GALECA Goes Global with 2021 Dorian Award Nominations

From New York to Norway, Montana to Hiroshima, the nominations for the 13th Annual Dorian Awards span the globe, honoring the best films of 2021.

The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion's lyrical look at toxic masculinity in the wild west, roped in a grand total of nine nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. Animated Danish doc Flee, period piece Passing and Steven Spielberg's silver screen revival of the classic musical West Side Story follow with five nods apiece.

The epically intimate Japanese drama Drive My Car joins Dog and West Side in the Best Film race, along with another foreign fave, the Norwegian anti-romcom The Worst Person in the World, and a more contemporary Big Apple-based tuner, Tick, Tick... Boom!

Dog stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee are joined in the performance categories by the actors behind Tammy Faye Baker (Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart in Spencer) and Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield in Tick, Tick), along with West Side stand-outs Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist, Passing pair Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, Parallel Mothers mamma Penélope Cruz and Pig poppa Nicolas Cage, among others.

And forget about Bruno, the Dorians are talking about Encanto. Disney's Colombia-based crowd-pleaser and meme machine is nominated in both of this year's brand new Dorian categories, Best Animated Film and Best Film Music. Other multi-nominated movies include Dune, Mass, Titane and Zola.

It behooves me to mention the disappointment we here at Movie Dearest feel about the egregious absence of any recognition for the bittersweet Swan Song and its iconic leading man Udo Kier, as well as the delightful coming of age musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie and its stars, Richard E. Grant and newcomer Max Harwood. If the Dorians don't shine a spotlight on these outstanding gay stories, who will?

The Dorian Awards are presented by GALECA, The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, of which I and Movie Dearest's own reviewing reverend Chris Carpenter are long-time members. See the comments section below for the full list of nominations. Winners will be announced March 17.