The Gotham Awards for the best in independent film kicked off this unusual awards season on Monday night, January 11. Presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, these kudos are usually handed out in early December but were pushed back (as were many awards events) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So who won? Scroll down for the complete list of winners, updated live as they were announced.
These awards are limited to American films (apart from Best International Feature ) made with an economy of means, which means no budgets higher than $35 million. Nominees and winners were decided by juries of film experts and insiders. And for the first time in the awards’ history, all five of the nominees for Best Feature were directed by women: “The Assistant” by Kitty Green, “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman, “Nomadland” by Chloe Zhao, and “Relic” by Natalie Erika James.
Gotham winners often go on to become major Oscar contenders. Five of the last six champs were nominated for Best Picture by the motion picture academy: “Birdman” (2014), “Spotlight” (2015), “Moonlight” (2016), “Call Me by Your Name” (2017) and “Marriage Story” (2019). Of those, the first three won the top Oscar. But since relatively small juries decide the winners, the top Gotham has veered in idiosyncratic directions, as when “Inside Llewyn Davis” beat eventual Oscar champ “12 Years a Slave” (2013), or when “The Rider” overtook Oscar nominee “The Favourite” (2018). “The Rider,” like “Nomadland,” was directed by Zhao.
Did the Gothams venture off the beaten path of this early awards season again? Find out below.
Best Feature
Jurors: Joshua Astrachan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Johnny Ma, Cynthia Nixon, Mary Jane Skalski
“The Assistant”
Kitty Green, director; Scott Macaulay, James Schamus, P. Jennifer Dana, Ross Jacobson, producers (Bleecker Street)
“First Cow”
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (A24)
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Eliza Hittman, director; Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, producers (Focus Features)
X — “Nomadland”
Chloé Zhao, director; Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao, producers (Searchlight Pictures)
“Relic”
Natalie Erika James, director; Anna Mcleish, Sarah Shaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, producers (IFC Midnight)
Best Documentary
Jurors: Thomas Allen Harris, Petra Costa, Ellen Kuras, Stephen Maing, E. Chai Vasarhelyi
“76 Days”
Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous, directors; Hao Wu, Jean Tsien, producers (MTV Documentary Films)
“City Hall”
Frederick Wiseman, director; Frederick Wiseman, Karen Konicek, producers (Zipporah Films)
“Our Time Machine”
Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang directors; S. Leo Chiang, Yang Sun, producers (Passion River Films)
X — “A Thousand Cuts”
Ramona S. Diaz, director; Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (PBS Distribution | FRONTLINE)
X — “Time”
Garrett Bradley, director; Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley, producers (Amazon Studios)
Best International Feature
Jurors: Franka Potente, Yvonne Russo, Andrij Parekh, Maggie Betts, Harris Dickinson
“Bacurau”
Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, directors; Emilie Lesclaux, Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt, producers (Kino Lorber)
“Beanpole”
Kantemir Balagov, director; Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov, producers (Kino Lorber)
“Cuties” (Mignonnes)
Maïmouna Doucouré, director; Zangro, producer (Netflix)
X — “Identifying Features”
Fernanda Valadez, director; Astrid Rondero, producer (Kino Lorber)
“Martin Eden”
Pietro Marcello, director; Pietro Marcello, Beppe Caschetto, Thomas Ordonneau, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, producers (Kino Lorber)
“Wolfwalkers”
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, directors; Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, producers (Apple)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Jurors: Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre, James Laxton, Doug Liman, Gina Rodriguez
Radha Blank for “The Forty-Year-Old Version” (Netflix)
Carlo Mirabella-Davis for “Swallow” (IFC Films)
X — Andrew Patterson for “The Vast of Night” (Amazon Studios)
Channing Godfrey Peoples for “Miss Juneteenth” (Vertical Entertainment)
Alex Thompson for “Saint Frances” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Best Screenplay
Jurors: Josh Mond, Lynn Nottage, Mary Kay Place, John Slattery, Stephen Gaghan
“Bad Education,” Mike Makowsky (HBO)
“First Cow, “Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt (A24)
X — “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” Radha Blank (Netflix)
X — “Fourteen,” Dan Sallitt (Grasshopper Film)
“The Vast of Night,” James Montague, Craig Sanger (Amazon Studios)
Best Actor
Jurors: Kimberly Peirce, Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Majors, Janet Yang, Clea DuVall
X — Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)
Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
Jude Law in “The Nest” (IFC Films)
John Magaro in “First Cow” (A24)
Jesse Plemons in “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” (Netflix)
Best Actress
Jurors: Andre Holland, Sanaa Lathan, James Ponsoldt, Kerry Barden, Merritt Wever
X — Nicole Beharie in “Miss Juneteenth” (Vertical Entertainment)
Jessie Buckley in “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” (Netflix)
Carrie Coon in “The Nest” (IFC Films)
Frances McDormand in “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
Yuh-Jung Youn in “Minari” (A24)
Breakthrough Actor
Jurors: Carly Hugo, KiKi Layne, Joe Talbot, Anna Rose Holmer, Brady Corbet
Jasmine Batchelor in “The Surrogate” (Monument Releasing)
X — Kingsley Ben-Adir in “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
Sidney Flanigan in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)
Orion Lee in “First Cow” (A24)
Kelly O’Sullivan in “Saint Frances” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
Jurors: Lela Loren, Maria Jacquemetton, Kat Candler, Nina Wolarsky, Wyatt Cenac
“The Great,” Tony McNamara, creator; Tony McNamara, Marian Macgowan, Mark Winemaker, Elle Fanning, Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding, Josh Kesselman, Ron West, Matt Shakman, executive producers (Hulu)
“Immigration Nation,” Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson, executive producers (Netflix)
“P-Valley,” Katori Hall, creator; Katori Hall, Dante Di Loreto, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Liz W. Garcia, executive producers (STARZ)
“Unorthodox,” Anna Winger, Alexa Karolinski , creators; Anna Winger, Henning Kamm, executive producers (Netflix)
X — “Watchmen, “Damon Lindelof, Creator for Television; Tom Spezialy , Nicole Kassell , Stephen Williams, Joseph E. Iberti, executive producers (HBO)
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Jurors: Grant Heslov, Rachel Bloom, John Coles, DeWanda Wise, Gina Resnick
“Betty,” Crystal Moselle, Lesley Arfin, Igor Srubshchik, Jason Weinberg, executive producers (HBO)
“Dave,” Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer, creators; Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer, Saladin K. Patterson, Greg Mottola, Kevin Hart, Marty Bowen, Scooter Braun, Mike Hertz, Scott Manson, James Shin, executive producers (FX Networks)
X — “I May Destroy You,” Michaela Coel , creator; Michaela Coel, Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni, executive producers (HBO)
“Taste the Nation,” Padma Lakshmi, David Shadrack Smith, Sarina Roma, executive producers (Hulu)
“Work in Progress,” Abby McEnany, Tim Mason, creators, Abby McEnany, Tim Mason, Lilly Wachowski, Lawrence Mattis, Josh Adler, Ashley Berns, Julia Sweeney, Tony Hernandez, executive producers (SHOWTIME)
Audience Award
Voted on by IFP members
“The Assistant”
“Bacurau”
“Beanpole”
“City Hall”
“Cuties”
“First Cow”
“The Forty-Year-Old Version”
“Identifying Features”
“Martin Eden”
“Miss Juneteenth”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
X — “Nomadland”
“Our Time Machine”
“Relic”
“Saint Frances”
“76 Days”
“Swallow”
“A Thousand Cuts”
“Time”
“The Vast of Night”
“Wolfwalkers”
Ensemble Award
X — “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Made In NY Award
X — Jeffrey Wright
Gotham Tributes
X — Chadwick Boseman (posthumous tribute)
X — Viola Davis
X — Steve McQueen
X — Ryan Murphy
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