Announcing the Nominees for the 31st Annual Gotham Awards
by Gotham on October 21, 2021
NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 31st ANNUAL GOTHAM AWARDS
Best Feature Nominations go to The Green Knight, The Lost Daughter,
Passing, Pig, and Test Pattern
New York, NY (October 21, 2021) – The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today the nominations for the 31st Annual Gotham Awards, singling out 29 feature films, 16 series, and 32 performances for recognition in twelve award categories.
“We congratulate the 2021 Gotham Award nominees and look forward to celebrating together live and in person in a few weeks. This year, as previously noted, we are proud to introduce gender neutral categories for our acting awards as we continue to execute upon our mission to champion inclusivity and celebrate the boldest storytellers in the world” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham.
In addition to making all performance categories gender neutral, those categories have been restructured into Outstanding Leading and Supporting Performance categories for feature films (joining the already existing Breakthrough Performer category) and the addition of an Outstanding Performance category for series. A new category for nonfiction series has also been added.
As the first major awards ceremony of the fall season, the Gotham Awards provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films and series and their writers, directors, producers, and actors. The awards are also unique for their ability to assist in catapulting award recipients prominently into national awards season attention.
Nominees are selected by committees of film and television critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. Separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, and others directly involved in making films will determine the final Gotham Award recipients. The Gotham Awards ceremony will take place live and in person on Monday, November 29, 2021 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
The 2021 Gotham Award nominations are:
Best Feature
The Green Knight
David Lowery, director; Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, producers (A24)
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal, director; Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Charles Dorfman, producers (Netflix)
Passing
Rebecca Hall, director; Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall, producers (Netflix)
Pig
Michael Sarnoski, director; Nicolas Cage, Steve Tisch, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Dori Roth, Joseph Restiano, Dimitra Tsingou, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, Vanessa Block, producers (NEON)
Test Pattern
Shatara Michelle Ford, director; Shatara Michelle Ford, Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su, producers (Kino Lorber)
Best Documentary Feature
Ascension
Jessica Kingdon, director; Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell, Jessica Kingdon, producers (MTV Documentary Films)
Faya Dayi
Jessica Beshir, director and producer (Janus Films)
Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie, producers (NEON)
President
Camilla Nielsson, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Greenwich Entertainment)
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director; Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein, producers (Searchlight Pictures, Onyx Collective, Hulu)
Best International Feature
Azor
Andreas Fontana, director; Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney, producers (MUBI)
Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films)
The Souvenir Part II
Joanna Hogg, director; Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Andrew Low, Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller, producers (A24)
Titane
Julia Ducournau, director; Jean-Christophe Reymond, producer (NEON)
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
Alexandre Koberidze, director; Mariam Shatberashvili, producers (MUBI)
The Worst Person In The World
Joachim Trier, director; Thomas Robsham, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, producers (NEON)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Edson Oda for Nine Days (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rebecca Hall for Passing (Netflix)
Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)
Shatara Michelle Ford for Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)
Best Screenplay
The Card Counter, Paul Schrader (Focus Features)
El Planeta, Amalia Ulman (Utopia Distribution)
The Green Knight, David Lowery (A24)
The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix)
Passing, Rebecca Hall (Netflix)
Red Rocket, Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch (A24)
Outstanding Lead Performance
Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Frankie Faison in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (Gravitas Ventures)
Michael Greyeyes in Wild Indian (Vertical Entertainment)
Brittany S. Hall in Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)
Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter (Focus Features)
Taylour Paige in Zola (A24)
Joaquin Phoenix in C’mon C’mon (A24)
Simon Rex in Red Rocket (A24)
Lili Taylor in Paper Spiders (Entertainment Squad)
Tessa Thompson in Passing (Netflix)
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Reed Birney in Mass (Bleecker Street)
Jessie Buckley in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Colman Domingo in Zola (A24)
Gaby Hoffmann in C’mon C’mon (A24)
Troy Kotsur in CODA (Apple)
Marlee Matlin in CODA (Apple)
Ruth Negga in Passing (Netflix)
Breakthrough Performer
Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple)
Natalie Morales in Language Lessons (Shout! Studios)
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)
Suzanna Son in Red Rocket (A24)
Amalia Ulman in El Planeta (Utopia Distribution)
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
The Good Lord Bird, Ethan Hawke, Mark Richard, creators; James McBride, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke, Ethan Hawke, Jason Blum, Albert Hughes, Mark Richard, Marshall Persinger, David Schiff, executive producers (Showtime)
It’s A Sin, Russell T Davies, creator; Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler, executive producers (HBO Max)
Small Axe, Steve McQueen, creator; Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen, executive producers (Amazon Studios)
Squid Game, Kim Ji-yeon, Hwang Dong-hyu, executive producers (Netflix)
The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins, Colson Whitehead, creators; Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Jacqueline Hoyt, executive producers (Amazon Studios)
The White Lotus, Mike White, creator; Mike White, David Bernad, Nick Hall, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Blindspotting, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, creators; Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann, executive producers (STARZ)
Hacks, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, creators; Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)
Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, creators; Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Garrett Basch, executive producers (FX)
Run the World, Leigh Davenport, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Leigh Davenport, Nastaran Dibai, executive producers (STARZ)
We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor, creator, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland, executive producers (Peacock)
Breakthrough Nonfiction Series
City So Real, Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder, executive producers (National Geographic)
Exterminate All the Brutes, Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)
How To with John Wilson, John Wilson, creator; Nathan Fielder, John Wilson, Michael Koman, Clark Reinking, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)
Philly D.A., Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar, creators; Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin, executive producers (Topic, Independent Lens, PBS)
Pride, Christine Vachon, Sydney Foos, Danny Gabai, Kama Kaina, Stacy Scripter, Alex Stapleton (FX)
Outstanding Performance in a New Series
Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus (HBO Max/HBO)
Michael Greyeyes in Rutherford Falls (Peacock)
Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs (FX)
Lee Jung-jae in Squid Game (Netflix)
Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)
Jean Smart in Hacks (HBO Max/HBO)
Omar Sy in Lupin (Netflix)
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Anjana Vasan in We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)
Thirty-four writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process. The
Nominating Committees for the 2021 Gotham Awards were
Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Best Screenplay:
K. Austin Collins, Film Critic, Rolling Stone
David Ehrlich, Chief Film Critic, IndieWire
Amy Nicholson, Film Critic, Variety
Joshua Rothkopf, Senior Editor, Movies, Entertainment Weekly
Alison Willmore, Film Critic, Vulture/New York Magazine
Nominating Committee for Best Documentary Feature:
Ben Fowlie, Executive and Artistic Director, Points North Institute; Founder, Camden International Film Festival
Dorota Lech, Film Curator
Mike Maggiore, Programmer, Film Forum
Karen McMullen, Feature Programmer at Tribeca and DOC NYC Film Festivals, and Director of Programming at the TIDE Film Festival
Ania Trzebiatowska, Film Curator, Sundance Film Festival
Nominating Committee for Best International Feature:
Florence Almozini, Senior Programmer, Film at Lincoln Center
Bilge Ebiri, Film Critic and Writer, New York Magazine/Vulture
David Fear, Senior Editor & Critic, Rolling Stone
Wendy Ide, Film Critic, The Observer, Screen International
Guy Lodge, Film Critic, Variety, The Guardian and co-editor, Film of the Week
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Director
Carlos Aguilar, Film Critic, Los Angeles Times, RogerEbert.com
Kate Erbland, Executive Editor, Film, IndieWire
Lovia Gyarkye, Arts and Culture Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
David Sims, Staff Writer, Culture, The Atlantic
Brian Tallerico, Editor, RogerEbert.com
Nominating Committee for Outstanding Lead Performance, Supporting Performance, and Breakthrough Performer:
Monica Castillo, Arts and Culture Reporter, Colorado Public Radio
Robert Daniels, Film Critic, RogerEbert.com and The Playlist
Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic, Screen International; Contributing Editor, MEL
Mark Harris, Writer and film historian
Tomris Laffly, Film Critic, RogerEbert.com, Variety
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series
Judy Berman, TV Critic, TIME
Jen Chaney, TV Critic, Vulture
Daniel Fienberg, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Caroline Framke, Chief TV Critic, Variety
Melanie McFarland, TV Critic, Salon
Alan Sepinwall, Chief TV Critic, Rolling Stone
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series
Judy Berman, TV Critic, TIME
Daniel D’Addario, Chief TV Critic, Variety
Daniel Fienberg, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Sponsors
The Premier Sponsor of the 2021 Gotham Awards is The New York Times and the Platinum Sponsor is GreenSlate. The Official Auto Partner is Cadillac, the Official Water Partner is FIJI Water, the Official Airline Partner is JetBlue, and the Official Wine Partner is Robert Hall Winery.
About the Gotham Film & Media Institute
The Gotham celebrates and nurtures independent film and media creators, providing career-building resources, access to industry influencers, and pathways to wider recognition. The organization, under the leadership of Executive Director and award-winning producer Jeffrey Sharp, fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Gotham Week, Gotham Labs, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gotham Awards, Gotham EDU, Owning It, and Expanding Communities.
About the Gotham Awards
The Gotham Awards, one of the leading honors for independent film and television, provides early acknowledgement to groundbreaking independent films and television series. Selected by distinguished juries and presented in New York City, the home of independent film, the Gotham Awards are the first honors of the film awards season. This public showcase honors the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that The Gotham Film & Media Institute does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.
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