Best of 2019: The First Annual Rough Cut Awards

Before we get too far into 2020, let’s take one final look back at the films of 2019. As the dust settled on this past awards season, our team here at Rough Cut came together to crown our own favorites. Using weighted ballots, we put together a list of nominees and winners in the traditional Oscar categories--minus shorts--as well as a few extras of our own. 
 
 Across our five ballots, 85 different movies received at least one vote, and 46 movies ended up on our joint list of nominees. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Parasite was well-liked by all of our contributors; it led the lists of both nominees and winners, and two of its wins (Production Design and International Feature) were our only unanimous picks. The acting categories were some of our most competitive. Parasite’s Song Kang-ho was the only actor to appear on every ballot, and Awkwafina in The Farewell was the only performance to receive a first-place vote that ultimately did not make it on to the nomination list--a sign of the depth and strength of the lead actress field. Similarly, every one of our contributors had a different top pick for Original Score and Documentary Feature, reflecting the wealth of great options in both categories.
 
 As we closed the decade out with a year of truly exceptional movies, these were the ones that we liked best. Without further preamble, here are the inaugural Rough Cut Award nominees and winners.

​Best Picture
 1917
 Ad Astra
 The Farewell
 The Last Black Man in San Francisco
 Little Women
 Marriage Story
 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 Parasite
 Portrait of a Lady on Fire
 Waves
 
 Best Director
 Bong Joon-ho - Parasite
 Greta Gerwig - Little Women
 Celine Sciamma - Portrait of a Lady on Fire
 Trey Edward Shults - Waves
 Quentin Tarantino - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 
 Best Actress
 Ana de Armas - Knives Out
 Adele Haenel - Portrait of a Lady on Fire
 Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell
 Lupita Nyong’o - Us
 Saoirse Ronan - Little Women
 
 Best Actor
 Antonio Banderas - Pain and Glory
 Leonardo DiCaprio - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 Adam Driver - Marriage Story
 Hugh Jackman - Bad Education
 Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems
 
 Best Supporting Actress
 Cho Yeo-Jeong - Parasite
 Julia Fox - Uncut Gems
 Jennifer Lopez - Hustlers
 Florence Pugh - Little Women
 Taylor Russell - Waves
 
 Best Supporting Actor
 Shia LaBeouf - Honey Boy
 Jonathan Majors - The Last Black Man in San Francisco
 Alessandro Nivola - The Art of Self-Defense
 Brad Pitt - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 Song Kang-ho - Parasite
 
 Best Original Screenplay
 The Farewell
 Knives Out 
 Marriage Story 
 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 
 Parasite 
 
 Best Adapted Screenplay
 Bad Education 
 A Hidden Life
 The Irishman 
 Jojo Rabbit 
 Little Women 
 Transit 
 
 Best Cinematography
 1917
 A Hidden Life
 The Last Black Man in San Francisco
 Parasite
 Portrait of a Lady on Fire
 
 Best Film Editing
 Ford v. Ferrari
 Little Women
 Marriage Story
 Parasite
 Portrait of a Lady on Fire
 Uncut Gems
 Us
 
 Best Production Design
 1917
 Ad Astra
 Knives Out
 The Lighthouse
 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 Parasite
 
 Best Costume Design
 Hustlers
 Jojo Rabbit
 Knives Out
 Little Women
 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 
 Best Makeup and Hairstyling
 Bombshell
 Hustlers
 Little Women
 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
 Us
 
 Best Visual Effects
 1917
 Alita: Battle Angel
 Avengers: Endgame
 Detective Pikachu
 Fast Color
 Parasite
 
 Best Original Score
 1917
 Ad Astra
 A Hidden Life
 I Lost My Body
 Little Women
 
 Best Original Song
 “Control” - Her Smell
 “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” - Wild Rose
 “Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?” - Weathering With You
 “La Jeune Fille et Feu” - Portrait of a Lady on Fire
 “You’re The One” - I Lost My Body
 
 Best Sound Editing
 1917
 Ad Astra
 Avengers: Endgame
 Ford v. Ferrari
 John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
 The Lighthouse
 Whistlers
 
 Best Sound Mixing
 1917
 Ford v. Ferrari
 The Lighthouse
 Uncut Gems
 Waves
 
 Best International Film
 And Then We Danced (Sweden)
 Atlantics (Senegal)
 I Lost My Body (France)
 One Cut of the Dead (Japan)
 Pain and Glory (Spain)
 Parasite (South Korea)
 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France)
 
 Best Documentary Feature
 Apollo 11
 Biggest Little Farm
 Cold Case Hammarskjold
 Honeyland
 One Child Nation
 
 Best Animated Feature
 I Lost My Body
 Toy Story 4
 Weathering With You
 
 Best Casting/Ensemble
 Booksmart
 The Farewell
 Knives Out
 Little Women
 Parasite
 
 Best Stunt Coordination/Choreography
 1917
 And Then We Danced
 Hustlers
 John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
 One Cut of the Dead
 Shadow
 
 Best First Feature
 Atlantics
 Booksmart
 Honey Boy
 I Lost My Body
 The Last Black Man in San Francisco
 Les Miserables