THE BUZZ: December has not even begun and awards season is in full swing. And independent films are the first to be honored. The Gotham Awards were Monday and the nominees were announced for the Independent Spirit Awards
By James A. Molnar
TGK Editor
December has not even begun and awards season is in full swing. And independent films are the first to be honored.
Gotham Awards
Monday night, the irreverent, untelevised ceremony began with host Mike Birbiglia ("Sleepwalk with Me") serenading the attendees at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Then awards were given out for the 22nd Gotham Independent Film Awards.
Winners were announced in seven competitive categories with a total of 30 films nominated. Tributes were given to actors Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard, director David O. Russell and philanthropist Jeff Skoll (Participant Media).
Here are the winners:
Best Feature: "Moonrise Kingdom"
Best Documentary: "How to Survive a Plague"
Best Ensemble Performance: "Your Sister's Sister" (Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass)
Breakthrough Actor: Emayatzy Corinealdi, "Middle of Nowhere"
Breakthrough Director: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty"
Awarded with a theatrical release package that includes a one-week run at Cinema Village in New York City, advertising support in The New York Times and a cash award of $15,000 from The Royal Bank of Canada.
Film Audience Award: "Artifact"
"Live the Dream" Grant (spotlight on women filmmakers):
Stacie Passon for the upcoming film, "Concussion"
This is a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs.
Bingham Ray Award: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
New award this year, given to an emerging filmmaker.
The ceremony is put on annually by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers. The event was streamed on IFP's website.
Previous winners for Best Feature and Best Documentary include "Beginners" (2011), "The Tree of Life" (2011), "Better This World" (2011), "Winter's Bone" (2010), "The Oath" (2010), "The Hurt Locker" (2009) and "Food, Inc." (2009).
Spirit Awards
Tuesday morning at The W Hotel in Hollywood, actors Anna Kendrick, Zoe Saldana and Common announced the nominees for the 28th Film Independent Spirit Awards.
"Silver Linings Playbook" and "Moonrise Kingdom" led the field of nominees with the most nominations — five apiece — and both were nominated for Best Feature. "Keep the Lights On," "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Middle of Nowhere" each had four nominations.
"Keep the Lights On" and "Bernie" rounded out the five nominees for Best Feature.
Winners will be announced on Feb. 23, 2013, on the evening before the 85th Academy Awards.
Notably, "The Sessions" did not earn nominations for feature, director or screenplay.
One surprise among the nominees was Matthew McConaughey, nominated for "Killer Joe" in the Male Lead category and for "Magic Mike" in Supporting Male.
Fox Searchlight was the distributor with the most nominations, nine, for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Ruby Sparks, "Sound of My Voice" and "The Sessions."
The nominating committees selected nominees in 13 competitive categories from 299 submissions. They followed these set of guidelines in determining the nominations: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means (with particular attention paid to total production cost & individual compensation), and percentage of financing from independent sources.
Other awards include competitive categories for grants and recognition for excellence.
The committees are comprised of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, actors, critics, casting directors, festival programmers and other working film professionals.
Here are the nominations:
Best Feature (given to the producer)
Wes Anderson, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Julia Loktev, "The Loneliest Planet"
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ira Sachs, "Keep the Lights On"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Best Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Zoe Kazan, "Ruby Sparks"
Martin McDonagh, "Seven Psychopaths"
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ira Sachs, "Keep the Lights On"
Best First Feature (given to the director and producer)
Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void
Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank
Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever
Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby
John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for under $500,000; given to the writer, director, and producer)
Linda Cardellini, "Return"
Emayatzy Corinealdi, "Middle of Nowhere"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Mary Elizabeth, "Winstead Smashed"
Best Male Lead
Jack Black, "Bernie"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
John Hawkes, "The Sessions"
Thure Lindhardt, "Keep the Lights On"
Matthew McConaughey, "Killer Joe"
Wendell Pierce, "Four"
Best Supporting Female
Rosemarie DeWitt, "Your Sisterʼs Sister"
Ann Dowd, "Compliance"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Brit Marling, "Sound of My Voice"
Lorraine Toussaint, "Middle of Nowhere"
Best Supporting Male
Matthew McConaughey, "Magic Mike"
David Oyelowo, "Middle of Nowhere"
Michael Péna, "End of Watch"
Sam Rockwell, "Seven Psychopaths"
Bruce Willis, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Best Cinematography
Yoni Brook, "Valley of Saints"
Lol Crawley, "Here"
Ben Richardson, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Roman Vasyanov, "End of Watch"
Robert Yeoman, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Best Documentary (given to the director and producer)
Best International Film (given to the director)
"Amour" (France), Michael Haneke
"Once Upon A Time in Anatolia" (Turkey), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
"Rust And Bone" (France/Belgium), Jacques Audiard
"Sister" (Switzerland), Ursula Meier
"War Witch" (Democratic Republic of Congo), Kim Nguyen
16th Piaget Producers Award
Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
"Nobody Walks," Alicia Van Couvering
"Prince Avalanche," Derrick Tseng
"Stones in the Sun," Mynette Louie
19th Someone to Watch Award
Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
"Pincus," David Fenster
"Gimme the Loot," Adam Leon
"Electrick Children," Rebecca Thomas
Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award
Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
"Leviathan," Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
"The Waiting Room," Peter Nicks
"Only the Young," Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims
Robert Altman Award (given to one filmʼs director, casting director and its ensemble cast)
"Starlet"
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka
Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone
While neither the Gotham Awards nor the Spirit Awards directly impact the Oscars race, films and achievements being recognized and in the news cannot hurt.
Stay tuned to The Gold Knight Blog here, on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest on the buzz from the awards season.
TGK Editor
December has not even begun and awards season is in full swing. And independent films are the first to be honored.
Gotham Awards
Monday night, the irreverent, untelevised ceremony began with host Mike Birbiglia ("Sleepwalk with Me") serenading the attendees at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Then awards were given out for the 22nd Gotham Independent Film Awards.
Winners were announced in seven competitive categories with a total of 30 films nominated. Tributes were given to actors Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard, director David O. Russell and philanthropist Jeff Skoll (Participant Media).
Here are the winners:
Best Feature: "Moonrise Kingdom"
Best Documentary: "How to Survive a Plague"
Best Ensemble Performance: "Your Sister's Sister" (Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass)
Breakthrough Actor: Emayatzy Corinealdi, "Middle of Nowhere"
Breakthrough Director: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty"
Awarded with a theatrical release package that includes a one-week run at Cinema Village in New York City, advertising support in The New York Times and a cash award of $15,000 from The Royal Bank of Canada.
Film Audience Award: "Artifact"
"Live the Dream" Grant (spotlight on women filmmakers):
Stacie Passon for the upcoming film, "Concussion"
This is a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs.
Bingham Ray Award: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
New award this year, given to an emerging filmmaker.
The ceremony is put on annually by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers. The event was streamed on IFP's website.
Previous winners for Best Feature and Best Documentary include "Beginners" (2011), "The Tree of Life" (2011), "Better This World" (2011), "Winter's Bone" (2010), "The Oath" (2010), "The Hurt Locker" (2009) and "Food, Inc." (2009).
Spirit Awards
Tuesday morning at The W Hotel in Hollywood, actors Anna Kendrick, Zoe Saldana and Common announced the nominees for the 28th Film Independent Spirit Awards.
"Silver Linings Playbook" and "Moonrise Kingdom" led the field of nominees with the most nominations — five apiece — and both were nominated for Best Feature. "Keep the Lights On," "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Middle of Nowhere" each had four nominations.
"Keep the Lights On" and "Bernie" rounded out the five nominees for Best Feature.
Winners will be announced on Feb. 23, 2013, on the evening before the 85th Academy Awards.
Notably, "The Sessions" did not earn nominations for feature, director or screenplay.
One surprise among the nominees was Matthew McConaughey, nominated for "Killer Joe" in the Male Lead category and for "Magic Mike" in Supporting Male.
Fox Searchlight was the distributor with the most nominations, nine, for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Ruby Sparks, "Sound of My Voice" and "The Sessions."
The nominating committees selected nominees in 13 competitive categories from 299 submissions. They followed these set of guidelines in determining the nominations: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means (with particular attention paid to total production cost & individual compensation), and percentage of financing from independent sources.
Other awards include competitive categories for grants and recognition for excellence.
The committees are comprised of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, actors, critics, casting directors, festival programmers and other working film professionals.
Here are the nominations:
Best Feature (given to the producer)
- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
- Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey & Josh Penn
- "Bernie"
- Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams
- "Keep the Lights On"
- Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs
- "Moonrise Kingdom"
- Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin
- "Silver Linings Playbook"
- Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon
Wes Anderson, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Julia Loktev, "The Loneliest Planet"
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ira Sachs, "Keep the Lights On"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Best Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Zoe Kazan, "Ruby Sparks"
Martin McDonagh, "Seven Psychopaths"
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ira Sachs, "Keep the Lights On"
Best First Feature (given to the director and producer)
- "Fill the Void"
- Rama Burshtein, Assaf Amir
- "Gimme the Loot"
- Adam Leon, Dominic Buchanan, Natalie Difford, Jamund Washington
- "Safety Not Guaranteed"
- Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly, Stephanie Langhoff, Peter Saraf, Colin Trevorrow, Marc Turtletaub
- "Sound of My Voice"
- Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling, Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin
- "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
- Stephen Chbosky, Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith
Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void
Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank
Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever
Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby
John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for under $500,000; given to the writer, director, and producer)
- "Breakfast with Curtis"
- Laura Colella
- "Middle of Nowhere"
- Ava DuVernay, Howard Barish, Paul Garnes
- "Mosquita y Mari"
- Aurora Guerrero, Chad Burris
- "Starlet"
- Sean Baker, Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Francesca Silvestri
- "The Color Wheel"
- Alex Ross Perry, Carlen Altman
Linda Cardellini, "Return"
Emayatzy Corinealdi, "Middle of Nowhere"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Mary Elizabeth, "Winstead Smashed"
Best Male Lead
Jack Black, "Bernie"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
John Hawkes, "The Sessions"
Thure Lindhardt, "Keep the Lights On"
Matthew McConaughey, "Killer Joe"
Wendell Pierce, "Four"
Best Supporting Female
Rosemarie DeWitt, "Your Sisterʼs Sister"
Ann Dowd, "Compliance"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Brit Marling, "Sound of My Voice"
Lorraine Toussaint, "Middle of Nowhere"
Best Supporting Male
Matthew McConaughey, "Magic Mike"
David Oyelowo, "Middle of Nowhere"
Michael Péna, "End of Watch"
Sam Rockwell, "Seven Psychopaths"
Bruce Willis, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Best Cinematography
Yoni Brook, "Valley of Saints"
Lol Crawley, "Here"
Ben Richardson, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Roman Vasyanov, "End of Watch"
Robert Yeoman, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Best Documentary (given to the director and producer)
- "How to Survive a Plague
- David France, Howard Gertler
- "Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present"
- Matthew Akers, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre
- "The Central Park Five"
- Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
- "The Invisible War"
- Kirby Dick, Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering
- "The Waiting Room"
- Peter Nicks, Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch
Best International Film (given to the director)
"Amour" (France), Michael Haneke
"Once Upon A Time in Anatolia" (Turkey), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
"Rust And Bone" (France/Belgium), Jacques Audiard
"Sister" (Switzerland), Ursula Meier
"War Witch" (Democratic Republic of Congo), Kim Nguyen
16th Piaget Producers Award
Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
"Nobody Walks," Alicia Van Couvering
"Prince Avalanche," Derrick Tseng
"Stones in the Sun," Mynette Louie
19th Someone to Watch Award
Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
"Pincus," David Fenster
"Gimme the Loot," Adam Leon
"Electrick Children," Rebecca Thomas
Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award
Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
"Leviathan," Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
"The Waiting Room," Peter Nicks
"Only the Young," Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims
Robert Altman Award (given to one filmʼs director, casting director and its ensemble cast)
"Starlet"
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka
Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone
While neither the Gotham Awards nor the Spirit Awards directly impact the Oscars race, films and achievements being recognized and in the news cannot hurt.
Stay tuned to The Gold Knight Blog here, on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest on the buzz from the awards season.
COMMENTS