a virtual ceremony on Feb. 28, hosted by actors Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The winners are selected by the small Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
“Despite a stressed pandemic year, there is a comfort of sorts in embracing traditions. Perhaps it is a hopeful sign that we will get out of this eventually,” said British actor Gary Oldman who was nominated for playing “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in “Mank”.
It was a good day for Baron Cohen, who won nominations both for his “Borat” sequel and for his supporting role in “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”
“These two films are different, but they share a common theme: sometimes we have to protest injustice with our own farce,” Baron Cohen said in a statement.