The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards™. A total of 26 films were nominated across six competitive categories for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.
Signaling the official kick-off to the film awards season IFP’s 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards™ nominations were announced at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. / PT to a global audience on UStream TV by Elvis Mitchell, film critic and host of “The Treatment,” distributed by KCRW public radio, and soon to be co-host of “Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies,” launching in January 2011. You can watch the announcement here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gotham-independent-film-awards-2010.
The Gotham Awards’ 20th Anniversary ceremony will be held on Monday, November 29th at Cipriani Wall Street. In addition to the competitive awards, actors Robert Duvall and Hilary Swank, director Darren Aronofsky, and Focus Features CEO James Schamus will each be presented with a career tribute.
As the first major awards of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. Previous winners for Best Feature and Best Documentary include THE HURT LOCKER (2009), FOOD, INC (2009), FROZEN RIVER (2008), TROUBLE THE WATER (2008), INTO THE WILD (2007), SICKO (2007), HALF NELSON (2006) and CAPOTE (2005). The awards are also unique for their ability to assist in catapulting award recipients prominently into national awards season attention, including recent winners and ultimate Oscar® contenders: feature winner, THE HURT LOCKER (2009); Breakthrough Actors, Melissa Leo (2008), Ellen Page (2007), Rinko Kikuchi (2006) and Amy Adams (2005).
Primary criteria for nomination consideration includes American (US-based or US-born directors and producers), feature-length films made with a point of view. Additional criteria include independently distributed films made with an economy of means. For a complete list of criteria, see http://gotham.ifp.org.
Selecting this year’s nominees were 20 film critics, journalists, and curators (see list below). Separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors and others directly involved in making films will determine final award recipients.
“The Gotham Awards celebrate the collective breath of independent cinema,” said Joana Vicente, executive director of IFP. “Ranging from the small gems produced on micro-budgets to extraordinary films from specialty distributors, the nominees all share the type of creative vision and risk-taking that are a hallmark of independent film. It’s also my pleasure to report that there are more female directors nominated this year than any year before.”
The nominees for the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards are:
Best Feature
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky, director; Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Blue Valentine
Derek Cianfrance, director; Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky, producers (The Weinstein Company)
The Kids Are All Right
Lisa Cholodenko, director; Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, Jordan Horowitz, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Philippe Hellmann, producers (Focus Features)
Let Me In
Matt Reeves, director; Simon Oakes, Alex Brunner, Guy East, Tobin Armbrust, Donna Gigliotti, John Nording, Carl Molinder, producers (Overture Films)
Winter’s Bone
Debra Granik, director; Anne Rosellini, Alix Madigan-Yorkin, producers (Roadside Attractions)
Best Documentary
12th & Delaware
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, directors/producers (HBO Documentary Films)
Inside Job
Charles Ferguson, director; Charles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Oath
Laura Poitras, director/producer (Zeitgeist Films and American Documentary/POV)
Public Speaking
Martin Scorsese, director; Martin Scorsese, Graydon Carter, Margaret Bodde, Fran Lebowitz, producers (HBO Documentary Films)
Sweetgrass
Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash, directors; Ilisa Barbash, producer (Cinema Guild)
Best Ensemble Performance
The Kids Are All Right
Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson (Focus Features)
Life During Wartime
Shirley Henderson, Ciarán Hinds, Allison Janney, Michael Lerner, Chris Marquette, Rich Pecci, Charlotte Rampling, Paul Reubens, Ally Sheedy, Dylan Riley Snyder, Renée Taylor, Michael Kenneth Williams (IFC Films)
Please Give
Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Ann Guilbert, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele, Thomas Ian Nicholas (Sony Pictures Classics)
Tiny Furniture
Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Rachel Howe, Merritt Wever, Amy Seimetz, Alex Karpovsky, David Call, Jemima Kirke, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Garland Hunter, Isen Hunter (IFC Films)
Winter’s Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Lauren Sweetser, Garret Dillahunt, Kevin Breznahan
(Roadside Attractions)
Breakthrough Director
John Wells for The Company Men (The Weinstein Company)
Kevin Asch for Holy Rollers (First Independent Pictures)
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa for I Love You Phillip Morris (Roadside Attractions)
Tanya Hamilton for Night Catches Us (Magnolia Pictures)
Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture (IFC Films)
Breakthrough Actor
Prince Adu in Prince of Broadway (Elephant Eye Films)
Ronald Bronstein in Daddy Longlegs (IFC Films)
Greta Gerwig in Greenberg (Focus Features)
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone (Roadside Attractions)
John Ortiz in Jack Goes Boating (Overture Films)
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Kati with an i
Robert Greene, director; Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, producers
Littlerock
Mike Ott, director; Frederick Thornton, Laura Ragsdale, Sierra Leoni, producers
On Coal River
Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood, directors; Jillian Elizabeth, Adams Wood, Francine Cavanaugh, producers
Summer Pasture
Lynn True and Nelson Walker, directors/producers; Tsering Perlo, co-director/co-producer
The Wolf Knife
Laurel Nakadate, director/producer