Observer » gotham awards

To Do Monday: Almost Oscar

Daniel D'Addario — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:00:12 -0400

Awards season begins in earnest tonight, as Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon and director David O. Russell will be among those getting a new tchotchke at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Those very famous people receive honorary awards tonight, while still-emerging talents are nominated for the balance of the prizes. Among them: This American Life stalwart Mike Birbiglia for the film Sleepwalk With Me and pint-size kid starlet Quvenzhané Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild—but no matter who wins, merely getting attention, not to mention getting to Cipriani, after making a tiny independent film is quite a victory.

Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall Street, cocktail reception at 6:30pm, dinner and awards ceremony at 7:30pm, tickets and information can be found at http://gotham.ifp.org/.

Van Sant To Be Honored at Gotham Awards

Hillary Frey — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:08:31 -0400

The 18^th annual Gotham Awards, to be held December 2^nd at downtown Cipriani, will honor Gus Van Sant with a tribute, Variety reports. The director's forthcoming film Milk (which we're mildly obsessed with) opens November 26^th. Spanish stunner Penelope Cruz will also be feted. More details below:

The IFP will fete the indie film stalwart alongside previously announced honoree Penelope Cruz on Dec. 2 at the Wall Street Cipriani. Van Sant's latest, "Milk," a biopic of slain San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, a pioneering openly gay politico, unspools Nov. 26.

"Gus is that rare director who has achieved a steady balance between his independent roots and mainstream filmmaking," said IFP exec director Michelle Byrd.

In honor of Van Sant, IFP has also announced an initiative to encourage young lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual filmmakers. In cooperation with the Hetrick-Martin Institute, which houses New York's Harvey Milk High School, IFP will donate 24 video cameras to the school and plans to announce training and mentoring sessions with partner org NewFest. Young filmmakers from HMI and Harvey Milk High will be invited to screen their work at the Gotham-based LGBT-themed festival, which runs June 4-14. Harvey Milk High students and administrators will also take part in a Q&A at the MoMA Intl. Festival of Film Preservation on Nov. 6, when Oscar-winning doc "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk" will be screened.

Penelope Cruz to Get Gotham Award Tribute

Joe Pompeo — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:14:30 -0400

There's been lots of chatter lately over Penelope Cruz's steamy kiss with Scarlet Johansson in the new Woody Allen film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which opened in New York last Friday—enough chatter that we almost missed the following tidbit yesterday in The Hollywood Reporter: Ms. Cruz, who's also enjoying critical praise for her role in Elegy, Isabel Coixet's adaptation of an acclaimed Philip Roth novel, will receive a Gotham Award Tribute at the 18th Annual Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on Dec. 2.

"Penelope's body of work embodies what is exciting and vibrant about filmmaking today, in particular independent filmmaking," said Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, the national independent filmmakers organization that presents the awards, in a statement. "Her performances working with internationally acclaimed directors and her choice of roles are dynamic, vivacious and varied."

Billed as one of the first major honors of the awards season, the Gotham Awards sometimes offers a sneak peek into which independent films might be Oscar contenders—stars from past Gotham winners like Juno (2007), Half Nelson (2006) and Junebug (2005) went on to receive Oscar nominations and awards.

Last year, tributes went to Javier Bardem, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Roger Ebert, Mark Friedberg, Mira Nair and Jonathan Sehring. IFP will announce the additional 2008 tribute recipients next week and unveil a full list of awards nominees on Oct. 20.

Gotham Awards Give Hope to True Indies

Gillian Reagan — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:41:28 -0400

Five of the films entered in this year's Gotham Awards don't have distribution. But "the most vital category," Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, can save them from obscurity, according to The New York Sun. Nominees are selected by the editors of Filmmaker Magazine, who are fed titles by festival programmers from across the country.

"How many thousands of films are simply not released each year?" said Michelle Byrd, the executive director of the New York-based Independent Features Project, which facilitates the Gothams. "We wanted to create an award that really speaks to the kinds of filmmakers who would ideally be a member of IFP, who are out there making great works of art, but perhaps don't have the kind of corporate support, or the support of a classic division of a major studio, that you sometimes need to get your film out there."

Two years ago, Caveh Zahedi's "I Am a Sex Addict" was picked up by IFC Films after regaining momentum at the Gothams. Just last Friday, the second winner of the "Best Film Not Showing" award, Steve Barron's "Choking Man," opened for its premiere theatrical run at Cinema Village (it continues screening this week), backed by distributor International Film Circuit. And starting Friday, this year's five nominees will be screened for the public in a special four-day showcase at the Museum of Modern Art.

Sound, Into the Wild Top Gotham Award Noms

Gillian Reagan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:40:50 -0400

The IFP announced the 17th Annual Gotham Awards nominees today, spotlighting the breakthrough indie films of the year.

Great World of Sound, a comedy about a bumbling Southern duo who traverse the country to discover unsigned "talent" for a record label, garnered the most nominations for Best Feature, Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor. In Craig Zobel's documentary-style debut, real performers auditioned without knowing it was actually a film shoot. With hidden cameras, the interaction was recorded between the lead actors and the unsuspecting musicians.

Into the Wild, Sean Penn's film adaptation of the Jon Krakauer book, was also nominated for Best Feature and a Breakthrough Actor nod for star Emile Hirsch.

Mr. Hirsch told Hillary Frey in the Observer:

“There were times when it was really, really, really hard,” he continued. “But there were times when Chris [McCandless] was on the road and it was really, really, really hard. I just knew that that was part of the commitment. I didn’t go into it thinking it was gonna be a ball. It’s amazing how you can go into it thinking it’s not really gonna be a ball, but you really don’t realize what that means until you’re doing it.”

“I think it’s important to be willing to suffer, if that’s what it takes,” said Mr. Penn of his expectations for his star.

The awards will be presented at Steiner Studios in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

View the full list of nominees after the jump.

Best Feature

Great World of Sound

Craig Zobel, director; Melissa Palmer, David Gordon Green, Richard Wright, Craig Zobel, producers (Magnolia Pictures)

I’m Not There

Todd Haynes, director; Christine Vachon, James D. Stern, John Sloss, John Goldwyn, producers, (The Weinstein Company)

Into the Wild

Sean Penn, director; Sean Penn, Art Linson, Bill Pohlad, producers (Paramount Vantage & River Road Entertainment)

Margot at the Wedding

Noah Baumbach, director; Scott Rudin, producer (Paramount Vantage)

The Namesake

Mira Nair, director; Lydia Dean Pilcher, Mira Nair, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Documentary

The Devil Came on Horseback

Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern, directors; Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg, Gretchen Wallace, Jane

Wells, producers (International Film Circuit)

Jimmy Carter Man from Plains

Jonathan Demme, director; Jonathan Demme, Neda Armian, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

My Kid Could Paint That

Amir Bar-Lev, producer/director (Sony Pictures Classics)

Sicko

Michael Moore, director; Michael Moore, Meghan O’Hara, producers (The Weinstein Company)

Taxi to the Dark Side

Alex Gibney, director; Alex Gibney, Eva Orner, Susannah Shipman, producers (THINKFilm)

Best Ensemble Cast

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Brian F. O’Byrne, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon, Marisa Tomei (THINKFilm)

The Last Winter

Connie Britton, Kevin Corrigan, Zach Gilford, James LeGros, Ron Perlman (IFC First Take)

Margot at the Wedding

Jack Black, Flora Cross, Ciarán Hinds, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zane Pais, John Turturro (Paramount Vantage)

The Savages

Philip Bosco, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Talk to Me

Cedric the Entertainer, Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mike Epps, Vondie Curtis Hall, Taraji P. Henson, Martin Sheen (Focus Features)

Breakthrough Director

Lee Isaac Chung for Munyurangabo

Stephane Gauger for Owl and the Sparrow

Julia Loktev for Day Night Day Night (IFC First Take)

David Von Ancken for Seraphim Falls (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Craig Zobel for Great World of Sound (Magnolia Pictures)

Breakthrough Actor

Emile Hirsch in Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage)

Kene Holliday in Great World of Sound (Magnolia Pictures)

Ellen Page in Juno (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Jess Weixler in Teeth (Roadside Attractions)

Luisa Williams in Day Night Day Night (IFC First Take)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You

August the First

Lanre Olabisi, director; Shawn Alexander, Gabriel “Swede” Sedgwick, Nicky Arzeu Akmal, Lanre

Olabisi, producers

Frownland

Ronald Bronstein, director; Marc Raybin, producer

Loren Cass

Chris Fuller, director; Chris Fuller, Frank Craft, Kayla Tabish, producers

Mississippi Chicken

John Fiege, director; John Fiege, Anita Grabowski, Victor Moyers, producers

Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa

Jeremy Stulberg & Randy Stulberg, directors; Eric Juhola, Jeremy Stulberg, Randy Stulberg.

Ebert to Be Honored at Gotham Awards

Gillian Reagan — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:43:23 -0400

Roger Ebert will be honored at the 17th annual Gotham Awards for a career of championing independent cinema, according to the AP.

The 65-year-old film critic will receive the honor at the Nov. 27 event at Brooklyn's Steiner Studios. The Gotham Awards celebrate independent movies and films set in New York. An official announcement of the Ebert tribute was planned for Monday.

"Through his columns, books and television show, Roger Ebert has almost single-handedly introduced independent film to American moviegoers," said Michelle Byrd, executive director of the International Film Project, which presents The Gotham Awards. "His championing of high-quality, undiscovered films has put countless films, filmmakers and actors on the map."