Halfway Honors: The Gold Digger's 2024 Mid-Year Awards Have Been Announced!

by Nick Taylor

DUNE: PART TWO leads with 16 nominations, though CHALLENGERS is swaggering right behind it into that sauna with 15

As some of you may remember from last year, guest contributor Patrick Gratton has been spearheading a group known as the Gold Diggers Awards since 2018. Comprised of critics, cinephiles, festival circuit regulars and trusted besties around the globe, the organization is once again back with their Mid-Year Awards slate. As is tradition, these nominations are solely cultivated from films that received a US release in the first half of 2024. Also in keeping with tradition, these lineups are an eccentric mix of mainstream, arthouse, underground, and international cinema. Where else will you see Dune: Part Two duke it out with the likes of The People's Joker for Best Effects, or held up against Lea Seydoux's other sci-fi thrill The Beast? I love these nominations, and not just cuz I'm a member.

For the best of the best in 24 categories, follow me below the cut . . . .

BEST FEATURE FILM

• THE BEAST, Janus Films/Sideshow
• CHALLENGERS, MGM/United Artists
• DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, MUBI
• DUNE: PART TWO, Warner Bros.
• EVIL DOES NOT EXIST, Janus Films/Sideshow
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Warner Bros
• HIT MAN, Netflix
• I SAW THE TV GLOW, A24
• KINDS OF KINDNESS, Searchlight Pictures
• LOVE LIES BLEEDING, A24

A24 received the most nominations of any studio with twenty-eight citations, nine of which went to I SAW THE TV GLOW

BEST DIRECTOR

• Bertrand Bonello, THE BEAST
• Rose Glass, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
• Luca Guadagnino, CHALLENGERS
• Jane Schoebrun, I SAW THE TV GLOW
• Denis Villeneuve, DUNE: PART TWO

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, Romania, Luxembourg, France, and Croatia
• EVIL DOES NOT EXIST, Japan
• HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo
• LAST SUMMER, France and Norway
• SAMSARA, Spain

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• INSIDE OUT 2, Mark Nielsen
• KUNG FU PANDA 4, Rebecca Huntley
• MARS EXPRESS, Marc Jousset & Guillaume Natas & Florent Steiner

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

• BYE BYE TIBERIAS – Jean-Marie Nizan
• GIRLS STATE – Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss
• I AM: CELINE DION – Julie Begey Seureau & Stacy Lorts & Tom Mackay & Irene Taylor
• PICTURES OF GHOSTS – Emilie Lesclaux
• RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS – Aiko Masubichi & Takashi Numa & Eric Nyari & Norika Sky-Sora & Albert Tholen

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

• THE FIRST OMEN, Arkasha Stevensen
• JANET PLANET, Annie Baker
• MONKEY MAN, Dev Patel
• THE PEOPLE’S JOKER, Vera Drew
• PROBLEMISTA, Julio Torres

BEST ENSEMBLE

• CHALLENGERS
• DUNE: PART TWO
• GHOSTLIGHT
• HIT MAN
• KINDS OF KINDNESS

One can only imagine what Bobita would say about the women she's nominated with. Do NOT check her insta

BEST ACTRESS

• Léa Drucker, LAST SUMMER
• Nell Tiger Free, THE FIRST OMEN
• Ilinca Manolache, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
• Léa Seydoux, THE BEAST
• Zendaya, CHALLENGERS

BEST ACTOR

• Keith Kupferer, GHOSTLIGHT
• Josh O’Connor, CHALLENGERS
• Jesse Plemons, KINDS OF KINDNESS
• Glen Powell, HIT MAN
• Justice Smith, I SAW THE TV GLOW

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Adria Arjona, HIT MAN
• Rebecca Ferguson, DUNE: PART TWO
• Katy O’Brian, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
• Sophie Okonedo, JANET PLANET
• Tilda Swinton, PROBLEMISTA

Supporting Actor is the only category with six nominees. And Jesse Plemons is the only performer recognized in Lead and Supporting! Life's fun coincidences

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Javier Bardem, DUNE: PART TWO
• Austin Butler, DUNE: PART TWO
• Mike Faist, CHALLENGERS
• Ed Harris, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
• Chris Hemsworth, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
• Jesse Plemons, CIVIL WAR

BEST ACTING NEWCOMER

• Pierette Abode, MAMBAR PIERETTE
• Alyla Browne, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
• Samuel Kirchner, LAST SUMMER
• Katy O’Brian, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
• Zoe Ziegler, JANET PLANET

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

• CHALLENGERS, John Vincent Mason, Brad Gilbert & Kim Gilbert, Mam Smith
• DUNE: PART TWO, Joseph Baddelem & Henry King Jr. & Domonkos Pardanyi, Roger Yuan, Vi-Dan Tran, Jenefer Odell, Benjamin Millepied
• THE FALL GUY, Keir Bec, Caroline Kaspar, Jonathan Eusebio & Sunny Sun
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Guy Norris & Mark Teale & Tim Wong, Yasca Sinigaglia & Jacob Tomuri Karl Van Moorsel, Richard Norton, Caroline Kaspar
• MONKEY MAN, Udeh Nans & Brahim Chab

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED)

• Bertrand Bonello, THE BEAST
• Jane Shoenbrun, I SAW THE TV GLOW
• Radu Jude, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
• Justin Kuritzkes, CHALLENGERS
• Julio Torres, PROBLEMISTA

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Josée Deshaies, THE BEAST
• Đinh Duy Hung, INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL
• Greig Fraser, DUNE: PART TWO
• Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, CHALLENGERS
• Eric Yue, I SAW THE TV GLOW

BEST EDITING

• Marco Costa, CHALLENGERS
• Catalin Cristutiu, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
• Vera Drew, THE PEOPLE’S JOKER
• Sofi Marshall, I SAW THE TV GLOW
• Joe Walker, DUNE: PART TWO

Between PROBLEMISTA and I SAW THE TV GLOW, 2024 is already a landmark year for Egg Cinema

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• THE BEAST, Katia Wyszkop, Sophie Martel & Florence Allerie
• DUNE: PART TWO, Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos & Shane Vieau
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Colin Gibson and Katie Sharrock
• I SAW THE TV GLOW, Brandon Tonner-Connolly and Paige Mitchell
• PROBLEMISTA, Katie Byron and Kendall Anderson

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Jenny Beavan, FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
• Pauline Jacquard, THE BEAST
• Megan McLaughlin, LISA FRANKENSTEIN
• Michael O’Connor, FIREBRAND
• Jacqueline West, DUNE: PART TWO

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

• THE BEAST, Maïna Militza and Miguel Santos
• DUNE: PART TWO, Love Larson & Eva Von Bahir, Megan Norris, Ruth Haney, and Kata Huszár
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Matteo Silvi & Luca Vannella, Larry Van Duynhoven, and Lesley Vanderwalt
• LOVE LIES BLEEDING, Megan Daum, Bryan Perkal, and Frieda Valenzuela
• THE PEOPLE’S JOKER, Jake Bennett and Lane Friedmann

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• CHALLENGERS, Dan Crayer & Brian Drewes & Marco Geracinato & Don Libby & Riaz Patel, John Ruggiere
• DUNE: PART TWO, Arnaud Brisebois & Michael Grobe & Stephen James & Rhys Salcombe, Franco Galiano & Gerd Nefzer
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Xavier Matia Bernasconi & Dan Bethell & Andrew Jackson & Stephen James & Giacomo Mineo & Jo Plaete Josh Simmonds & Guido Wolter, Lloyd Finnemore & Andy Williams, Jabin Dickens
• KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Art Bagdasaryan & Mark Gee & Sean Noel Walker & Erik Winquist, Rodney Burke
• THE PEOPLE’S JOKER, Jake Myers and Jasperi Wirtanen

CHALLENGERS is the only film nominated in all four sound categories. Unrelated, but look at this screen grab

BEST SOUND MIXING

• CHALLENGERS, Craig Berkey & Paul Carter
• CIVIL WAR, Howard Bargroff & Adam Scrivener & Mark Timms
• DUNE: PART TWO, Doug Hemphill
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, James Ashton & Tom Holkenborg & Robert Mackenzie & Jessica Meier
• I SAW THE TV GLOW, Daniel Timmons

BEST SOUND EDITING

• CHALLENGERS, Craig Berkey
• CIVIL WAR, Glenn Freemantle
• DUNE: PART TWO, Richard King
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Tom Heuzenroeder & Tara Webb
• LOVE LIES BLEEDING, Paul Davies

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Anna Bonello & Bertrand Bonello, THE BEAST
• Alex G, I SAW THE TV GLOW
• Eiko Ishibashi, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
• Hans Zimmer, DUNE: PART TWO
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, CHALLENGERS

BEST USE OF MUSIC

• CHALLENGERS, Robin Urdang
• THE FALL GUY, Rachel Levy
• I SAW THE TV GLOW, Jessica Berndt, Chris Swanson, Haley Dahl, Caroline Polachek, A.G. Cook, and Emily Spraque
• LOVE LIES BLEEDING, Simon Astall
• THE PEOPLE’S JOKER, Vera Drew, Elias Gowins, Justin Krol, Quinn Scharber, and Jeff Shirley

For more mid-year awards adventures, check out Cláudio's Fifties Ballot, and share your thoughts about the Gold Digger's nominees! Winners will be announced in the coming weeks.

Comments

[thevoid99]

No love for the director's cuts of Rebel Moon? BOO!!!!

[Cláudio Alves]

thevoid99 -- It wasn't eligible, as it only premiered in August, after the June 30th cutoff date.

[Mike in Canada]

I love this project for shining light on remarkable under-the-radar performances like Ilinca Manolache and Justice Smith.

But I don't know how leads get slotted into supporting categories by a small voting body with no campaigning involved. Wouldn't the natural instinct be to classify Faist, Arona, O'Brian and Swinton as leads?

[Alex Hartsell]

Very interesting and can you let me know when you guys update your predications for the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards please?

[TomG]

Very surprised to see a lack of love for Civil War- no picture or actress for Kirsten? I thought it had more favor here. But now that I think about it, it was probably a more divisive film then I thought (the audience in the cinema I went to did NOT like the ending)

Also surprised to see Faist in supporting. Is this the beginning of a category fraud Oscar campaign? Challengers seems to have a good shot at Screenplay but maybe other categories are a possibility.

[DK]

I thought Dunst was fine in Civil War (obviously, she’s literally never been bad in anything) and I’d put her on a mid-year list for sure.

However—Garland’s developing a record of hiring these greats like Dunst, Plemons, Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, surrounding them with an interesting concept—and then giving them very little to work with as actors. He just kind of wastes them.

There were even shades of that in Ex Machina, although Isaacs and Vikander overcame it.

[NATHANIEL R]

I'm sad i missed the window for the halfway mark articles I usually do as I HAVE THINGS TO SAY about the year in film thus far. But i am so many movies behind still. That said don't understand the love for FURIOSA or even LOVE LIES BLEEDING to some extent.

[ScottC]

To me it's still the Dune 2 year (thus far) when it comes to things like Best Picture and Director, and while I suppose he won't get in given the second in a trilogy thing (plus the Bob Dylan movie may be his play) I think Chalamet should be prominent in the Actor race.

As to other thoughts: I like you listing Hit Man for Ensemble; for me Faist is best in show of the Challengers trio, although I don't know if that's Lead or Supporting (I'd think Lead, but ...); Challengers is easily the best so far re: Score; I'd love it if Ribisi got into the Cinematography conversion for Strange Darling (it looks SO good); you like Problemista more than I did (although I liked his tv show quite a bit); the films I clearly need to catch up with are The Beast and Monkey Man.

[Morgan (the 1st)]

I hate what's happening to Julia Louis Dreyfus in "Tuesday".

Incredible work from her.

[Mike Johnson]

Love the love for "Hit Man" and especially, "Challengers." Fave nomination may be "Challengers" for special effects. The three insanely gorgeous stars are special effects on their own. The screen grab above is exhibit A.

[Kris]

What about "The bikeriders"? Best lead actress this year so far is Jodie Comer from that film (compare her with what she's done and how she has built up her roles before - amazing!).
Best lead actor is George Mackay in "Femme". As well as Nathan Stewart is 5th best from that same film.
Best supporting actress is Merve Dizdar in "About dry grasses". As well as Ece Bagci should get a nod. That film should also be nominated as best non-english language film.
But the best film not in English language released so far this year is "Green border" and Maja Ostaszewska should get recognition as supporting actress from that film also. Maybe also Mohamad Al Rashi.
I like it that Nell Tiger Free and Adria Ajorna got some love :)

[Iñaki Gold]

Nat, good to hear from you. I'd be cool to read about your opinions on the first half of the year.

[Sophia Sophiam]

Your article is a fantastic resource that I will definitely come back to for reference in infinite craft the future.