The AFI Awards have named the honorees for the Top 10 films of the year and the Top 10 TV shows of the year. Given that the Oscars have extended the eligibility window past December 31st and into February, a couple titles on AFI’s list are technically being released in 2021, but they remain major awards contenders nonetheless.
The expected players include Netflix’s Mank, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as well as Amazon’s One Night in Miami… and The Sound of Metal, but it was also interesting to see Pixar’s Soul make the cut. And one major contender that hadn’t been seen until very recently, Warner Bros.’ Fred Hampton drama Judas and the Black Messiah, also made the cut.
This is shaping up to be an awards season like no other, so it’s kind of impossible to tell if these 10 films are our Best Picture Oscar contenders or if the Academy might go for some different picks like Promising Young Woman or even Hulu’s Palm Springs. Whatever the case, it should be interesting.
On the TV side, the Top 10 includes critical darlings like Ted Lasso, Better Call Saul, and The Queen’s Gambit, but also Netflix’s December release Bridgerton made the cut. And, of course, The Mandalorian cracked the Top 10.
Check out the full Top 10 lists for AFI’s honorees below.
AFI Movies of the Year
Da 5 Bloods
Judas and the Black Messiah
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
One Night in Miami…
Soul
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
AFI Television Programs of the Year
Better Call Saul
Bridgerton
The Crown
The Good Lord Bird
Lovecraft Country
The Mandalorian
Mrs. America
The Queen’s Gambit
Ted Lasso
Unorthodox