Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland”, the story of a woman who decides to live as a modern-day nomad in the American West, won the best spotlight during the hybrid virtual ceremony at the Gotham Awards, held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. This marks the second time that Zhao has won in the past three years, as she also won in her 2018 debut, “The Rider”.
In addition to winning the top prize, he also won the public award, a tribute selected from all nominees for best feature film, documentary and international feature. The 2020 Gotham Awards made history, with all nominees for this year’s best film directed by women at their 30th celebration.
In the past decade, four Gotham winners for best feature films failed to secure nominations for best Oscars: “The Rider” (2018), “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013), “Moonrise Kingdom” (2012) and “Beginners ”(2011), although tied with an eventual Oscar nominated film,“ A Árvore da Vida ”.
The ceremony was broadcast live on the Independent Filmmaker Project and VarietyFacebook pages and had a lot of hiccups, from delays for the winners to hear their names to sound and visual problems. The ceremony gave the first glimpse of what the rest of the awards season could look like on televised shows and, hopefully, everything will be resolved quickly.
Riz Ahmed won the Best Actor Award for his performance in Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” over alleged leader Chadwick Boseman for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, to whom he thanked in his speech. “It has been a difficult year for all of us,” said Ahmed. As the voting for the SAG awards begins today, he may have brought the spotlight at the best possible moment.
Nicole Beharie in “Miss Juneteenth” (Vertical Entertainment)
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
The same can be said of Nicole Beharie, who won the best actress award for her phenomenal work on Channing Godfrey Peoples’ “Miss Juneteenth”. In total shock, she thanked the writer and director, just trying to find words of thanks.
Zachary Quinto presented Kingsley Ben-Adir with the award for best actor for his extraordinary performance in “One Night in Miami”. Ben-Adir, who plays Malcolm X on the directorial debut of Regina King, was surprised by the victory and praised his fellow nominees, including Sidney Flanigan for “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”.
There were two draws between the categories, most notably the award for best screenplay divided between “The Forty-Year-Old Version” by Radha Blank and “Fourteen” by Dan Sallitt. The other draw came in the documentary category, with PBS Distribution and Frontline’s “A Thousand Cuts” and Amazon Studios “Time” sharing the honor.
André Holland paid a heartfelt and heartfelt tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. The two worked together on Brian Helgeland’s “42,” the biography of baseball player Jackie Robinson. “He had a way of being kind without being soft,” said Holland. “One and one are not always two. Sometimes it’s three or four, if you’re right. Chad was the right guy. “
After asking for a minute of silence, the roll of Boseman’s most prolific works was presented, including “Black Panther” and his 2020 films “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”.
Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman, accepted his tribute, doing her best to contain her tears all the time. “He was the most honest person I’ve ever met,” said Ledward Boseman. “He was blessed to live many lives within a concentrated life. He took advantage of the power to let go and let God’s love shine through. May your conviction not be in vain. It is an honor on my husband’s behalf. ”She closed with tears streaming down her face,“ Chad … thanks. I love you. I am so proud of you. Keep your light shining on us. “
George C. Wolfe, director of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, presented the actress’s tribute to Oscar winner Viola Davis. Wolfe talked about Davis’ “purity of heart, passion, fire, anger and generosity” that she brings to all of her roles. “Whites have always become the guardians of the black experience,” she says. “I am very proud to be part of the legacy of Ma Rainey and August Wilson. You can leave something for people or you can leave something inside people. This is what August Wilson did. “
Davis won an Oscar in “Fences” in 2016 and was nominated for his performances in “The Help” in 2011 and “Doubt” in 2008.
Jeffrey Wright called attention to “idiocy” in Washington when he accepted the 2020 “Made in NY” award from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). “I came here to be an actor in New York and that’s what I am.”
Lupita Nyong’o presented Steve McQueen with the tribute to the director speaking personally about her time working with him on “12 Years a Slave”, for which she won the Oscar for best supporting actress. In addition to his best winning film, he also directed “Hunger”, “Shame”, “Widows” and, more recently, “Small Ax” for Amazon Prime Video. “I am very grateful for this award,” said McQueen. “This anthology of five films is deeply personal to me.”
HBO was a winning pair in the innovative series categories. “Watchmen” took home the honors for more than 40 minutes, while the critically acclaimed “I May Destroy You” took the statuette for less than 40 minutes.
Emmy winner Ryan Murphy received industry tribute for a year that included his musical adaptation of “The Prom”, which he directed. He also produced the adaptation of “The Boys in the Band”.
Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” received the group’s inaugural tribute, which he also presented. The Netflix feature includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella and John Carroll Lynch.
Jeff Sharp, IFP Executive Director, also announced the Joel Schumacher Endowment initiative in partnership with MTV.
From January 11, IFP will be The Gotham Film & Media Institute, also known as The Gothams.
The full list of winners and nominees is below.
Best feature
- “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)
- “Nomadland” – Chloé Zhao, director; Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao, producers (Searchlight Pictures) – WINNER
- “Relic” – Natalie Erika James, director; Anna Mcleish, Sarah Shaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, producers (IFC Midnight)
Best Documentary
- “76 Days” – Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous, directors; Hao Wu, Jean Tsien, producers (MTV documentaries)
- “City Hall” – Frederick Wiseman, director; Frederick Wiseman, Karen Konicek, producers (Zipporah Films)
- “Our Time Machine” – Yang Sun, directors of S. Leo Chiang; S. Leo Chiang, Yang Sun, producers (Passion River Films)
- “A Thousand Cuts” – Ramona S. Diaz, director; Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (PBS Distribution | FRONTLINE) – WINNER
- “Time” – Garrett Bradley, director; Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley, producers (Amazon Studios) – WINNER (tie)
Best International Highlight
- “Bacurau” – Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, board members; Emilie Lesclaux, Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt, producers (Kino Lorber)
- “Varapau” – Kantemir Balagov, director; Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov, producers (Kino Lorber)
- “Cuties” (Mignonnes) – Maïmouna Doucouré, director; Zangro, producer (Netflix)
- “Identifying Features” – Fernanda Valadez, director; Astrid Rondero, producer (Kino Lorber) – WINNER
- “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 TV Plus / GKIDS)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
- Radha Blank, “The Forty-Year-Old Version” (Netflix)
- Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth” (vertical entertainment)
- Alex Thompson, “Saint Frances” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
- Carlo Mirabella-Davis, “Swallow” (IFC Films)
- Andrew Patterson, “The Vast of Night” (Amazon Studios) – WINNER
Best Screenplay
- “Bad education” – Mike Makowsky (HBO)
- “First cow” – Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt (A24)
- “The forty-year version” – Radha Blank (Netflix) – WINNER
- “Quatorze” – Dan Sallitt (Film Grasshopper) – WINNER
- “The Vast of Night” – James Montague, Craig Sanger (Amazon Studios)
Best actor
- Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios) – WINNER
- Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
- Jude Law, “The Nest” (IFC Films)
- John Magaro, “First Cow” (A24)
- Jesse Plemons, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” (Netflix)
Best actress
- Nicole Beharie, “Miss Juneteenth” (Vertical Entertainment) – WINNER
- Jessie Buckley, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” (Netflix)
- Carrie Coon, “The Nest” (IFC Films)
- Frances McDormand, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)
- Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari” (A24)
Actor Revelation
- Jasmine Batchelor, “The Surrogate” (Monument Releasing)
- Kingsley Ben-Adir, “One Night in Miami…” (Amazon Studios) – WINNER
- Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Resources in focus)
- Orion Lee, “First Cow” (A24)
- Kelly O’Sullivan, “Saint Frances” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (more than 40 minutes)
- “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)
- “Watchmen” – Damon Lindelof, television creator; Tom Spezialy, Nicole Kassell, Stephen Williams, Joseph E. Iberti, executive producers (HBO) – WINNER
Revelation Series – Short Format (less than 40 minutes)
- “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)
- “I May Destroy You” – Michaela Coel, creator; Michaela Coel, Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni, executive producers (HBO) – WINNER
- “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
- “Nomadland” – Chloé Zhao, director; Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao, producers (Searchlight Pictures) – WINNER
(Prize circuit winners table (2020-2021)