Gotham Awards

What Did The First Major Announcements Just Tell Us About Awards Season?

Peter Knegt — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 21:25:49 GMT

This week marked the more or less official start of 2015-16 awards season (even though it's arguably been going on since September): On Monday, the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards took place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, with "Spotlight," "Tangerine" and "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" winning the top prizes. The next afternoon, the National Board of Review announced their winners with "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Martian" and "Room" leading the pack. And then Wednesday, "Carol" swept the New York Film Critics Circle's awards, with "Spotlight," "Brooklyn" and "Bridge of Spies" also factoring in.

What do these winners collectively suggest for Oscar? Here's a rundown.

The Gothams

Last year, the Gothams provided unprecedented Oscar premonition. "Birdman" and "Citizenfour" kicked off their roads to best picture and best documentary Oscars at the Gothams, while Julianne Moore won her first of countless trophies (including an Oscar) for "Still Alice." While Gotham best actor winner Michael Keaton didn't end up winning an Oscar, he certainly came close.

This was a major change from the year before, when "Inside Llewyn Davis" won top honors over eventual Oscar winner "12 Years a Slave" and Brie Larson became one of the only women to beat Cate Blanchett's performance in "Blue Jasmine" when the Gothams gave her their first best actress award for "Short Term 12."

So will this year be more of the former or the latter? The reason it's so hard to tell is that unlike most other awards, the Gotham winners are picked by small committees of industry folks (John Waters and Shonda Rhimes were among the handful of folks who helped choose last night's winners). They also select those winners well before consensus forms in awards season, so there's not the same bias that seems to meet a lot of other winners circles.

Still, Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight" winning both best feature and best screenplay at last night's ceremony could very be indicative of both what a small committee preferred and what thousand member voting bodies will prefer come bigger ceremonies. That film already had the momentum of a frontrunner going into the Gotham Awards, and it's now been furthered.

"Spotlight" is thus probably more of a "Birdman" than a "Llewyn Davis," but it's important to remember that few people thought "Birdman" was actually going to win the best picture Oscar at this point last year and most expected "Llewyn Davis" to end up as a much more sizable Oscar threat at this point two years ago. Oscar hopefuls that came home empty-handed last night — like "Carol" and "Room," for example — should not assume this means anything for their Oscar chances. If "Spotlight" hadn't won last night, that really wouldn't have damaged its overall frontrunner status.

What will be more interesting is to see if the Gothams can use their growing clout to put a few of the less Oscar-friendly winners on the map. Sean Baker's "Tangerine" won the audience award and the breakthrough actor award for Mya Taylor, while Marielle Heller's "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" provided the night's biggest upset when its relatively unknown lead Bel Powley beat the collective likes of Cate Blanchett, Blythe Danner, Brie Larson, Lily Tomlin and Kristen Wiig. Neither film is expected to be in the ultimate Oscar conversation — but they sure both have higher profiles now.

The National Board of Review

The oldest critics' group — they've been around since 1909 — the NBR isn't actually made up entirely of critics. The membership is noted as a "select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics and students," which often makes for eclectic winners. Last year, the NBR rather boldly went with "A Most Violent Year" for best picture, and gave its stars Oscar Issac (who tied Michael Keaton for best actor) and Jessica Chastain awards as well. While "Year" didn't actually get any Oscar nominations, the other acting winners — Keaton, Julianne Moore and Edward Norton — all did.

However, "A Most Violent Year" was definitely an exception to a rule. In the past 25 years, it represents one of only three winners of the NBR's top prize to not go on to a best picture Oscar nomination (the others are "Gods and Monsters" and "Quills"). That bodes well for this year's rather surprising winner, George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road." Or does it?

"Mad Max" would mark a bold entry into the history of Oscar best picture winners. While it was met with critical acclaim and healthy box office (both important variables), apocalyptic franchise films released in the summer are generally not Oscar's cup of tea. But the NBR just gave the film a major helping hand in going against that grain.

The other winners at the NBR seem much more certain when it comes to Oscar. Directing winner Ridley Scott ("The Martian") and acting winners Matt Damon ("The Martian"), Brie Larson ("Room"), Jennifer Jason Leigh ("The Hateful Eight") and Sylvester Stallone ("Creed") all sit near the top of our current Oscar predictions in their respective categories. Here's the thing, though: Not since 1995 have the directing winner and all four acting winners at the NBR all gone on to Oscar nominations.

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Last year, NYFCC kicked off the critics' awards season support for Richard Linklater's "Boyhood," giving it best film, best director and best supporting actress (to eventual Oscar winner Patricia Arquette). The film went on to more-or-less sweep the critics' prizes, something that could very well end up being the case for Todd Haynes' "Carol," which won best film, best director, best screenplay and best cinematography with the NYFCC.

Haynes notably joined Martin Scorsese and Kathryn Bigelow in a very exclusive list of directors whose films have won best picture and best director in the same year twice at the NYFCC. Ten years ago, Haynes won both those prizes for "Far From Heaven." Except unlike both times for Marty and Kathryn, Haynes didn't go on to receive a best picture or best director nomination at the Oscars. There will certainly be pressure to make the outcome different this time, given that Haynes' films have never received a lot of Oscar attention ("Far From Heaven" and "I'm Not There" collectively got a handful of nominations, but not for best picture). If a few more major critics prizes (and the Golden Globes, for that matter) follow suit, "Carol" might be difficult for Academy voters to ignore.

The NYFCC spread out its acting prizes among a few expected and not-so-expected recipients: Saorise Ronan and Mark Rylance further cemented their Oscar nominations with support for their work in "Brooklyn" and "Bridge of Spies," while Michael Keaton did the same for "Spotlight" — just not the category most expected. The New York critics decided to give Keaton their best actor prize, even though he's being submitted in supporting (as is everyone in the "Spotlight" ensemble).

This is a running narrative so far this season, with category confusion also meeting Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara for "Carol" and Alicia Vikander for "The Danish Girl." But Keaton is unlikely to end up getting notices for lead actor at many other ceremonies, with this win probably doing more good than bad in propelling his chances to win the best supporting actor Oscar.

Finally, there's Kristen Stewart. Almost a year after she became the first American actress to win a Cesar Award for "Clouds of Sils Maria," the NYFCC gave her their best supporting actress prize (the film came out in the U.S. this year). Stewart remains a bit of a long shot to receive her first Oscar nomination for the film, but if the aforementioned Blanchett, Mara and Vikander all end up being considered for lead actress instead of supporting, the latter category is going to open up in a big way.

Will Stewart wind up a beneficiary of that? The NYFCC certainly just aided that suggestion.

For full updated charts of all our Oscar predictions in all the feature film categories go here, and check out more predictions from Anne Thompson.

Peter Knegt is Indiewire's Contributing Editor and awards columnist. Follow him on Twitter.

The Best Things Winners Helen Mirren, Todd Haynes, Paul Dano and More Said at the 2015 Gotham Awards

Zack Sharf and Emily Buder — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 18:20:55 GMT

READ MORE: 'Spotlight,' 'Tangerine' Win Big at 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards

As anyone sitting in the packed house at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City could tell you, the 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards was a resounding success. Oscar frontrunner "Spotlight" walked home with the most awards of the night — Best Screenplay, Ensemble Jury Prize and Best Feature — and its ensemble cast was gracious as ever. "To get to do a selfless, ego-subjugated performance is rare, but to get a group of actors to do it together is a frickin' miracle," said Mark Ruffalo. "This reflects back to the people we’re playing, really. They’re the great ensemble."

The Gothams also harbored some major surprises. Some of the year's most deserving underdog contenders took home awards, from Sean Baker's double award-winner "Tangerine" to Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy." The biggest shock of the night came when Bel Powley won the Best Actress award for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," which saw the young breakout beat out heavyweights and expected Oscar nominees like Cate Blanchett.

As IFP executive director Joana Vicente told Indiewire yesterday, "The mission of the Gotham Awards has always been to celebrate independent films and the creative community behind them," and her statements were certainly echoed by the eclectic selection. Making their way backstage into the press room following their victories, the winners took some time to talk to Indiewire about the roles, performances, screenplays and directing gigs that thrust them into the 2015-16 awards season spotlight. Below are all of the must-read highlights from the Gotham Awards winners' room.

Sean Baker ("Tangerine"): Breakthrough Actor award on behalf of Mya Taylor

It was a big night for "Tangerine." The microbudget indie shot on an iPhone 5s walked away with two big prizes: The Audience Award and the Breakthrough Actress prize for Mya Taylor. Unfortunately, Taylor missed her flight and was unable to accept her award, but director Sean Baker took the podium instead to thank both of his lead actresses. "They prove that there is trans talent out there; it's just up to us to look," he said to warm applause.

Backstage, Baker confessed he knew the minute he saw Taylor that she was destined for a breakthrough. "I saw her one morning from literally 35 feet away. We were doing the tour of the LGBT community and saw her standing there in the courtyard and I just knew instantly," he told Indiewire. "I knew right off the bat there was something about this woman. Mya has this aura about her that just radiates. She was commanding the conversation, and standing there she had this physicality about her that was striking and perfect. The minute I saw her I knew I had to talk with her. It was a little bit — you know, I wasn't sure at first when we approached her [if she'd do it], but she wanted to tackle the challenge. That was the spirit we needed on set."

Nadia Manzoor and Radhka Vaz: Breakthrough Series (Short Form)

"Our main goal with 'Shugs and Fats' was just to make people laugh," said Manzoor about her web series, which follows two Hijabis on a quest to reconcile their long-held cultural beliefs with a new life in Brooklyn. "We wanted people to walk away happier than when they came in, and I think laughter is the best way to do that. There was also a cultural thing at play, of course, and humor was a way to transcend whatever was particular with our lives into something more universal. There are people who are obviously not necessarily from our culture, but they recognize certain things through the humor; it lets them see that they have had the same experiences as us even though they don't wear the same clothes or practice the same religion. It's a relatability thing with comedy."

"We wanted to show characters that don't you typically see. We are human beings like you and everybody in this room," added Vaz. "We're just like everybody else and we feel the same and act the same."

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer ("Spotlight"): Best Screenplay

"Spotlight" confirmed its power-player status on the awards circuit by winning the Best Screenplay, Best Feature and Ensemble awards. Director Tom McCarthy was clearly relishing the moment, and he and co-writer Josh Singer spoke to Indiewire after their Best Screenplay win about the challenges of writing such a dense investigative story.

"It wasn't so much accumulating the information that was hard — because there were obviously a lot of interviews to be done and reading, which was actually interesting — but it was digesting all of that information and then trying to make some sort of coherent shape out of it," McCarthy said. "The challenge was deciding how we were going to break down everything we had researched. A lot of it was just staying true to the investigation and staying true to how each person contributed. We kept leaning into reality for this movie — that was our guiding principle. It was about trusting the reality, and not feeling like we had to manipulate it to make it work and be a movie. We gambled and put everything on black that if we trusted the reality of this investigation, it would pay off."

"Very early on, Tom was committed to authenticity and trying to make sure we had all the characters represented," added Singer. "In my head, I thought we'd narrow the story down to one or two protagonists because we were making a movie and that just seemed to make sense from a storytelling perspective, but he was very committed to making this an ensemble piece. We had six protagonists, and at first I was pretty nervous about that, but I think that's one of the strengths of the movie. To get it right we did different passes on the script focusing on each character. Each time we would do it from a different perspective — so, reading it through one time and going, 'Okay, what are we going to do to make sure Ben lands? Or Michael lands?'"

When asked what "Spotlight" could do to change the national conversation around serious journalism, McCarthy said, "We recognize how dire the industry is now and what position it's currently in, and hopefully this will inspire people not just to become great journalists but to figure out a new model, a model in which high-level investigative journalism can exist, not just in the big cities but in the local communities and towns. That's where we need good reporters to be, out there breaking what seem like small stories but then have massive effects."

Added Singer: "Marty Baron likes to say that the two biggest stories of the last 50 years — this one and Watergate — started as local stories. Watergate was two local reporters looking into a local break-in. That's where the real stories happen on a local level. Look at what happened at Penn State — that was a local reporter at a small paper."

Jonas Carpignano ("Mediterranea"): Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director

"The initial idea for making this story was just following the person (who is now my roommate)'s life. He's the person you see on screen. The resonance of it now is something we could've never expected. Even to this day, and even after winning something as amazing as this award, I still feel like all we did was make a movie about one specific microcosm of the European immigration experience, but people are reading their own situations and own life stories into it in these really profound ways. I didn't expect there to be this universality to the story, but screening it you realize everyone has some kind of story like this — of trying to find a home, a family, a sense of belonging," the filmmaker said.

"For us, it was never about contextualizing this character in our grand schemes. It's a very, very personal look about how immigrants see the world, but it keeps transcending the specifics of the socioeconomic situation that is presented. It's the human element that keeps it in the conversation, I think."

Helen Mirren: Actress Tribute Honoree

Dame Helen Mirren stole the show with her feisty acceptance speech, in which she proclaimed, "I have to tell you a story about fucking the queen. When I first dressed up for this role [as Queen Elizabeth II], my husband laughed at me because I was dressed like the Queen. I asked, 'Honey, will you ever fuck me again?' Let me tell you a secret: He has."

Speaking to Indiewire backstage, Mirren got a little more serious while reflecting on her career. "My time in this business is really due to a huge amount of luck. I'd like to believe I've always been inclined to make careful choices with the movies I've decided to make, the roles I've taken on, the actors and directors I've allowed myself to collaborate with. I've always made sure to go back to the theater every four or five years to keep myself fresh, which has definitely lent itself to the longevity of my career. But let me tell you, it really is luck. It's pure luck of the right role coming to me at the right time in my career and my age."

When asked what her favorite character has been over the years, she wasted no time finding an answer: "Queen Elizabeth I: She's an intelligent, powerful, complicated, flawed woman. She's fascinating. You don't see enough characters, female or male, like her in theater or film."

Robert Redford: Actors Tribute Honoree

"When success came, I wasn’t expecting it, but I liked it, and it felt good," Redford shared with the audience while accepting his honor. "But when you have success, you want to be careful. It has two sides. If you get too close, you run the risk of losing yourself. You need to hedge against taking yourself too seriously. For me, the weapon is humility. Once, after becoming famous, I was standing on a street corner in LA. A bunch of teenagers in a car drove by and yelled, 'Hey, Robert Redford!' I got excited they recognized me. Then they said, 'You're a total asshole!' That really put me in my place. Success is not something you embrace. It's something you shadow box with."

Todd Haynes: Directors Tribute Honoree

While accepting the Directors Tribute award, Haynes said, "Filmmaking is always interdependent, particularly under the banner of independence... Each new film still strips me down, knocks me around, and reminds me of who I am. That’s a regimen of creative life that I will never take for granted."

Backstage, the director elaborated: "Like I said in my speech, all and any success that I've found in this business has to do with the producers and critics and actors. Without them, I would have never survived this business, and with them I continue to learn something new every time I make a movie. I've never stopped learning something on each film, and that's important, especially when you've been doing this for quite awhile."

Bel Powley ("The Diary of a Teenage Girl"): Best Actress

You can't blame Bel Powley for her nervous giggles and star-struck gaze after winning the Best Actress prize; not only did she beat the expected winners, Cate Blanchett and Brie Larson, but, as she told press, the Gothams was her first real awards experience. "I did not expect this. I mean — Cate Blanchett, Lily Tomlin — I mean, it feels like a real pleasure to be here," she said.

Speaking more to what she loved about her breakthrough character, she said, "Everything about this character resonated with me. It was the first real portrayal of a teenage girl I ever read, and that goes for anything I had ever read — articles, movies, plays. It was a story that needed to be told and I just wanted to be a part of that."

She went on to cite Andrew Haigh's "45 Years" as her favorite film of the year. "'45 Years' is an amazing love story told from a perspective that we don't see in movies," she said. "[Like 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl'] it's a little bit controversial and not mainstream. It's very important for me to take on these kinds of roles — not that they have to be controversial, but they have to be honest and real. That's what 'Diary' is."

Paul Dano ("Love & Mercy"): Best Actor

Paul Dano may be fighting for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars, but the Gothams threw him a major bone with their lauded Best Actor prize for his riveting turn as a young Brian Wilson in "Love & Mercy." Speaking to the pressures of playing such a beloved real-life icon, Dano told Indiewire, "I think you have to relieve yourself of the fact that he is a real person in some ways. Brian is such an open and raw and honest person that the last thing I wanted to do was approach it as means of mimicry. I actually stayed away at first from a lot of video and photos and just listened to the music to get in touch with something else first, and then slowly build the character from there. It's a very mysterious, weird thing, so a lot of times you're just poking around in the dark trying to find what's true."

"What really interested me about the role was this sort of seesaw of creative joy and really intense, internal struggle," he continued. "How those things coexist and how you can have such a hard time but make such beautiful music really stood out to me. There's something about how it's so painful to watch this character not receive the love and mercy he deserves until much later in life that just is powerful. When I was reading the script and exploring the character I remember thinking that I wish I could've just jumped back in time to help him."

READ MORE: Who Comes Out Ahead at the Gotham Awards (UPDATED)

Tangerine, Jonas Carpignano, Chanelle Aponte Pearson Are 25th Gotham Awards Winners

Tambay A. Obenson — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:13:36 GMT

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) presented its 25th Anniversary IFP Gotham Awards in New York City. The ten competitive awards to be presented include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Breakthrough Actor, the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award, the Gotham Audience Award, Breakthrough Series – Long Form, and Breakthrough Series – Short Form.

In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes were given to actors Helen Mirren and Robert Redford, director Todd Haynes, and producer Steve Golin.

As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Awards provide some critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films.

Of note, given this blog's specific interests, Jonas Carpignano won the Breakthrough director award for his unflinching immigrant struggles tale, "Mediterranea"; Mya Taylor won the Breakthrough Actor trophy for her performance in the luminous "Tangerine"; the Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Directors "Live the Dream" grant went to Chanelle Aponte Pearson; and the Audience Award went to "Tangerine."

Congratulations to all the winners!

By the way, "Tangerine" becomes available on Netflix streaming tomorrow, December 2.

The full list of awards follows below:

Best feature: Spotlight

Best documentary: The Look of Silence

Breakthrough director: Jonas Carpignano (Mediterranea)

Best screenplay: Spotlight

Best actor: Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)

Best actress: Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Breakthrough actor: Mya Taylor in (Tangerine)

Special jury award: Spotlight for ensemble acting

Breakthrough TV series – long form: Mr Robot

Breakthrough TV series – short form: Shugs and Fats

'Spotlight' Takes Top Honors At Gotham Awards

Kevin Jagernauth — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 06:32:52 GMT

Prognosticators will spend the night trying to figure out how this affects (or doesn't) the Oscar nominations come January, but it's safe to say that "Spotlight" is still very much in the race.

Tom McCarthy's true-story journalism tale walked away at the Gotham Awards with the night's big prizes, taking Best Feature and Best Screenplay, along with an honorary award for the ensemble performance for the cast. How this translates into Academy nods remains to be seen, but with the race still very much wide open, this is a strong boost for the film as it heads into a very competitive December. But perhaps the biggest surprise of all is Bel Powley beating both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in the Best Actress category for her turn in "The Diary Of A Teenage Girl."

Check out the full list of winners below.

Best Feature
"Carol"
"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
"Heaven Knows What"
"Spotlight"
"Tangerine"

Best Actor
Christopher Abbott, "James White"
Kevin Corrigan, "Results"
Paul Dano, "Love & Mercy"
Peter Sarsgaard, "Experimenter"
Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Blythe Danner, "I’ll See You in My Dreams"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Bel Powley, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
Lily Tomlin, "Grandma"
Kristen Wiig, "Welcome to Me"

Breakthrough Actor
Rory Culkin, "Gabriel"
Arielle Holmes, "Heaven Knows What"
Lola Kirke, "Mistress America"
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, "Tangerine"
Mya Taylor, "Tangerine"

Breakthrough Director
Desiree Akhavan, "Appropriate Behavior"
Jonas Carpigano, "Mediterranea"
Marielle Heller, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
John Magary, "The Mend"
Josh Mond, "James White"

Best Screenplay
"Carol, Phyllis Nagy
"The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller
"Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner
"Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer
"While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach

Best Documentary
"Approaching the Elephant"
"Cartel Land"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Listen to Me Marlon"
"The Look of Silence"

Audience Award
"Tangerine"

The First Gotham Appreciation Award
Ellen Cotter of Angelika Film Center Theaters

Breakthrough Series – Long Form
"Mr. Robot"

Breakthrough Series – Short Form
"Shugs & Fats"

Who Comes Out Ahead at the Gotham Awards (UPDATED)

Anne Thompson — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 01:29:46 GMT

The Gotham Awards' 2015 tributes include "Carol" director Todd Haynes, producers Steve Golin and actors Helen Mirren and Robert Redford. This year's nominees, led by "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" with five nominations, include lauded indie features "Heaven Knows What," "Room," "Spotlight" and "Tangerine," which scored the Audience Award as well as the breakthrough actor award for transgender actress Mya Taylor.

"Spotlight" picked up best feature as well as the ensemble acting award and best screenplay. This gives the film a nice push as it builds momentum through awards season. Open Road and the filmmakers are stressing the real Boston Globe reporters and editors who inspired the movie. "To get one actor to do one ego-subjugating performance is rare, but to get a whole bunch of actors together to do it is a miracle," said Mark Ruffalo. "It's the people we were playing who were selfless... No man is an island and these people proved it."

The jury selected UK breakout Bel Powley for Best Actress for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" over Oscar favorite Brie Larson ("Room"). Best Actor winer Paul Dano gains ground in his bid for a supporting actor nod for "Love & Mercy."

The doc winner, genocide-exposer Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Look of Silence," a follow-up to Oscar-nominated "The Act of Killing," is going to continue to get attention going forward in a crowded field of contenders.

Here are the nominees for the 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards, with updated winners marked in bold.

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
"Spotlight," for Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James

Audience Award
"Tangerine"

Best Feature

"Carol"

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

"Heaven Knows What"

"Spotlight"

"Tangerine"

Best Documentary

"Approaching the Elephant"

"Cartel Land"

"Heart of a Dog"

"Listen to Me Marlon"

"The Look of Silence"

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director

Desiree Akhavan for "Appropriate Behavior"

Jonas Carpigano for "Mediterranea"

Marielle Heller for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

John Magary for "The Mend"

Josh Mond for "James White"

Best Screenplay

"Carol," Phyllis Nagy

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller

"Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner

"Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer

"While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach

Best Actor

Christopher Abbott in "James White"

Kevin Corrigan in "Results"

Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy"

Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter"

Michael Shannon in "99 Homes"

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett in "Carol"

Blythe Danner in "I’ll See You in My Dreams"

Brie Larson in "Room"

Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Lily Tomlin in "Grandma"

Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me"

Breakthrough Actor

Rory Culkin in "Gabriel"

Arielle Holmes in "Heaven Knows What"

Lola Kirke in "Mistress America"

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in "Tangerine"

Mya Taylor in "Tangerine"

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

"Jane the Virgin," Jennie Snyder Urman, Creator (The CW)

"Mr. Robot," Sam Esmail, Creator (USA Network)

"Transparent," Jill Soloway, Creator (Amazon)

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Creators (Netflix)

"UnREAL," Marti Noxon, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Creators (Lifetime)

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

"Bee and PuppyCat," Natasha Alllegri, Creator (Cartoon Hangover)

"The Impossibilities," Anna Kerrigan, Creator (seriesofimpossibilities.com)

"Qraftish, Christal," Creator (Blackgirldangerous.com)

"Shugs and Fats," Nadia Manzoor and Radhka Vaz, Creator (ShugsandFats.TV)

"You’re So Talented," Sam Bailey, Creator (Open TV)

'Spotlight,' 'Tangerine' Win Big at 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards

Zack Sharf — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:25:56 GMT

The 2015-16 awards season picks up steam tonight with the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Hosted by "Broad City" duo Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, the event kicks off at 8pm ET / 5pm PT at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Watch the red carpet pre-show and the entire ceremony via live stream courtesy of Filmmaker Magazine.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Gotham Awards have introduced three brand new categories this year: Best Screenplay, Breakthrough Series - Long Form and Breakthrough Series Short Form. Additionally, the 2015 Directors Tribute will honor "Carol" director Todd Haynes, while Helen Mirren and Robert Redford will receive the Actress and Actor Tributes, respectively. This year's nominees are led by "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," which boasts a total of 5 nominations, and include Oscar favorites such as "Room" and Spotlight," as well as underdog contenders like "Tangerine" and "Heaven Knows What."

Below are all of the nominees for the 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards. Check back through the night for an updated list of winners.

Breakthrough Actor

Rory Culkin in "Gabriel"

Arielle Holmes in "Heaven Knows What"

Lola Kirke in "Mistress America"

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in "Tangerine"

Mya Taylor in "Tangerine" - WINNER

Best Screenplay

"Carol," Phyllis Nagy

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller

"Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner

"Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer - WINNER

"While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

"Bee and PuppyCat," Natasha Alllegri, Creator (Cartoon Hangover)

"The Impossibilities," Anna Kerrigan, Creator (seriesofimpossibilities.com)

"Qraftish, Christal," Creator (Blackgirldangerous.com)

"Shugs and Fats," Nadia Manzoor and Radhka Vaz, Creator (ShugsandFats.TV) - WINNER

"You’re So Talented," Sam Bailey, Creator (Open TV)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director

Desiree Akhavan for "Appropriate Behavior"

Jonas Carpigano for "Mediterranea" - WINNER

Marielle Heller for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

John Magary for "The Mend"

Josh Mond for "James White"

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James for their ensemble work in "Spotlight"

2015 Audience Award
"Tangerine"

Best Documentary

"Approaching the Elephant"

"Cartel Land"

"Heart of a Dog"

"Listen to Me Marlon"

"The Look of Silence" - WINNER

Best Actor

Christopher Abbott in "James White"

Kevin Corrigan in "Results"

Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy" - WINNER

Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter"

Michael Shannon in "99 Homes"

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

"Jane the Virgin," Jennie Snyder Urman, Creator (The CW)

"Mr. Robot," Sam Esmail, Creator (USA Network) - WINNER

"Transparent," Jill Soloway, Creator (Amazon)

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Creators (Netflix)

"UnREAL," Marti Noxon, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Creators (Lifetime)

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett in "Carol"

Blythe Danner in "I’ll See You in My Dreams"

Brie Larson in "Room"

Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" - WINNER

Lily Tomlin in "Grandma"

Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me"

Best Feature

"Carol"

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

"Heaven Knows What"

"Spotlight" - WINNER

"Tangerine"

As the Gotham Awards Turn 25, Here's How the Indie Landscape Has Changed

Eric Kohn — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 18:46:13 GMT

READ MORE: 7 Surprises from the 2015 Gotham Awards Nominations

This week, the Gotham Awards won't only further the awards race with the first big ceremony of the season. The IFP-run New York event also celebrates its 25th year, a major landmark for the non-profit that stretches back to a dramatically different period in the history of American independent film.

For current IFP executive director Joana Vicente, the Gothams continue to embody much of their original ethos even as the scope has widened from its initial focus on New York film personalities. "The mission of the Gotham Awards has always been to celebrate independent films and the creative community behind them, and to especially highlight young and emerging talent of each year," she said, noting that the "breakthrough director" award has been there since the beginning. Now, the Gothams have added a "breakthrough series" award for television and digital media.

While the event is IFP's main annual fundraiser, Vicente stressed its additional value. "It's also important for us that the awards themselves be seen as credible and are a good representation of what is really a quite diverse and exciting landscape of work," she said. "In an ever-shrinking window of 'awards season,' the fact that we are positioned right at the beginning also helps to broaden the overall conversation to include a diversity of work."

Back in 1991, however, IFP faced a whole different set of challenges. Indiewire spoke with producer and Duopoly president Catherine Tait, IFP's executive director when the Gothams were initially conceived, about those first few years and how the community has evolved since then.

What were some of the initial impulses behind the creation of the Gotham Awards?

I had just joined IFP as executive director, and we determined the organization was in — I don't want to call it a fragile state, but let's say precarious. It was financially under stress. We thought we needed a fundraising event. That was where it actually started, and the original committee of people who came together to figure out the mandate beyond raising money was under a lot of pressure to try to do something that would celebrate the uniqueness of independent filmmaking in New York, which is why we called them the Gotham Awards, by the way. It was the notion that this was very much about New York City.

What was your sense of the awards season climate at that time?

John Sloss, Karol Martesko and a bunch of others who were involved in those early discussions were very much trying not to compete with other big award events, most importantly the Spirit Awards, because that was our sister organization in those days. They were the IFP West and we were IFP in New York, so we wanted to be respectable of their mandate and what they were doing in the award space. I don't want to say that we were the anti-Spirit Awards, but we were the counter-Spirit Awards. Our event was not going to be a Hollywood event. It was going to be an event where New Yorkers could come together and celebrate what it is to be uniquely independent in this community. The reason I emphasize all of that is those elements that were at the founding of the event are less evident today. That's not meant as a criticism. It's just to say that the event has grown in terms of reach and in terms of aspirations from what it was. It was for insiders: People from New York talking to other New Yorkers.

How would you describe the needs of the indie film community at that time?

Maybe this was far too elitist, but basically, the belief was that people were making independent films not because they wanted to end up in Hollywood; they were making independent films because it had to do with our cultural community and a legacy of what it is to make art — not just film art, but art in general in New York City. So it was a way to bolster and to support a community that was struggling then, and continues to struggle today, vis-à-vis Hollywood. If you want to be a filmmaker, most people were saying, "Head to L.A." What we were saying is we want you to support a driving, rich, cultural filmmaking community here in New York City.

That doesn't sound elitist so much as practical.

I was around for the first six Gotham Awards, and we had very, very strict rules. You had to be from New York. You had to be a resident of New York. And then, of course, as time went on we got practical: "Well, how strong was his ties or her ties to New York?" Was Richard Linklater a New York filmmaker? Well, no, he's not. He's from Texas. But he represented the spirit of what it was we were trying to do. So it was things like that.

How did the first year go?

I'm embarrassed to say that I can't actually remember where we held the first one. It was in a supper club in midtown that no longer exists. It held no more than 375 people, maybe 400. There were two tiers of tables, and Charles Grodin was the host. That was a very typical Gotham Awards' selection. We wanted a New Yorker who would get what it was that we were trying to do even though he was in TV and made those "Beethoven" movies and he was a Hollywood person. He had those links. He lived in New York. John Turturro was honored for his body of work. We didn't want to look at single films. We looked at bodies of work. There were no winners.

In addition to Turturro, you also honored Jonathan Demme, Ernest Dickerson and Michael Hausman that year. Jenny Livingston got a breakthrough director award for "Paris is Burning." How did you settle on that bunch?

The idea was that these were intimate events where everyone kind of new each other or they at least had six degrees of separation. There was a committee. There was no vote. We selected the people and had lively discussions about why we thought somebody was deserving or not. For us, it was so obvious to give an award to Ernest Dickerson. He totally represented everything that we wanted to celebrate in New York. It was a very small, community-based exercise. And I don't think we made any big mistakes in those early years in terms of honoring people.

We always had one person from a craft — one person from writing, one person from directing, one business person and then one breakthrough artist. I think everybody in the room felt like, "Oh, yes, Thelma Schoonmaker, of course." Or whoever it was. When we gave the award to Tom Kalin [for "Swoon"], everyone went, "Of course. What a great film."

In some ways it takes away that element of prognostication that dominates awards season. You were just curating some of the highlights of your world.

That was the point. It was the idea of curating the best of what we considered to be a truly independent, creative spirit in that craft or whatever domain or discipline the person was in.

How do you feel about the Gothams now? The shift is dramatic, since it now contains more traditional categories, and also honors television.

Well, I recognize that it was pragmatic. They had to remain relevant. I mean, the whole world has changed. We're talking 25 years. That makes me very old. I noticed in this year's awards they have a category for web series ["Breakthrough Series — Short Form"]. The world has changed. If I were running the IFP today, I probably would be doing the same thing. I'd be doing the whole thing on the Internet. Making feature films almost feels like an anachronism to me. It's an extremely difficult undertaking. It was always difficult, and now it just feels monumentally difficult. So maybe the Gothams are more relevant.

You're saying that since the challenge is greater, the celebration has more value.

Quite frankly, it's not just about making the movies, it's getting people to watch them. That, to me, is the big missing piece in the equation. However hard it was to get screen time with these films back in the nineties, the reality is we had more arthouse films and more arthouse distributors. There was a feeling that you could break through with a film. I remember IFP markets where we had Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" one year and Kevin Smith's "Clerks" one year and it just felt like we were part of something that was big and important. I just don't feel that in the independent feature world to the same extent. That's all happening on YouTube now. The discourse has shifted to a different platform and different tools. The actual making of an independent feature film that's 90 minutes in length is like a violin concerto.

So what do you see as the challenge facing content creators today?

I hope that they're able to translate what the spirit of independent filmmaking was to this new platform. But I'm not sure PewDiePie is thinking everyday, "How am I an independent spirit?" But surely he is. Right?

How would you characterize it?

In the fact that he just turns the camera on himself. But it's a very different thing. Part of what we did with the Gothams was that we were very mindful of the collective nature of filmmaking, which was why we always honored a craftsperson. I remember when we had David Cronenberg giving the prize to [composer] Howard Shore. These were big moments.

What are some others that stand out in your memory?

There are a handful. I will only talk about the ones where I was involved, the first six. I'll mention some of the more touching moments over exciting moments. One would be when Michael Moore called upon Sam Cohn to give his moth-bitten cashmere sweater up to be auctioned, and that created a great brouhaha because everybody knew that Sam Cohn always wore the same baby blue cashmere sweater. So that was very insider. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was actually a big deal. He tore his sweater off and this guy from Fox bought it. It created a sort of buzz in the room. That was the year Ted Turner came to give the award to Bob Shaye from New Line Cinema. We had Absolut Vodka as a sponsor so they had shot glasses with everybody's names on them and they were all doing shots.

Madonna was also there and she gave the award to Abel Ferrara. It was a really, really interesting night. That was probably the most star-studded one. We had Christopher Walken and Harvey Keitel and Scorsese all there that night. It really felt like New York's very, very best.

What stands out to you about the ongoing lifespan of this awards show?

It's a tribute to the longevity and legacy of this community that the Gothams are still there. It's a wonderful thing that the baton has been passed on. I would like to see more of those trailblazers — people like John Sayles and Scorsese and Tarantino. All of those people that were so key. I worry sometimes: Where's the next generation of that kind of expression? Even Steven Soderbergh says he's not making feature films anymore. Instead, he's making "The Knick." Maybe that's just the way it is. Maybe this form of art has seen its day, but that worries me a little bit. So it's good that the Gothams are still there and that they remain relevant to this day to a community of artists who are expressing themselves. If people are going to do that in webseries or YouTube or, god, virtual reality, I'm all for it. Maybe it's not necessary to hang onto some old art form.

READ MORE: 'Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads 25th Gotham Awards Nominees

Gotham Awards Announce Presenters, Including Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore and Michael Shannon

Kate Erbland — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 20:01:18 GMT

READ MORE: 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) has just announced the presenters for its 25th Anniversary IFP Gotham Awards. Presenters will include Glenn Close, Topher Grace, Mariska Hargitay, Robert De Niro, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Harvey Keitel, Cynthia Nixon, Julianne Moore, Sarah Paulson, Rosie Perez, Dan Rather, Michael Shannon (who is nominated for Best Actor for "99 Homes") and Julie Taymor. Close, De Niro, Iñárritu, Keitel and Moore were past Tribute honorees at previous ceremonies.

This year, the ceremony will give out 10 competitive awards, including Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress (presenting sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein), Best Screenplay, Breakthrough Actor, the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award, the Gotham Audience Award, Breakthrough Series - Long Form and Breakthrough Series - Short Form.

In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will also be given to Helen Mirren, Robert Redford, Todd Haynes and Steve Golin.

IFP also revealed a list of expected guests, including Blythe Danner, Paul Dano, Paul Haggis, Gaby Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Courtney Hunt, Jennie Livingston, Brie Larson, Melanie Lynksey, Rami Malek, Rachel McAdams, Josh Mond, Jason Ritter, Emmy Rossum, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Slater, Tanya Wexler and Kristen Wiig.

The 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards will take place November 30 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

READ MORE: 7 Surprises From the 2015 Gotham Award Nominations

Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson to Host 25th Annual Gotham Awards

Zack Sharf — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:00:00 GMT

READ MORE: 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

The Independent Filmmaker Project has announced that "Broad City" creators and stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson will host the 25th Annual IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards. The news marks the latest attempt by IFP to highlight television after announcing the nominees for Breakthrough Series in both Long Form and Short Form categories last week.

"We’re excited to include Ilana and Abbi in the 25th anniversary Gotham Awards celebrations," said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center by IFP. "As huge fans of 'Broad City,' we can’t wait to ring in 25 years of the Gothams with these funny ladies at the helm, and know their local flavor will be a unique addition to this year’s show."

"We couldn't be more excited about hosting the Gotham Awards and are humbled to be invited by IFP," added Glazer and Jacobson simultaneously.

The duo is currently in post-production on the third season of "Broad City," which will premiere on Comedy Central in February. The Gotham Awards will take place on November 30 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

READ MORE: 'Mr. Robot,' 'Transparent' Lead Gotham Awards' Breakthrough Series Nominees

'Mr. Robot,' 'Transparent' Lead Gotham Awards' Breakthrough Series Nominees

Zack Sharf — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 19:00:00 GMT

READ MORE: 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) has announced the Breakthrough Series nominees for the 25th Annual IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards, which will take place November 30 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

This year marks the first time the Gotham Awards have honored television, and two awards will be given to long-form and short-form series that expand the possibilities of creative, independent storytelling. 10 series have received nominations, with five nominees in each category. The award honors series that premiered within the timeframe of September 1, 2014 - August 30, 2015 and were chosen by juries that included Indiewire's TV Editor Liz Shannon Miller, The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman and more.

The 2015 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award Breakthrough Series nominations are:

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

"Jane the Virgin," Jennie Snyder Urman, Creator (The CW)

"Mr. Robot," Sam Esmail, Creator (USA Network)

"Transparent," Jill Soloway, Creator (Amazon)

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Creators (Netflix)

"UnREAL," Marti Noxon, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Creators (Lifetime)

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

"Bee and PuppyCat," Natasha Alllegri, Creator (Cartoon Hangover)

"The Impossibilities," Anna Kerrigan, Creator (seriesofimpossibilities.com)

"Qraftish, Christal," Creator (Blackgirldangerous.com)

"Shugs and Fats," Nadia Manzoor and Radhka Vaz, Creator (ShugsandFats.TV)

"You’re So Talented," Sam Bailey, Creator (Open TV)

READ MORE: 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards Announces Two Brand New Categories

Screen Talk: Who's Losing Momentum in Oscar Race

Anne Thompson — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 19:23:55 GMT

With the meat of the fall festival season—and the Gotham Awards nominations—now in the rearview mirror, Eric Kohn and I discuss what the Gotham field can and cannot tell us about the awards race, as well as which films seem to be losing steam. Can they maintain momentum through the new year?

READ MORE: "'Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads Gotham Awards Nominations; 'Carol,' 'Tangerine' Close Behind"

While "Carol" and "Spotlight" remain strong, and "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" and "Love & Mercy" now have an opportunity to move up in voters' screener piles, Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford vehicle "Truth" and Whitey Bulger biopic "Black Mass," with Johnny Depp, may be falling behind.

Why Movie Awards Shouldn't Predict the Oscars

Sam Adams — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 18:46:10 GMT

According to their website, the annual Gotham Awards "honors the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that [the Independent Filmmaker Project] does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition" — all good things, right? This year's nominations were led by "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," whose emphatically non-Hollywood depiction of a young woman's sexuality is in and of itself a solid justification for the continued existence of independent film

But for some Oscar pundits, awards have only one function: to point the way towards who might step onto the stage of the Dolby Theatre on February 28, 2016. "Gotham Awards: Noms Offer No Real Clues About Oscar Potential," tut-tutted an article by Scott Feinberg in the Hollywood Reporter, which he characterized as "my annual post cautioning people about reading too much into the meaning of this announcement." (This, then, is my annual post objecting to that idea.)

"It would be nice if I could tell you that... this morning's nominations offer us some clues about the Oscar race," Feinberg wrote, "[b]ut the reality is that those noms do not offer Oscar clues because Gotham noms (a) are a reflection of nothing more than the tastes of four five-person committees comprised of 'writers, critics and programmers,' and (b) there is no coordination between these committees, resulting in noms that seem to suggest conflicting things."

The scare quotes around "writers, critics and programmers" say it all: Although the eventual winners are chosen by filmmakers, the involvement of such tastemakers as Indiewire's Eric Kohn, Entertainment Weekly's Mark Harris and Rolling Stone's David Ehrlich evidently renders them invalid. (Disclosure: I have served on nominating committees for the Gotham Awards twice, an unpaid honor which involves watching a boatload of screeners, a congenial conference call, and a single ticket to the awards dinner.) You can practically see the eyeroll emoji as Feinberg runs down the list of nominees: "'Carol' (a New York-set movie), 'Tangerine' (a film shot solely on iPhones) and 'Heaven Knows What '(a movie with almost no profile prior to today)." In his final paragraph, Feinberg does concede that the Gothams "serve several important purposes," notwithstanding their "oddities and eccentricities," but even there he can't resist a final dig at Josh and Benny Safdie's raw-nerve depiction of drug addiction: "Who had even heard of 'Heaven Knows What' before today?"

The answer to that final question is "Quite a few people," even if none of them are Oscar pundits: The movie has 784 ratings on Letterboxed and nearly a thousand on IMDb — not blockbuster numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but more than some of the movies whose absence from the Gothams shortlist Feinberg laments. More to the point: So what? Isn't the point of awards to bring attention to movies that otherwise wouldn't get it? Rather than paving the way to the Oscars, which a near-infinite number of precursor awards do already, shouldn't the Gothams — and the Spirits, and the awards given out by critics groups — zig where the others zag? If they don't, and their only purpose is to sit in the fine print under the eventual Oscar winner's name, why bother having them at all? (To be fair, some critics organizations are ambivalent about this as well: As they do every year, the New York Film Critics Circle sent out a press release reminding us that "The Circle's awards are often seen as shaping the Oscar race. The Circle's awards are also viewed — perhaps more accurately — as a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring aesthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures." Pick a side.)

It's not just Feinberg, of course. The idea that awards have meaning only insofar as they serve as accurate Oscar bellwethers is not unusual. In an article about Cary Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation," Awards Daily's Sasha Stone lamented that "no lone critic has yet written the kind of review for Fukunaga’s ambitious labor of love that helps justify the need for film critics at all," the implication being that if film criticism has any purpose at all — a proposition of which Stone is deeply skeptical — it's to provide awards heat for movies that she thinks merit it. (I won't make any grand claims for the significance of film criticism, but I would venture that it at worst is no less important than covering the Oscar race.) There's no practical reason why more idiosyncratic awards and the Oscar clones can't exist. But as In Contention's Kristopher Tapley documented in January, when the National Society of Film Critics' chose Jean-Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language" as Best Picture, some awards followers seem to be offended by the very notion that any movie not on their predetermined list of worthy awards candidates might be honored.

You can make a pretty solid argument that none of these things — awards, predictions, film criticism — matter at all, and not just because in a hundred years we'll all be dead. It's the movies, the good ones at least, that matter. Even an Academy Award provides only a mild spike in a movie's box-office take, and their record of furthering the winners' ongoing careers is likewise patchy. Other awards mean less, although at least some of the Gothams winners get a nice fat check. But they mean something, and if they inspire a few more people to see "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" — or even "Heaven Knows What" — then it's a job well-enough done.

PODCAST: Who's Losing Steam in Oscar Season?

Indiewire — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 14:36:10 GMT

This week's episode of Screen Talk is presented by Vimeo. Head here to check out movies you can rent on Vimeo selected by Indiewire's Eric Kohn, including "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief," which you can watch at a 20% discount using the promo code "eric20."

READ MORE: Which of These Best Picture Contenders Has the Upper Hand?

There are still several months to go before the Oscar nominations arrive. However, with yesterday's arrival of the nominations for the Gotham Independent Film Awards, the season is in full swing. As Screen Talk co-host Eric Kohn served on the selection committee for several categories, in this week's episode, he shares some insight into the results; meanwhile, Anne Thompson examines whether or not the outcome could actually change anything about the Oscar race.

More specifically: Who isn't gaining traction? The duo look at a couple of contenders already in theaters, some of which seem to be doing better than others.

Plus, Kohn finally saw "Straight Outta Compton"!

Listen to the full episode above.

Screen Talk is available on iTunes. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter or sound off in the comments. Browse previous installments here, review the show on iTunes and be sure to let us know if you'd like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of Indiewire's podcasts here.

If you want to sell your film or series on Vimeo On Demand, all you need is a Vimeo Pro account. Go to vimeo.com/startselling and use promo code "eric20" for 20% off Vimeo PRO and start selling.

How Gotham Nominations Impact Oscar Race

Anne Thompson — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 17:56:58 GMT

From the Gothams to the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and Oscars? That's how the Gotham jury's ensemble award for "Spotlight" (November 6) could play out. Critics already love this acting tour-de-force; moviegoers and awards voters are sure to follow. The cast has opted to campaign in supporting categories for the Oscars (and there are no supporting categories at the Gothams). "Spotlight" got the biggest boost from the Gotham nominations (full list here), also scoring Best Feature and Screenplay nominations.

Who else came out ahead, and will there be Oscar overlap? Not that much. Gotham winners could build momentum in certain races when they are announced on November 30. The real impact on Gotham nominee leaders "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" and "Tangerine," which are both small-scale indies that did not lure moviegoers to the box office, will be on the Indie Spirit Awards. Film Independent will reveal those nominations on Tuesday November 24. (The show will air live on 2016 on IFC on February 27, 2016, live at 2:00 pm PT / 5:00 pm ET.)

Another Best Feature nominee sure to factor in the Oscar race is Todd Haynes' "Carol" (TWC); which also nabbed screenplay and a Best Actress nomination for Oscar perennial Cate Blanchett. Left off the Feature list was Lenny Abrahamson's "Room" (A24) which had to settle for Best Actress Brie Larson, who is surging in the Oscar race. And getting a needed boost was SPC's "Grandma" star Lily Tomlin, whose best shot is for a Golden Globe comedy nomination.

"Love & Mercy" grabbed noms for Best Actor Paul Dano, who is campaigning in the Supporting Actor category for the Oscars, as well as Screenplay, which could move the movie up in Academy voter screener piles. That's a the best thing about these nominees, thoughtfully culled by critics like IW's own Eric Kohn. Bringing more attention to both critics and year-end awards groups so that they will check these movies out.

On the doc side, the DOC NYC Shortlist's "Cartel Land" and "The Look of Silence" nabbed nominations, along with Laurie Anderson's fest fave "Heart of a Dog," which is likely to play better for critics than for the Academy doc branch, and "Listen to Me Marlon," which could use the attention. A24's "Amy" may have been considered too much of a frontrunner for this jury.

7 Surprises From the 2015 Gotham Award Nominations

Peter Knegt — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 16:42:53 GMT

The 2015-16 awards season is officially here: This morning, the nominations for the 25th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were announced, and they were characteristically eccentric.

In a sea of increasingly predictable awards organizations, the Gothams continued to stand out this year as a unique and unpredictable voice. Here's a look at how they did that this time around.

The winners, selected by different committees, will be announced November 30 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

"Teenage Girl" and "Tangerine" got a huge boost heading into Oscar season.

Perhaps the most surprising element of this morning's nominations was the film that led them. Marielle Heller's "The Diary of Teenage Girl" — which got rave reviews out of Sundance, but then stumbled at the box office this summer — received four nominations, which was more than any other film. This included a nomination for its breakthrough lead Bel Powley, except it wasn't in the "breakthrough performance" category as one might expect. Gotham voters felt Powley's performance warranted a best actress nod, placing her alongside the likes of Cate Blanchett, Lily Tomlin and Blythe Danner. Not too shabby, and neither were the three nominations pulled off by Sean Baker's "Tangerine" — another acclaimed Sundance premiere that didn't quite find the box office reception it deserved.

"Tangerine" was nominated alongside "Diary" for best picture, while both of its stars — Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor — were nominated for breakthrough actor. Can we please request a tie? And can both of these films jump into the Oscar conversation already?

As a whole, the nominees are lot less Oscar-friendly.

Last year's Gotham Awards were dominated by films that went on to Oscar glory: "Birdman," "Boyhood," "Whiplash," "Still Alice" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel." While there's still a few months to go until we find out whether this year's crop does the same, it's likely there won't be as much crossover.

While we'd certainly love to see films like "Diary of a Teenage Girl" and "Tangerine" make the cut at the Oscars, the only two certainties among the best film nominees are Todd Haynes' "Carol" and Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight." Both of those films did quite well across the board, with three nominations each, and probably got the biggest pushes in terms of what's to come. But the Gothams definitely didn't pander to Oscar prognosticators.

Case in point is the fifth best feature nominee, Josh and Benny Safdie's "Heaven Knows What," which debuted in Venice last fall and quietly made about $65,000 when it came out in May. It's a harrowing depiction of drug addiction featuring one of the year's best performances in Arielle Holmes — who was, unsurprisingly, nominated for best breakthrough actor. Irrespective of its Oscar odds, this is a film you should all see (and maybe the Gothams will help make that happen).

Cate Blanchett vs. Brie Larson: round two.

Okay, so the fact that Cate Blanchett and Brie Larson both got nominated in the best actress category is not a surprise. But the context in which they got here is a different story. Two years ago, the first year the category existed, Blanchett and Larson were both nominated — for "Blue Jasmine" and "Short Term 12," respectively. However, while Blanchett went on to win seemingly every award in the world (including the Oscar), she lost at the Gothams — to Larson. It's typical of the Gothams' unique logic that, in this case, Blanchett is overdue to win, and Larson is the overachieving winner.

No room for "Room"?

Larson ended up being the only nomination that "Room" managed at the Gothams, despite a ton of awards momentum coming into it. The movie was shut out of the best feature and best screenplay categories; most surprisingly, its young star Jacob Tremblay didn't get nominated for best breakthrough actor, even though his performance has received some of the best notices for a child actor in recent memory. Instead, the Gothams — somewhat confusingly — nominated Rory Culkin for "Gabriel," even though Culkin has been making movies since the ne (and was nominated for a Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance back in 2000 for "You Can Count On Me").

Kevin Corrigan snuck into the best actor category.

The best actor category featured quite a few under-the-radar performances. Christopher Abbott and Peter Sarsgaard got in for "James White" and "Experimenter" — two films more people should be talking about. But the most unlikely nominee arrived with Kevin Corrigan, getting deserved recognition after three decades of first-rate character work in so many films (check out his filmography). His role in Andrew Bujalski's indie rom-com "Results" was the little engine that could among the Gotham's acting nominees.

The "Elephant" in the room? Check out the doc category.

The documentary feature category consisted of a quartet of films many would expected to make the cut: Matthew Heineman's "Cartel Land," Laurie Anderson's "Heart of a Dog," Stevan Riley's "Listen To Me Marlon" and Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Look of Silence." But then there was Amanda Wilder's "Approaching The Elephant," which surprisingly beat out the likes of more broadly discussed docs like "The Hunting Ground" and "The Wolfpack."

Following a group of kids who are the first students at a new "free school" in New Jersey, the film has been making the festival rounds since February 2014, when it premiered at True/False. It won major awards at both the Camden International Film Festival and the DocAviv Film Festival, but this nomination puts it on the map in a whole new way.

Women found (nearly) equal representation.

Oscar voters, take note: Four of the five films nominated for best feature ("Carol," "Tangerine," "Heaven Knows What" and "Diary of a Teenage Girl") are centered around female characters. Two of the five films nominated for best documentary were directed by women. Two of the five breakthrough director nominees were women. Two of the five best screenplays were written by women. On average, that's a 60/40 ratio, but it's also as close to equal representation as we ever see from awards shows — and a major step in the right direction.

Peter Knegt is Indiewire's Contributing Editor and awards columnist. Follow him on Twitter.

Check out Indiewire's latest chart of Oscar predictions here and additional predictions from Anne Thompson.

'Tangerine,' Jonas Carpigano, Chanelle Aponte Pearson Are 2015 Gotham Nominees

Tambay A. Obenson — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 14:55:48 GMT

Signaling the kick-off to the film awards season, IFP’s Gotham Independent Film Awards, presented every year by the New York-based Independent Film Project, this year's ceremony is set for November 30 at Cipriani Wall Street, downtown Manhattan.

The 2015 Gotham Independent Film Awards nominations are listed below. Of note, given this blog's interests, "Tangerine" snagged 3 nominations (Best Feature, and 2 Breakthrough Actor nominations for the film's 2 leads - Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor); and Jonas Carpigano is nominated for the Breakthrough Director Award for "Mediterranea."

Also, for the Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Directors "Live the Dream" grant - a $25,000 cash award - the nominees include Chanelle Aponte Pearson for "195 Lewis."

The full list of nominees follows below:

Best Feature

"Carol"

Todd Haynes, director; Elizabeth Karlsen, Tessa Ross, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley, producers (The Weinstein Company)

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Marielle Heller, director; Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit, Miranda Bailey, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

"Heaven Knows What"

Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Oscar Boyson, Sebastian Bear-McClard, producers (RADiUS)

"Spotlight"

Tom McCarthy, director; Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Pagan Faust, producers (Open Road Films)

"Tangerine"

Sean Baker, director; Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou, Marcus Cox & Karrie Cox, producers (Magnolia Pictures)

Best Documentary

"Approaching the Elephant"

Amanda Rose Wilder, director; Jay Craven, Robert Greene, Amanda Rose Wilder, producers (Kingdom County Productions)

"Cartel Land"

Matthew Heineman, director; Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin, producers (The Orchard and A&E IndieFilms

"Heart of a Dog"

Laurie Anderson, director; Dan Janvey, Laurie Anderson, producers (Abramorama and HBO Documentary Films)

"Listen to Me Marlon"

Stevan Riley, director; John Battsek, RJ Cutler, George Chignell, producers (Showtime Documentary Films)

"The Look of Silence"

Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer (Drafthouse Films)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Desiree Akhavan for "Appropriate Behavior" (Gravitas Ventures)

Jonas Carpigano for "Mediterranea" (Sundance Selects)

Marielle Heller for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" (Sony Pictures Classics)

John Magary for "The Mend" (Cinelicious Pics)

Josh Mond for "James White" (The Film Arcade)

Best Screenplay

"Carol," Phyllis Nagy (The Weinstein Company)

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller (Sony Pictures Classics)

"Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)

"Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Open Road Films)

"While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach (A24)

Best Actor*

Christopher Abbott in "James White" (The Film Arcade)

Kevin Corrigan in "Results" (Magnolia Pictures)

Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy" (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)

Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter" (Magnolia Pictures)

Michael Shannon in "99 Homes" (Broad Green Pictures)

Best Actress*

Cate Blanchett in "Carol" (The Weinstein Company)

Blythe Danner in "I’ll See You in My Dreams" (Bleecker Street)

Brie Larson in "Room" (A24 Films)

Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Lily Tomlin in "Grandma" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me" (Alchemy)

Breakthrough Actor

Rory Culkin in "Gabriel" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Arielle Holmes in "Heaven Knows What" (RADiUS)

Lola Kirke in "Mistress America" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in "Tangerine" (Magnolia Pictures)

Mya Taylor in "Tangerine" (Magnolia Pictures)

'The Diary Of A Teenage Girl' Leads Gotham Awards Nominees, 'Carol' And 'Tangerine' Close Behind

Kevin Jagernauth — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 14:34:36 GMT

And just like that, the awards season has awakened. Let it in. The folks at the Gotham Awards have unveiled their nominees for the year, and there's a couple of things to bear in mind: these have pretty much zero impact on the Oscars (though there is the occasional overlap) and by design is more indie film focused. So, it explains why "The Diary Of A Teenage Girl" has more nominations than the Oscar contending "Carol."

Indeed, the Sundance coming-of-age tale scored four nods, ahead of three each for both "Carol" and "Tangerine." And throughout, buzzworthy Oscar names sit right alongside other, smaller performances and works that won't get their due a few months from now. So you'll see Brie Larson honored for her turn in "Room" with Blythe Danner for "I'll See You In My Dreams." And it's why "Carol" and "Heaven Knows What" are both contending for Best Feature.

The Gothams will be handed out on November 30th. Check out the full nominees below.

Best Feature

"Carol"

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

"Heaven Knows What"

"Spotlight"

"Tangerine"

Best Documentary

"Approaching the Elephant"

"Cartel Land"

"Heart of a Dog"

"Listen to Me Marlon"

"The Look of Silence"

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director

Desiree Akhavan for "Appropriate Behavior"

Jonas Carpigano for "Mediterranea"

Marielle Heller for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

John Magary for "The Mend"

Josh Mond for "James White"

Best Screenplay

"Carol," Phyllis Nagy

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller

"Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner

"Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer

"While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach

Best Actor

Christopher Abbott in "James White"

Kevin Corrigan in "Results"

Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy"

Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter"

Michael Shannon in "99 Homes"

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett in "Carol"

Blythe Danner in "I’ll See You in My Dreams"

Brie Larson in "Room"

Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Lily Tomlin in "Grandma"

Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me "

Breakthrough Actor

Rory Culkin in "Gabriel"

Arielle Holmes in "Heaven Knows What"

Lola Kirke in "Mistress America"

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in "Tangerine"

Mya Taylor in "Tangerine"

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James for their ensemble work in "Spotlight."

'Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads Gotham Awards Nominations; 'Carol,' 'Tangerine' Close Behind

Matt Brennan — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 14:30:05 GMT

With nods for Best Feature, Breakthrough Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay, Marielle Heller's "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" led this morning's idiosyncratic-as-ever Gotham Awards nominations with four, followed closely by Todd Haynes' "Carol" and Sean Baker's iPhone-shot "Tangerine," with three apiece.

READ MORE: "'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' Doesn't Judge Its Characters, Played by Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgard (Q&A)"

The Gotham nominations, selected by a handful of small juries, are often seen as an unofficial kick-off to the Oscar race, but yet again this year the overlap is likely to be spotty. Among the (laudable) less mainstream choices were Josh and Benny Safdie's "Heaven Knows What" for Best Feature, more or less the entire Best Actor field, and Kristen Wiig's Best Actress nomination for "Welcome to Me." (There are no supporting categories.)

READ MORE: "How the Safdies Made Verité Drug Drama 'Heaven Knows What' with a Real-Life Ex-Junkie"

As Grantland's Mark Harris noted on Twitter, he and fellow critics Bilge Ebiri (New York Magazine), Ann Hornaday (Washington Post), Liza Schwarzbaum (formerly Entertainment Weekly), and Amy Nicholson (LA Weekly) spent a month watching movies to arrive at their wickedly inventive Best Actor and Best Actress slates.

They also decided to award a special ensemble acting prize to the "Spotlight" team of Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James. The critically acclaimed drama, which follows the Boston Globe staffers who exposed the Catholic Church's child sex abuse scandal in 2001-2002, also notched nominations for Best Feature, and for Josh Singer and director Tom McCarthy's screenplay.

READ MORE: "TIFF: Director Tom McCarthy Puts 'Spotlight' on Sexually Predatory Catholic Priests"

The 25th Gotham Awards, presented by the Independent Film Project, will be handed out Nov. 30 in New York. Read the full list of nominations below:

Best Feature
"Carol"
"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
"Heaven Knows What"
"Spotlight"
"Tangerine"

Best Documentary
"Approaching the Elephant"
"Cartel Land"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Listen to Me Marlon"
"The Look of Silence"

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Desiree Akhavan, "Appropriate Behavior"
Jonas Carpigano, "Mediterranea"
Marielle Heller, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
John Magary, "The Mend"
Josh Mond, "James White"

Best Screenplay
Noah Baumbach, "While We're Young"
Marielle Heller, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner, "Love & Mercy"
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, "Spotlight"
Phyllis Nagy, "Carol"

Best Actor
Christopher Abbott, "James White"
Kevin Corrigan, "Results"
Paul Dano, "Love & Mercy"
Peter Sarsgaard, "Experimenter"
Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Blythe Danner, "I’ll See You in My Dreams"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Bel Powley, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
Lily Tomlin, "Grandma"
Kristen Wiig, "Welcome to Me"

Breakthrough Actor
Rory Culkin, "Gabriel"
Arielle Holmes, "Heaven Knows What"
Lola Kirke, "Mistress America"
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, "Tangerine"
Mya Taylor, "Tangerine"

'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' Leads 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

Zack Sharf — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 14:00:29 GMT

READ MORE: READ MORE: 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards Announces Two Brand New Categories

The 2015-16 awards season is officially underway now that IFP has announced the nominees for the 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards. As has been previously reported, this year the Gotham Awards will include a Best Screenplay Award, bringing its total honors count up eight prizes. Additionally, "Carol" director Todd Haynes will be honored with the Directors Tribute, while Helen Mirren and Robert Redford receive the Actress and Actor Tributes, respectively.

While the Gotham Independent Film Awards are not historically a precursor to the Oscars, they often overlap in nominees and usually get to highlight performances and films that would never make it to the larger award ceremonies. This year, big award contenders like "Carol," "Spotlight" and "Room" all secured nominations, but so did smaller titles that have been some of the most well-reviewed indie releases of the year like "Heaven Knows What," "Tangerine" and "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," which leads this year's crop with 4 nominations.

Twenty writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process, including Indiewire's own Deputy Editor and Chief Film Critic Eric Kohn. The 25th IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards will take place November 30 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Below are the 2015 nominees.

Best Feature

"Carol"

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

"Heaven Knows What"

"Spotlight"

"Tangerine"

Best Documentary

"Approaching the Elephant"

"Cartel Land"

"Heart of a Dog"

"Listen to Me Marlon"

"The Look of Silence"

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director

Desiree Akhavan for "Appropriate Behavior"

Jonas Carpigano for "Mediterranea"

Marielle Heller for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

John Magary for "The Mend"

Josh Mond for "James White"

Best Screenplay

"Carol," Phyllis Nagy

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl," Marielle Heller

"Love & Mercy," Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner

"Spotlight," Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer

"While We’re Young," Noah Baumbach

Best Actor

Christopher Abbott in "James White"

Kevin Corrigan in "Results"

Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy"

Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter"

Michael Shannon in "99 Homes"

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett in "Carol"

Blythe Danner in "I’ll See You in My Dreams"

Brie Larson in "Room"

Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Lily Tomlin in "Grandma"

Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me "

Breakthrough Actor

Rory Culkin in "Gabriel"

Arielle Holmes in "Heaven Knows What"

Lola Kirke in "Mistress America"

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in "Tangerine"

Predicting the 2015 Gotham Awards Nominations

Peter Knegt — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 18:06:46 GMT

On Thursday, the nominations for the 25th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards will act as the first major moment of the 2015-16 awards season. What should we expect?

The nominations could give us some insight into the road ahead. On average, a couple of films that are nominated for Gotham's top prize, best feature, also end up getting a best picture nomination. Last year, we saw "Birdman," "Boyhood" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" all do just that, with "Birdman" becoming the first film since "The Hurt Locker" to win the top prizes at both the Gothams and the Oscars.

This will notably be the third year where the Gothams feature categories for best actor and best actress. Last year, four eventual Oscar nominees landed nods at the Gothams first: Michael Keaton ("Birdman"), Julianne Moore ("Still Alice"), Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette (both "Boyhood"). Will that be the case again this time around?

Keep in mind that the nominations are produced by a handful of small committees, a process that encourages quirky and unexpected additions and makes predicting the nominations next to impossible. The same situation applies to Gotham's rather vague submission criteria, which notes the following:

-Filmmaking with a point of view.
Each Gotham Independent Film Award will be given to individual films or performers in films where the vision of an individual director, producer, writer or writer/director is abundantly evident, and where the film cannot be classically defined as a "work for hire."

-Feature-length (defined as over 70 minutes).

-Films made with an economy of means.

-Films must be American.
The film must be directed and/or produced by a US-born or based filmmaker.

-Screening availability by the Nominating Committee.
The film must be submitted on DVD or password protected viewing link by the deadline or made available for screening by the nominating committees.

-Theatrical release.
The release can be through a theatrical releasing entity or by direct or self-distribution by filmmakers, either in an exclusively theatrical release or day and date with digital platforms or VOD release. The film must be screened for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in New York City and/or Los Angeles County and must run for at least seven consecutive days. The film must be advertised and marketed during the New York and/or Los Angeles County run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry for independent films. The film can be publicly exhibited in film or digital formats, delivered to the screen by an image and sound file format suitable for exhibition in existing commercial cinema sites.

-Digital Platform/Pay TV.
Films that are not released theatrically but have played qualifying festivals and then are released exclusively via a digital platform or PayTV/Cable VOD in 2015 may qualify for consideration in all relevant categories, with the stipulation that the films first screened in 2015 at one of the following qualifying festivals: Berlin, Cannes, Los Angeles Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Toronto International Film Festival, or Tribeca Film Festival. The digital platform release can be via VOD, streaming, DTO, or DTR.

Now place these rules against "Room" (Canadian and Irish produced, and directed by Irish Lenny Abrahamson), "Sicario" (American produced, but with a Canadian filmmaker in Denis Villeneuve), "The Danish Girl" (directed by a Brit), and "Brooklyn" (another Irish-Canadian co-pro directed by an Irishman, except this time the UK was on board, too).

Do they even qualify? Maybe. But some, like full-on British productions "45 Years" and "Ex-Machina," Italy's "Youth," France's "Clouds of Sils Maria," as well as studio releases like "Steve Jobs," "Bridge of Spies" and "Mad Max: Fury Road" are all unqualified.

Then there's the "breakthrough" categories (actor and filmmaker), which have led to confusing results in the past: Melanie Lynskey was considered a "breakthrough performance" for "Hello I Must Be Going" two years ago, despite being well known in the independent film world since 1993's "Heavenly Creatures." Similar things happened with Greta Gerwig, Kathryn Hahn and Ben Foster in the last few years. That suggests actors such as Christopher Abbott ("James White") and Sarah Silverman ("I Smile Back") might end up in the breakthrough category rather straightforward performance categories. But it's not a guarantee either way.

Overall, there's no shortage of possibilities this year in any category. The best feature race could boil down to any of the following films, baring any of them don't end up qualifying (which surely a few of them won't):

"Anomalisa"

"Beasts of No Nation"

"Brooklyn"
"Carol"

"The Danish Girl"

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
"Dope"

"The End of the Tour"

"Experimenter"

"Fort Tilden"

"Grandma"

"I Smile Back"

"I'll See You In My Dreams"

"It Follows"
"James White"

"Love & Mercy"

"Meadowland"

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

"Mississippi Grind"

"Mistress America"

"Nasty Baby"
"Room"

"Spotlight"

"The Stanford Prison Experiment"

"Suffragette"

"Tangerine"

"Time Out of Mind"

"Trumbo"

"Truth"

"While We're Young"

It's important to remember that some of these films should resurface among the Independent Spirit Award nominees as well. It's been a fantastic year for American independent film and perhaps another fairly Oscar-friendly one as well.

Of the 30 noted, a few have significant chances at a best picture nomination come Oscar time. "Brooklyn," "Carol" "The Danish Girl," "Room" and "Spotlight" all seem like pretty safe bets for at least one or two major Oscar nods. Other favorites like "James White," "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," "Nasty Baby," "Tangerine" might prove a little too independently minded for Academy tastes (especially given the multitude of heavyweight studio options not being mentioned here), but that's why awards like the Gothams and Spirits remain valuable. The Gothams in particular tend to go their own way, with a snub for a likely best picture Oscar nominee not just out of the question but often times the norm.

Indiewire took a stab at predicting Thursday's nominations. You can find them on the next page. Check back with us Thursday morning for the actual nominees.

Best Feature
Predicted five:
"Anomalisa"

"Carol"

"Room"

"Spotlight"

"Tangerine"

But watch out for:
"Beasts of No Nation"

Best Documentary
Predicted five:
"Amy"
"Cartel Land"
"The Hunting Ground"
"Stray Dog"
"The Wolfpack"

But watch out for:
"Iris"

Best Actress
Predicted five:
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Rooney Mara, "Carol"
Saorise Ronan, "Brooklyn"
Lily Tomlin, "Grandma"

But watch out for:
Sarah Silverman, "I Smile Back"

Best Actor
Predicted five:
Christopher Abbott, "James White"
Paul Dano, "Love & Mercy"
Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"
Mark Ruffalo, "Spotlight"
Jason Segel, "The End of the Tour"

But watch out for:
Peter Sarsgaard, "Experimenter"

Best Breakthrough Director (Bingham Ray Award)
The predicted five:
Brett Haley, "I'll See You In My Dreams"
Marielle Heller, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
Josh Mond, "James White"
Reed Morano, "Meadowland"
James Vanderbilt, "Truth"

But watch out for:
Justin Kelly, "I Am Michael"

Best Breakthrough Performance
The predicted five:
Abraham Attah, "Beasts of No Nation"
Thomas Mann, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"
Bel Powley, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
Mya Taylor, "Tangerine"
Jacob Tremblay, "Room"

But watch out for:
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, "Tangerine"

Peter Knegt is Indiewire's Contributing Editor and awards columnist. Follow him on Twitter.

Check out Indiewire's latest chart of Oscar predictions here.

Helen Mirren's 'Eye in the Sky' Sold at TIFF; Actress to Be Honored at IFP Gotham Awards

Laura Berger — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:00:00 GMT

It's shaping up to be a fine week for Helen Mirren. Her new film, "Eye in the Sky," was acquired by Bleecker Street after a bidding war, and it's been announced that the Oscar winner is set to receive (yet another) honor, a tribute at the Independent Filmmaker Project Gotham Independent Film Awards.

Friday marked the world premiere of "Eye in the Sky" at TIFF, where it was met with solid reviews. Mirren stars as a colonel in the drone-warfare drama. The film's warm reception and Mirren's star power led to a lot of interest in the film, with Bleecker Street, Fox Searchlight and Roadside Attractions duking it out. Bleecker Street came out victorious, paying over $2 million for the U.S. rights to the film. Expect a theatrical run in 2016.

Yesterday it was announced that Mirren will be honored with a Best Actress Tribute at the 25th IFP Gotham Awards. A press release from the IFP identified Mirren as "one of the most internationally acclaimed performers of our time." Mirren will be paid tribute alongside Robert Redford and Anonymous Content founder and partner Steve Golin. “To celebrate these individuals who have contributed so much to the independent film community and to the entertainment world at large -- and in such a landmark year for the Gothams -- is truly an honor,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. The ceremony will take place on November 30 in NYC. Tilda Swinton was recognized by the IFP Gotham awards last year.

Mirren most recently starred in "Woman in Gold," the highest-grossing indie of 2015 so far.

[via Deadline and Deadline]

Todd Haynes to Receive Director Tribute at 25th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards

Zack Sharf — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 16:00:00 GMT

READ MORE: Cannes Review: Todd Haynes' 'Carol' is a Masterful Lesbian Romance Starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara

Is 2015 Todd Haynes' big year? The director premiered "Carol," starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, to critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in May (winning Mara a Best Actress award in the process), and it was recently announced the period drama would open in an awards-friendly November 20 slot. Now, just a few days later, Haynes will be honored with the Director Tribute at IFP's 25th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards.

Per Gotham, "Each year, the Director Tribute is awarded to a veteran filmmaker with unique vision who has made a significant contribution to the motion picture industry. Todd Haynes exemplifies the true independent spirit, with a career spanning over the last three decades and a truly extraordinary and uncompromising body of work."

"We are thrilled to present the Director Tribute to Todd Haynes in our 25th Anniversary year," said Joana Vicente, Executive Director, IFP and Made in NY Media Center. "Todd's career exemplifies precisely the kind of visionary, independent filmmaking the Gotham Awards first began championing in 1991."

Last year's Gotham Awards included tributes to director Bennett Miller, Tilda Swinton and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.

IFP is also adding a new category for the first time -- Best Screenplay Award, which brings it total slate up to eight categories. According to IFP: "Best Screenplay be awarded to an outstanding screenplay for an independent fiction feature. The screenplay may be an original work or one adapted from previously published or existing work in any medium. The IFP Gotham Independent Film Award will be presented to the film's credited writers."

The eight competitive Gotham Awards now include: Best Feature, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Documentary, Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Audience Award and Best Screenplay.

Nominees for the 25th Gotham Awards will be announced on October 22, and winners will be honored at a ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on November 30.

Exclusive Video: Todd Haynes on Directing 'Carol' from a Script He Didn't Write

Save The Dates: Here's the 2015 Awards Calendar

Indiewire — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:44:54 GMT

October 2015

22 - Gotham Award nominations announced
30 - Britannia Awards (BAFTA LA)

November 2015

TBD - British Independent Film Award nominations
14 - AMPAS Governors Awards
18 - SAG nomination ballots mailed
24 - Independent Spirit Award nominations announced
25 - Deadline for Golden Globe nomination ballots to be mailed out to to HFPA members
30 - Gotham Awards

December 2015

1 - National Board of Review vote and announce winners
1 - Annie Award nominations announced
1 - WGA preliminary screenplay online voting begins
2 - DGA online voting for feature film nominations opens
3 - WGA Television, New Media, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation nominations announced
6 - British Independent Film Awards
7 - SAG nomination ballots due by 12pm PST
7 - Deadline for Golden Globe nomination ballots to be turned in
8 - PGA nomination polls open
9 - SAG Awards nominations announced
10 - Golden Globe nominations announced
12 - European Film Awards
16 - AFI Awards announced
16 - SAG final ballots mailed
21 - Golden Globe final ballots mailed
30 - Academy Award nominations voting opens at 8am PST

January 2016

1 - Annie Award online voting opens
2 - ACE Eddie Award nominations announced
4 - DGA deadline to submit votes for feature film nominations
4 - WGA deadline for preliminary screenplay online voting
5 - PGA Awards nominations announced
5 - Art Directors Guild nominations announced
5 - National Board of Review Awards Gala
6 - Deadline for receipt of final Golden Globe ballots from HFPA members
6 - WGA Theatrical and Documentary Screenplay nominations announced
7 - DGA final online voting for feature film award begins
7 - WGA final screenplay and series online voting begins
8 - BAFTA nominations announced
8 - Academy Award nominations voting closes at 5pm PST
10 - Golden Globe Awards
11 - DGA deadline to vote for feature film nominations
12 - DGA nominations announced
14 - Academy Award nominations announced
23 - PGA Awards
25 - Annie Award voting closes
29 - SAG deadline to submit final votes by 12pm PST
29 - WGA deadline for final screenplay and series online voting
30 - SAG Awards
30 - ACE Eddie Awards
31 - Art Directors Guild Awards

February 2016

5 - DGA deadline to vote online for feature film award
6 - DGA Awards
6 - Annie Awards
8 - Academy Award nominees luncheon
12 - Academy Award final voting opens at 8am PST
13 - WGA Awards
14 - BAFTA Awards
23 - Academy Award final voting closes at 5pm PST
27 - Independent Spirit Awards (not yet confirmed but most likely)
28 - 88th Annual Academy Awards

The Crazy First 24 Hours of Awards Season: The Top 7 Winners

Peter Knegt — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 22:12:11 GMT

Another day, another couple twists and turns as the 2014-15 awards pulls full steam ahead. Yesterday we rounded up what the New York Film Critics Circle had to say about where awards season might be heading, and now 24 hours later we have three more major announcements to consider: The Gotham Awards, The National Board of Review, and the Academy's shortlist of documentary contenders. You can click on those links for a full overview of how each of them went down. But here's some cliff notes on arguably the seven big winners from the collective news:

1. "A Most Violent Year." While its star Oscar Isaac might have lost at the Gotham Awards to Michael Keaton, he and his film made up for it in a very big way with the National Board of Review. In a sweep few saw coming, J.C. Chandor's 1980s-set crime drama took home Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain) and Best Actor (Isaac, who actually tied with Gotham winner Keaton). That gives a huge boost to a film that really needed it. If next week's Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice Award nominations follow suit, it could be a more "Violent" year than we thought.

2. "Citizenfour," "Life Itself" and the other 13 documentary features shortlisted for Oscar (but especially those two). The Academy narrowed down its Best Documentary Feature race to 15 today, with a few major omissions (perhaps most notably "Point and Shoot," "Red Army" and "Fed Up"). But the two films everyone most expected to be on the list were there indeed: Laura Poitras' "Citizenfour" and Steve James' "Life Itself." And both of those films had additional reasons to celebrate. "Citizenfour" won Best Documentary at the Gothams last night, while "Life Itself" took those honors with the National Board of Review. It definitely seems like the Oscar race is down to these two (check out our updated predictions here).

3. Michael Keaton and "Birdman." As noted, Michael Keaton took Best Actor honors at the Gothams last night, and it wasn't the film's only major feat. "Birdman" beat out "Boyhood" to take top honors at the awards, which gave it a very nice overall boost going forward. And that was only furthered today when the NBR gave Keaton Best Actor honors as well (tied with Oscar Issac), while also putting the film on its overall top 10 list and naming Edward Norton its Best Supporting Actor.

4. "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night." Though its chances in the overall Oscar race remain slim-to-none, Ana Lily Amirpour got a big spotlight on her acclaimed "Iranian vampire Western" when she surprised as the winner of the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. Beating out arguable favorites Justin Simien ("Dear White People") and Dan Gilroy ("Nightcrawler"), Amirpour also charmed the audience with her humility -- and her love for Tilda Swinton. "This is my first kind of these things," she said during her speech. "Tilda Swinton is here! Goddess! Thank you so much for giving me this prize. I love making films. Maybe if I can say hi to Tilda Swinton and take a picture with her that would be really cool."

5. Julianne Moore. Like Michael Keaton, Julianne Moore got a double dose of honors from the Gothams and the NBR, winning Best Actress with both groups. She's absolutely the frontrunner to continue this momentum all the way to Oscar, and we fully expect her name to be announced a good dozen or two more times in the next week.

6. "The LEGO Movie" and "How To Train Your Dragon 2." It seemed after its win yesterday as Best Animated Feature with the New York Film Critics Circle that "The LEGO Movie" might be heading for a clean sweep of such honors. But then the National Board of Review opted to go with "How To Train Your Dragon 2" instead. Which is great for that film, but not necessarily bad news for "LEGO" either. The film oddly lost that prize, but then still won Best Original Screenplay (over, yes, "Birdman," "Boyhood," "Whiplash" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," among others), and was on the NBR's Top 10 Films of the Year. While we don't quite understand how it -- and not "Dragon" -- can be on that list and then not win Best Animated Feature, we're all for love being spread.

7. Tilda Swinton and Amy Schumer. Alright, so this doesn't have so much to do with this year's ultimate race, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who watched last night's Gotham Awards who didn't think Amy Schumer's feting of Tilda Swinton was not the singular highlight. You can watch it all its glory here -- and we're pretty sure it might end up being one of the highlights of this entire awards season once its all said and done.

Peter Knegt is Indiewire's Contributing Editor and awards columnist. Follow him on Twitter.

Check out Indiewire's latest chart of Oscar predictions here.

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Read Amy Schumer's Hilarious Gotham Awards Tribute to Tilda Swinton

Ryan Lattanzio — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:19:04 GMT

The watershed highlight of last night's Gotham Awards in New York was no doubt razor-smart comedienne Amy Schumer's heartfelt, humorous and raunchy Gotham Actor tribute to Tilda Swinton, who had plum roles this year in "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Only Lovers Left Alive" and the critics' cause célèbre "Snowpiercer."

While video has yet to drop, but surely will, here's the full transcript. All Gotham Award winners, including champion of the night "Birdman," are listed here.

WATCH: Tilda Swinton's Amazing Year with the Coolest Directors Alive (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW)

"Tilda motherfuckin' Swinton. Why am I even allowed to say her name? This is ridiculous. I wrote a movie last year, and one of the roles was for my fiercely powerful and elegant boss, and in the character description, I just wrote, 'Diana, a goddess, like Tilda Swinton waiting at a baggage claim.' 'Cause once I saw Tilda at JFK at the baggage claim, and her just standing there was one of the most beautiful, powerful sights I have ever seen. I just plainly stared at her. It looked like she was on an ice slab, just, like, leading soldiers into a battle. She was waiting for her Tumi bag to come around. And I didn't think in a million years that Tilda would do it, but she did, and she's an actual angel.

"The first time I remember noticing her was in the movie 'Vanilla Sky.' I was, like, Oh shit, who is that? What a badass. Just watching her actually makes you feel stronger. She can scare the shit out of you and break your heart and give you a boner all at the same time.

"Even off-camera, her presence reminds me of a preacher that travels around the country, but instead of touching your forehead, she just looks you in the eye, and you feel somehow saved. And she doesn't do it for money, and it's not religion. This was not a good example, I'm realizing. And I just watched the movie 'Leap of Faith,' sorry.

"But 'The Deep End,' 'The Beach,' 'Narnia,' 'Orlando.' I'm just listing places that I want to go this year. I love 'Orlando.' She has 53 awards, including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 'Michael Clayton,' and has 64 nominations. I think the numbers are going up as I'm speaking. Also, have you seen 'I Am Love'? Have you seen that? She speaks Italian with a Russian accent. I'm just trying to get rid of my Long Island one.

"This year she appeared in 'The Grand Budapest Hotel,' 'Only Lovers Left Alive,' and 'Snowpiercer.' Did you see 'Snowpiercer'? Her character was written as a dude, and she was, like, 'You know what? Just leave it. Have them call me 'sir.'' She's without question one of the greatest actors of our time, but honestly, who gives a shit? Have you hung out with her?

"She's the greatest friend you will ever have. She is the coolest. Hanging out with her makes me furious at everyone else I've ever met that they are not her. There's no way to describe what it's like to spend time with Tilda Swinton, other than, like, saying it's life changing and heart stopping.

"And right now, you're like, OK, relax Schumer, she's not going to fuck you. But, like, Fuck you. She is that awesome. That someone can be that present and selfless, and still someone that you'd want to drink Scotch with till you black out, that is a real lady. [Audience is roaring.]

"You shake her hand, and you meet her, and 10 minutes later she's inviting you to stay with her and the twins and their pet, like, horses or whatever, in their mysterious beach water castle in Scotland. With Tilda you are instant family — the family you wish you had. And you know she's not blowing smoke up your ass, because there's literally nothing you can do for her, unless she wants to get booked for a weekend at the Funny Bone in Bloomington, Illinois. And I can hook you up.

"When my sister and I bring her up, we take a moment, and cover our hearts, and look up. She'll say, 'I got an e-mail from Tilda,' and we both just kind of take a moment. What I'm saying is she's so kind, and caring, and egoless, and strong and humble and lovely, and so giving, on and off-camera. Getting to be in scenes with her is the greatest thing in the world, but getting to be her friend is a privilege beyond my wildest dreams, and I love her. She's everything."