Elsie Fisher Takes to Twitter to Announce The Elsie Awards, a New Academy Award Alternative

Look out Independent Spirit, this year’s preferred Oscar alternative is … the Elsie Awards. Elsie Fisher, the Golden Globe-nominated star of Bo Burnham’s directorial debut, Eighth Grade (2018), took to Twitter Tuesday after the Academy unveiled this year’s official Oscar nominations. Fisher tweeted, “I’ve decided to start my own film awards because sometimes other ones suck, so here are the nominations for the first annual Elsie Awards.”

I’ve decided to start my own film awards because sometimes other ones suck, so here are the nominations for the first annual Elsie Awards

— E (@ElsieKFisher) January 14, 2020

Fisher selected nominees in 15 categories, including traditional ones like Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score, plus additions unique to the Elsie Awards, like Best Young Performer, Best Horror and Best Independent Feature. The posting ignited much of Film Twitter:

The Oscars want what the Elsie Awards have https://t.co/o4w3QcRwO1

— florence pugh academy award nominee (@eliosvimini) January 14, 2020

the elsies are all that really matters in the awards circuit

Most Popular

• Every Spike Lee Movie, Ranked
• Exclusive Excerpt: A Young Weaver Struggles to Make Ends Meet in Beguiled
• Nope Is American Mythmaking Done Right

— cam(pbell) (@soy_person) January 14, 2020

Artist Julian Gander animated a very niche, and topical, trophy for the seemingly impromptu awards ceremony:

i felt like i had to make the official trophy for the elsie awards it’s based on the rock from uncut gems AND the rock from parasite. it weighs 30 pounds pic.twitter.com/ByUz5ZuEx0

— Julian Glander (@glanderco) January 14, 2020

Film editor Clementine Narcisse, who is 16, the same age as Fisher, served as the ceremony’s only presenter and host, announcing the winners on Twitter at 12 a.m. ET on Wednesday, just 12 hours after Fisher published the list of nominees.

Every awards season, there is inevitably a firestorm of red-hot takes from film fans and industry professionals on Twitter. However, the Elsie Awards managed to strike a chord within the already-crowded space.

For one, Fisher admits that the awards can’t be perfect crowd-pleasers.

people mad about joker snubs: i didnt have time to see it also these are my awards so whatever. this goes for some other snubs too… maybe

— E (@ElsieKFisher) January 14, 2020

But Fisher announcing these awards on Twitter also shows a playfulness amid the self-seriousness of awards season. And the awards resonate in light of controversies such as #OscarsSoWhite and the Academy choosing not to nominate any women filmmakers for the Best Directing category. Fisher’s nominees, and winners, celebrate a diversity of filmmakers and stories.

With opinions on film so decentralized on Twitter, the swaths of other film award ceremonies and reports, such as this one from Deadline, showing that fewer viewers are actually tuning in to the Academy Awards each year, why shouldn’t Fisher partner up with another teenage film professional and establish their own awards?

Here’s hoping that the Elsie Awards become a season regular.

Check out the winners below:

Best Costume Design

Winner: Mitchell Travers for Hustlers
Julian Day for Rocketman
Jacqueline Durran for Little Women
Mayes C. Rubeo for JoJo Rabbit
Eduardo Castro for Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood

Best Hair and Makeup

Winner: Kazu Hiro, Vivian Baker and Anne Morgan for Bombshell
Nicki Ledermann for Joker
Scott Wheeler for Us
Lizzie Georgiou for Rocketman

Best Independent Feature

Winner: Robert Eggers for The Lighthouse
Olivia Wilde for Booksmart
Alma Har’el for Honey Boy
Riley Stearns for The Art of Self Defense

Best Horror Feature

Winner: Jordan Peele for Us
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett for Ready Or Not
Gaspar Noé for Climax
Ari Aster for Midsommar

Best Original Score**

Winner: Daniel Lopatin for Uncut Gems
Randy Newman for Marriage Story
Jung Jaeil for Parasite
Emile Mosseri for The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Best Original Song

Winner: Rocketman
Parasite
Toy Story 4
Frozen 2

Best Young Performer

Winners: Noah Jupe for Honey Boy and Roman Griffin Davis for JoJo Rabbit
Julia Butters for Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood
Shahadi Wright Joseph for Us

Best Cinematography

Winner: Drew Daniels for Waves
Jarin Blaschke for The Lighthouse
Adam Newport-Berra for The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Hong Gyeong-Pyo for Parasite
Pawel Pogorzelski for Midsommar

Best Screenplay

Winner: Rian Johnson forKnives Out
Taika Waititi for JoJo Rabbit
Jordan Peele for Us
Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin-won for Parasite

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Jonathan Majors for The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Brad Pitt for Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood
Willem Dafoe for The Lighthouse
Song Kang-ho for Parasite

Best Supporting Actress

Winners: Park So-Dam for Parasite and Thomasin Mckenzie for JoJo Rabbit
Laura Dern for Marriage Story
Taylor Russell for Waves
Zhao Shuzhen for The Farewell

Best Director

Winner: Bong Joon-Ho for Parasite
Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers
Alma Har’el for Honey Boy
Lulu Wang for The Farewell
Jordan Peele for Us

Best Actor

Winner: Taron Egerton for Rocketman
Adam Sandler for Uncut Gems
Adam Driver for Marriage Story
Robert DeNiro for The Irishman
Robert Pattinson for The Lighthouse

Best Actress

Winner: Lupita Nyong-o for Us
Awkwafina for The Farewell
Florence Pugh for Midsommar
Ana De Armas for Knives Out
Constance Wu for Hustlers

Best Picture

Winner: The Farewell
Parasite
Honeyboy
JoJo Rabbit