HOLLYWOOD – If you’re one of the many LGBTQ movie fans who were disappointed when your favorite queer film or performance or director didn’t get the nominations you KNOW they deserved, take heart. This year’s “awards season” just got a lot more rainbow-tinted, thanks to GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, which on Monday announced the nominations for its 15th annual Dorian Film Awards.
While they may not be as glamorous or prestigious – yet! – as the Oscars, the Dorians (named, of course, in homage to iconic queer writer Oscar Wilde and his quintessential novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”) are not to be taken lightly. GALECA is a well-established and respected organization consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, one of the largest entertainment journalists organizations in the world, with “an impressive roster of members who contribute to some of the most revered and distinct media outlets in the U.S. and beyond.” Each year, they turn a “queer eye” toward picking the best from the annual crop of entertainment, with separate awards presentations – spaced throughout the year – for film, television, Broadway and Off-Broadway, with categories focused on both mainstream and LGBTQ-themed work in these various media; and although their choices often mirror those of other awards bodies like the Academy, SAG, or the Golden Globes, they’re also known for asserting that “certain perspective” which has always helped the queer community to be at the forefront when it comes to being “tastemakers” in the wider culture.
Some of their film award categories are specifically designed for this – for instance, in addition to separate awards for mainstream and queer films, they present a “We’re ‘Wilde’ About You” award for rising stars, and include categories for “Most Visually Striking,” “Best Unsung” and “Campiest” movies of the year. Even within the general categories, however, they often elevate the kind of films that are typically passed over by more “traditional” awards – as is evidenced in their strong slate of contenders for 2024’s honors.
Most obviously, perhaps, this alternate perspective is reflected in the fact that “All of Us Strangers,” writer-director Andrew Haigh’s melancholy-yet-romantic gay ghost story that was completely left out of the Oscar nominations despite being widely touted as a favorite in several categories, received the most nods of any other film from the Dorians with 9 nominations. In second place is “Barbie,” with 7 nominations (including one for director Greta Gerwig, whose snub in the parallel Academy Awards category led to a flurry of vocal criticism on social media), queer cinema icon Todd Haynes’ “May December” (also snubbed by Oscar) is in third with 6, and Celine Song’s Korean-language “Past Lives” (5) and Greek absurdist auteur Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” (4) rounding out the top five most-nominated titles.
It probably also goes without saying that the Dorian nominations tend to be much more inclusive of queer talent, even in mainstream categories. This year, Oscar nominees Colman Domingo and Jodie Foster are joined by fellow out LGBTQ+ actors Andrew Scott and Trace Lysette in the Best Performance and Supporting Performance categories – which, notably, are inclusive of all genders, with one individual winner in each.
This year, the Dorians also introduce three new awards: LGBTQ Screenplay, LGBTQ Non-English Language Film, and Genre Film. The latter is an especially interesting move that seems reflective of the oft-ignored but widespread influence of “gay geek” culture as well as a response to calls for other awards bodies to make space for the fantasy, sci-fi, and horror films that are often disregarded when it comes to awards due to long standing bias within the industry establishment against the artistic merits of such content.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to watch the Dorians – not even via streaming – because there isn’t an actual presentation, though some have been held in past years. Maybe someday they’ll be the must-see TV event we all KNOW they deserve to be, but in the meantime, don’t worry: we’ll make sure and fill you in on all the winners after they’re announced on Monday, February 26.
The complete list of nominations is below.
____________________________________________________________________________.
Film of the Year
All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
Barbie (Warner Bros.)
May December (Netflix)
Past Lives (A24)
Poor Things (Searchlight)
LGBTQ Film of the Year
All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
Bottoms (MGM)
Passages (MUBI, SBS)
Rustin (Netflix)
Saltburn (Amazon MGM)
Director of the Year
Greta Gerwig, Barbie (Warner Bros.)
Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
Todd Haynes, May 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
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
Afire (Janus Films, Sideshow)
Anatomy of a Fall (NEON)
Cassandro (Amazon MGM)
Monster (Well Go USA, Gaga, Toho)
Rotting in the Sun (MUBI)
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)
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)
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)
Documentary of the Year
American Symphony (Netflix)
Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions, Fathom Events)
Kokomo City (Magnolia)
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
20 Days in Mariupol (PBS Distribution)
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)
Genre Film of the Year
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)
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 (Focus Features)
Barbie (Warner Bros.)
Oppenheimer (Universal)
Poor Things (Searchlight)
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (SONY)
Campiest Flick
Barbie (Warner Bros.)
Bottoms (MGM)
Dicks: The Musical (A24)
M3GAN (Universal)
Saltburn (Amazon MGM)
“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
Timeless Star (Career Achievement Award)
Honoring an exemplary career marked by character, wisdom and wit, the winner of this award will be named along with the other final victors on Feb. 26. Past recipients include Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and John Waters.