Quvenzhané Wallis gives her director Behn Zeitlin a big hug.

The red carpet was aglow with the incandescent twinkle of Hollywood’s stars on Monday night at the 22nd annual Independent Film Project Gotham Awards. With Oscar winners Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard amongst the evening’s honorees and the likes of Jack Black, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski and so many more blazing a trail through the double doors of Wall St.’s Cipriani’s, it was no wonder that the less glamorous side of the velvet rope was a veritable press feeding frenzy. Lucky for us, then, that we had sharpened our claws.

As the guests took their seats for the ceremony, The Observer was whisked upstairs to a private viewing room, lest we cavort too rambunctiously with the delicate A-List crowd. There we watched over the evening’s events like demi-gods looking down from the heavens upon the cherubs pecking away at their meals, with eight year old nominee Quvenzhané Williams and 13 year old Jared Gilman leading the underage coterie.

The awards soon got underway, much to the delight of the recipients. Honoring their intentions as champions of independent cinema, the jury not only rewarded the biggest Hollywood names but the industry’s up-and-comers for their contribution to film. Beasts of the Southern Wild writer and director Benh Zeitlin was undoubtedly the big winner of the night, scooping statuettes – well, glass cuboids - for Breakthrough Director alongside the Bingham Ray Award, dedicated to the late film executive.

Mr. Zeitlin was so swept up with his first victory, however, that he scarcely noticed he had procured a second, pausing in his role as the obliging interviewee only to dash back downstairs to claim his newest prize.

“The fact that the film has gotten out into the world has been overwhelming,” he told The Observer, “And I never imagined this many people would not only see it but champion it, and make it their business to help the film get out there. It has completely changed my life.” A spate of critical successes at Cannes, Sundance, the LA Film Festival and the International Film Festival has seen Louisiana-based Mr. Zeitlin’s awards cabinet go from empty to engorged in a matter of months.

Another director honored for his work during the event was David O. Russell, whose work on the likes of The Fighter and new release Silver Linings Playbook secured his status as a deserving IFP Gotham Award recipient. "With an independent film you are with your little family and you work together all day every day, and that’s the real difference," he explained. "You’re all there for the passion, and I prefer that because projects have to come from the heart. You have to dig deep."

Academy Award-winners and Gotham honorees Mr. Damon and Ms. Cotillard are certainly no strangers to widespread acclaim, but both seemed similarly touched by their newest prestigious accolade. Ms. Cotillard was every inch the elegant belle of the ball, dazzling in an array of Chopard jewelry and a stunning Christian Dior couture gown.

Clearly her nationality influences not only her wardrobe but her passion for various projects, telling The Observer: “I really cherish the fact that I’m able to share my French movies worldwide, because we have amazing creativity in France.” The softly spoken actress, who stars in the recently released Rust and Bone, seemed quite overcome with emotion, before continuing: “With this film I had one of the greatest journeys ever, and to share this very unconventional love story outside of my country is something that I enjoy more than anything. I never choose a movie because of whether it’s independent or not, it’s just a story that’s got to take me. But independent movies have the freedom of telling stories that nobody except a special director would tell.”

Mr. Damon echoed the Parisian sweetheart’s sentiments, divulging, “I’ve never set goals for my career. Each movie is just story-telling, and I never wanted to not do a bunch of good movies because I was waiting to make a great one.”

The evening was particularly poignant for the actor, who recalled his first attendance at the Gotham Awards some 15 years earlier in the year Good Will Hunting was released. The best-buddy-Ben-Affleck spot was filled not by his usual partner in crime, but by Mr. Krasinski, who became fast friends with the honoree after meeting on the set of The Adjustment Bureau, in which Mr. Damon and Mr. Krasinski’s wife Ms. Blunt, starred. The Observer did contemplate asking whether Mr. Damon’s onscreen dalliance with his friend’s spouse ever induced some awkward glances around the dinner table, but we opted to forgo stirring the salacious pot on this occasion.

Back to the matter at hand, Mr. Damon said he enjoyed the ubiquitous montage of his roles over the years, but revealed, “It’s always a little cringe inducing – if you have a bad or mediocre day at work, it’s alive forever, so that part [of working in film] is always a little weird.”

But Mr. Damon, who plays the lead in upcoming indie flick Promised Land, needn’t worry about bad days at the office, given that his most recent prize was for Lifetime Achievement – at the grand old age of 42. “I hope this is like a buoy marker – a half time thing,” he laughed. “I want to do this for another 50 years!”

And with that, our time with Mr. Damon was up, and he was briskly shepherded to the after party with the rest of his showbiz pals. Alas, we did not get the opportunity to put on our dancing shoes and join in the film festivities, but the evening was quite the show itself.

The after-party for the special screening of Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's in celebration of its 111th Anniversary. (Neil Rasmus)

“I hope I have a job tomorrow.” That was personal shopper Betty Halbreich’s reaction to the Sept. 12 preview of Matthew Miele’s fashion documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s. Ms. Halbreich explained, “I spurt things without thinking!” But to others, her brutal honesty and WASPish sense of humor made her one of the film’s firm favorites. Gossip Girl costume designer Eric Damon spoke for all when he said, “It’s all about Betty.”

Ms. Halbreich, The Observer thinks you’ll be just fine.

As Fashion Week comes to a close, the celebration of Bergdorf Goodman’s 111th anniversary stepped into the spotlight. Swapping Lincoln Center’s front rows for the old-style stadium seating of The Paris Theater, a confluence of fatigued fashionistas enjoyed a show that for the first time in seven days allowed them to remain in their seats for more than 10 minutes.

A special screening of Mr. Miele’s documentary was followed by an after-party at the iconic department store. In popular culture, this lair of luxury goods and ladies-who-lunch has been a backdrop to many a movie scene and TV show; now it’s a story, and a movie, in itself. The 90-minute documentary paints a portrait of Bergdorf’s past, present and future, as Mr. Miele invites a collection of 175 of its directors, clients, employees, designers and wannabe designers to share their experiences and fondest memories of New York’s finest.

For designer Jason Wu, whom we caught up with pre-preview on the purple—not red—carpet, walking into the store is “an experience that can’t be replicated.”

As was, for us, the walk between the 58th Street theater, a haven for the city’s intellectual movie buffs, and Bergdorf’s, just around the corner on Fifth Avenue; we strolled tête-à-tête with Senior Vice President and Fashion Director Linda Fargo.

“The store isn’t just a store,” she said, “Every place has a story—it’s like a newspaper: a lot of paragraphs, a lot of voices, a lot of characters.”

Bergdorf’s rich tapestry of characters didn’t disappoint. Greeting us as we entered the store was doorman James, working his 17th year of magic at the 58th Street entrance and another memorable member of the film’s cast. And David Hoey, who before the screening modestly described himself as “the guy who does the windows,” was also prominently on display.

The windows played a starring role in the film. AndrewAndrew, regular DJs at the store—you may have spotted them there on Fashion’s Night Out—“loved the window show.” Designer Michael Kaye also observed that the whole film could have been about the spectacle from the sidewalk.

Mr. Miele has lifted the purple veil and exposed the secrets behind the glass display. The one caveat, voiced by supermodel Alva Chinn among others, was that it was “a wee bit long.” Perhaps the fashionistas’ endurance was by now conditioned by the brevity of the runway shows.

Although Fashion Week was coming to an end, the thumbs-up, thumbs-down urge continued: Best-dressed was a toss-up between stylist, socialite and model Michelle Harper, with her floor-length black and red gown and Marilyn-Monroe locks, and Michele Ouellet, muse to Libertine designer Johnson Hartig, whose multicolored coat—no it wasn’t Joseph’s—certainly turned some heads.

Mr. Miele himself confessed that he himself was “not a fashion guy at all.” He told us before the screening that his tie (appropriately purple) had been a gift from his wife. The cellphone conversation, he added later, went something like this: She said, “It’s two hundred dollars, is that too much to spend?” He said, “Where are you?” The answer? “I’m at Bergdorf’s!”

Making his way down the red carpet, the young Mr. Horn spoke of his gratitude towards Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock—his co-stars—neither of whom “had any responsibility to be so kind to me”. He then outwitted one reporter who attempted to get him to describe the poster, (which features the young boys face hidden behind his hands), asking him if he was always that sad.

He replied at length about Asperger's syndrome, a form of which his character suffers from.

The rest of the cast were also impressed by the 13 year old, many of them referencing his eloquence. He told us how he landed his role due to a winning appearance on Teen Jeopardy—after which he was contacted by the producers.

“We hope that this film will show people that the best way to overcome grief is to connect with other people,” he explained. “But I can’t personally know that because I’m lucky enough not to have been through it myself.”

Summing up the focus of the film the young actor surmised. “We’ve tried our best to portray the story in a way that could be seen as accurate. We’ve done our research on 9/11, the victims of 9/11 and also on Asperger's syndrome.”

Max Von Sydow, who plays Horn’s grandfather, told us about what the film means to New York and the difficulties involved in taking a character away from its author. “It is a chance for us to come together. There are certain things that help in the healing process and I think this is one of them.”
He also told us of the challenges the actors (and script writers) faced in conveying the deeper themes of Mr. Foer’s novel. “We had to change [the script] once or twice throughout the process...I’m interested to see what he thinks.”

We also ran into Viola Davis, who in addition to having a role in Extremely Loud, got news of her Golden Globe nomination for best actress, for her turn in the The Help that same day. She was asleep when she heard the news. Of her new film, she said, “It reminds us of a time when we woke up to the fact that we need each other to feel and we need each other to grieve.”

During the pre-screening introductions, Mr. Hanks, seemingly in a volubale mood, made the most of his audience—throwing his hands up in the air and punctuating his contemporaries comments with witticisms of his own. As the credits rolled the cast received a tearful ovation and we too headed home with a lump in our throat.

The evening began with the anticipation of the long walk down the red carpet for the likes of Steve Buscemi, Courtney Love and Ewa Da Cruz at least one of which was (hopefully) going to be adorning the red and blue 3D glasses. Unfortunately for us, and for them, they waited until they were in the confines of the theater, thus banishing us to use nothing but our imagination.

Here are some pictures of them (and everyone else) without any eyewear to help you along the way.

Opening the iron doors to the foyer, we were greeted by a solitary publicist, placed behind a desk, monotonously flicking through her guest-list. Meanwhile, an older, red-haired lady with a sense of importance and a crutch traversed the foyer looking for any sign of life.

Were we at the right place? Had we got the right time? Was there such a thing as Another Happy Day?

Our inquiries were met with a reassuring smile and a gentle nudge downstairs, where the red carpet had been positioned. A pack of snap-happy photographers seemed just as eager as us to begin the scheduled celebrations. They lifted their lenses at the sight of The Observer’s entrance, only to fall once they realized we were not the star they were looking for.

Then out of the corner of our eye, we saw the fledglings of the film, child actors Dan Yeltsky and Shaun Rodgers, purchasing buckets full of popcorn. Just a quick conversation with them showed that these two had "clicked," since working together. "I think what Dan is saying is...he's like a little brother to me now," began Mr. Rodgers.

"He clarifies what I say," said Mr. Yeltsky.

As we talked, the rest of the cast came in, met by a similarly dull reception to the one we had endured. The sense of anti-climax was further cemented as director Sam Levinson wouldn't talk to us and the rest of the cast rushed, like children just home from school, into their co-stars' arms. The film has received a lot of attention since Sundance and we surmised that this demure affair could be a display of the collective weariness towards the project.

The Yeltsky/Rodgers duo took time to describe the film for the us. "It's different. In a good way."

Parker Posey provided some much needed insight. The actress who admitted she "doesn't know anything about the film," offered "But Christmas comes right after Halloween."

The press wanted two people—premiere host Julianne Moore and the movie's star Ezra Miller. Neither arrived and there was a growing feeling of impatience. Ms. Moore was delayed at a film set and wouldn't be joining until after the screening. Mr. Miller was late too. So we waited, chatting with friends and family of the cast as well as other well-wishing art-types, none of whom knew anything about the film.

Artist turned filmmaker Julian Schabel, who was dressed in painting overalls offset with a smart jacket, spoke about the premiere he (and we) went to the previous night for My Week With Marilyn. He described Michelle Williams's performance as "off-the-chart brilliant."

Buoyed by the (admirably late) entrance of the star of Mr. Miller, we craned our necks to get him in view...but it was Lorenzo Martone, a mistake that we imagine has never been made before. The impersonator dodged the press when Miller himself entered the hall. Smiling and collected, Mr. Miller, who has two premieres on consecutive nights, both of which see him play a malevolent son in a complex family setup, responded with due poise to our question: Are you in danger of being typecast?

"Yes," he said. "I think all actors are in great danger of being pigeonholed. There is an unfortunate tendency to cast an actor in a role you know he can do...I'm not happy about it."

So what is your ideal role?

"Edgar Allen Poe, the dark years," he said. "When I grow a moustache, I'm after Poe."

A party at the rooftop bar of The Standard followed the quiet screening -- a venue that could be seen as over the top—but celebrations of the film continued into the night with some uncharacteristically lively dancing. In the end we even learned that the lady with a crutch, who greeted us on our entrance, was in fact the mother of actress, Ellen Barkin.