Nominees Announced for 21st Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards
by Website Update on October 20, 2011
Monday, November 28th at Cipriani Wall Street
The Descendants and Martha Marcy May Marlene
Receive Three Nominations Each
Beginners and Take Shelter Both Receive Two Nominations
New York, NY (October 20, 2011) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards™. Signaling the kick-off to the film awards season, IFP’s Gotham Independent Film Awards™ nominations were given to a total of 24 films 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 YouÒ.
The Gotham Awards’ ceremony will be held on Monday, November 28th at Cipriani Wall Street. In addition to the competitive awards, Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, David Cronenberg and Tom Rothman will each be presented with a career tribute.
As the first major awards ceremony 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 WINTER’S BONE (2010), THE OATH (2010), THE HURT LOCKER (2009), FOOD, INC (2009), FROZEN RIVER (2008) and TROUBLE THE WATER (2008). 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 winners WINTER’S BONE (2010) and 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 21 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 high caliber of this year’s Gotham Awards nominees’ work is truly remarkable,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP. “This extraordinary group of filmmakers and talent, both established and new, are breaking barriers and finding fresh, innovative ways to engage audiences through unique storytelling. We’re passionate about shedding light on well deserved independent cinema and excited to begin what is sure to be a momentous awards season.”
The nominees for the 21st Annual Gotham Independent Film AwardsÔ are:
Best Feature
Beginners
Mike Mills, director; Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Miranda de Pencier, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, producers (Focus Features)
The Descendants
Alexander Payne, director; Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Meek’s Cutoff
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, producers (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Take Shelter
Jeff Nichols, director; Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick, director; Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best Documentary
Better This World
Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, directors; Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Mike Nicholson, producers (Loteria Films, Picturebox, Motto Pictures and Passion Pictures; ITVS in association with American Documentary | POV)
Bill Cunningham New York
Richard Press, director; Philip Gefter, producer (Zeitgeist Films)
Hell and Back Again
Danfung Dennis, director; Mike Lerner, Martin Herring, producers (Docurama Films)
The Interrupters
Steve James, director; Alex Kotlowitz, Steve James, producers (The Cinema Guild)
The Woodmans
C. Scott Willis, director; Neil Barrett, Jeff Werner, C. Scott Willis, producers (Lorber Films; Kino Lorber, Inc.)
Best Ensemble Performance
Beginners
Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos (Focus Features)
The Descendants
George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Margin Call
Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi (Roadside Attractions)
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Elizabeth Olsen, Christopher Abbott, Brady Corbet, Hugh Dancy, Maria Dizzia, Julia Garner, John Hawkes, Louisa Krause, Sarah Paulson (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Take Shelter
Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon, Lisagay Hamilton, Robert Longstreet (Sony Pictures Classics)
Breakthrough Director
Mike Cahill for Another Earth (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Sean Durkin for Martha Marcy May Marlene (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground (Sony Pictures Classics)
Evan Glodell for Bellflower (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Dee Rees for Pariah (Focus Features)
Breakthrough Actor
Felicity Jones in Like Crazy (Paramount Vantage)
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road (Motion Film Group)
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Jacob Wysocki in Terri (ATO Pictures)
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
Madeleine Olnek, director; Laura Terruso, Madeleine Olnek, producers
Green
Sophia Takal, director; Lawrence Michael Levine, producer
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion, directors and producers
Scenes of a Crime
Blue Hadaegh & Grover Babcock, directors and producers
Without
Mark Jackson, director; Mark Jackson, Jessica Dimmock, Michael Requa, Jaime Keeling, producers
New this year, IFP is proud present the inaugural euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumnus of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film.
The nominees are:
Jenny Deller, director, FUTURE WEATHER
Lucy Mulloy, director, UNA NOCHE
Rola Nashef, director, DETROIT UNLEADED
The 2nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award will be voted on again by the independent film community, 230,000 film fans worldwide. To be eligible, a U.S. film must have won an audience award at one of the top 50 U.S. or Canadian film festivals from November 2010 through October 2011. Voting begins today at http://gotham.ifp.org/audience_award. The nominees will be announced November 7th and the winner will be revealed at the Gotham Awards ceremony.
The recipient of the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouÒ award is determined by the editors of Filmmaker Magazine, a publication of IFP, and a curator from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). All of these nominees will also be screened for the public at MoMA from November 18 – 21.
The Premier Sponsors of the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ are Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and The New York Times, Presenting Sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein, Official Partners: Heineken USA; Russian Standard Vodka; charitybuzz; MoMA; Andaz Wall Street and Official Wine Partner Mionetto Prosecco. Additionally, the awards will be promoted nationally in an eight-page special advertising section in The New York Times on November 18th, 2011.
The Nominating Committees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ announced above are as follows:
Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Breakthrough Director:
Scott Foundas, Associate Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center; Contributing Editor, Film Comment
Ann Hornaday, Film Critic, The Washington Post
Andrew O’Hehir, Film Critic, Salon.com
Joshua Rothkopf, Senior Film Writer, DVD Editor, Time Out New York
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Film Critic, Entertainment Weekly
Nominating Committee for Best Ensemble Performance and Breakthrough Actor:
Peter Debruge, Senior Film Critic/Associate Features Editor, Variety
Karen Durbin, Film Critic, Elle Magazine
Dave Karger, Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly
Eric Kohn, Lead Film Critic, IndieWIRE
Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, Museum of Modern Art
Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Cynthia Fuchs, Film-TV Editor, PopMatters
Sean Farnel, Documentary Consultant
Tom Hall, Director of Programming, Sarasota Film Festival; Programmer, newportFILM
Mike Maggiore, Programmer and Publicist, Film Forum
Rachel Rosen, Artistic Director, San Francisco Film Society
Nominating Committee for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You:
Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film, Museum of Modern Art;
and members of the editorial staff of Filmmaker Magazine: Scott Macaulay (Editor-in-Chief), Jason Guerrasio, Brandon Harris, Ray Pride, Alicia Van Couvering
2011 Gotham Independent Film Awards™ – Alphabetical List of Nominated Films
Another Earth
Breakthrough Director
Beginners
Best Feature
Best Ensemble Performance
Bellflower
Breakthrough Director
Better This World
Best Documentary
Bill Cunningham New York
Best Documentary
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
The Descendants
Best Feature
Best Ensemble Performance
Breakthrough Actor
Green
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Gun Hill Road
Breakthrough Actor
Hell and Back Again
Best Documentary
Higher Ground
Breakthrough Director
The Interrupters
Best Documentary
Like Crazy
Breakthrough Actor
Margin Call
Best Ensemble Performance
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Ensemble Performance
Breakthrough Director
Breakthrough Actor
Meek’s Cutoff
Best Feature
Pariah
Breakthrough Director
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Scenes of a Crime
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Take Shelter
Best Feature
Best Ensemble Performance
Terri
Breakthrough Actor
The Tree of Life
Best Feature
Without
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
The Woodmans
Best Documentary
About Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP)
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is the nation’s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Since its debut at the 1979 New York Film Festival, IFP has supported the production of over 7,000 films and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, providing an opportunity for many diverse voices to be heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization championed the early work of pioneering independent filmmakers Charles Burnett, Todd Haynes, Mira Nair, Michael Moore, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kevin Smith, and Todd Solondz. IFP continues to play a vital role in launching first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Debra Granik (“Down to the Bone”), Miranda July (“Me, You and Everyone We Know”), and Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (“Half Nelson”).
IFP represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world and fosters the development of 350 feature and documentary films each year. Through its workshops, seminars, conferences, mentorships, and Filmmaker Magazine, IFP schools its members in the art, technology, and business of independent filmmaking. The year-round program includes Independent Film Week, Envision, The Cross-Media Forum, The Gotham Awards, and the Independent Filmmaker Labs. IFP’s programs promote diverse voices in independent film by working to include racial, ethnic, religious, ideological, gender and sexual diversity. IFP, often in collaboration with other cultural institutions, builds audiences by hosting premieres and special screenings.
For more information: www.ifp.org
About the Gotham Independent Film Awards™
The Gotham Independent Film Awards, selected by distinguished juries and presented in New York City, the home of independent film, 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 IFP does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.
For information on attending: http://gotham.ifp.org
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For additional information contact:
Marian Koltai-Levine – [email protected] – 212.373.6130
Freida Orange – [email protected] – 212.373.0114