NEW YORK -- (SPW) --

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s premier member organization of independent storytellers, announced the nominees for the 26th Annual IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards. For 2016, ten competitive awards will be presented to independent features and series. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actors Amy Adams and Ethan Hawke, director Oliver Stone, and Industry Tribute recipient, producer Arnon Milchan.

The Gotham Awards is one of the leading awards for independent film and signals the kick-off to the film awards season. As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. The awards are also unique for their ability to assist in catapulting award recipients prominently into national awards season attention.

“We wish to offer our hearty congratulations to the 2016 Gotham Awards nominees, all of whose unique and exciting artistic achievements represent the very best in independent storytelling,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center.

Thirty-two films and series received nominations this year. In addition, the nominating committees for the Best Actor and Best Actress categories and the Breakthrough Actor category jointly voted to award a Special Jury Award to the ensemble cast of Moonlight “in which actors at all levels of experience give outstanding performances that speak eloquently to one another both within and across each chapter of the story.”

 Nominees are selected by committees of film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. Separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors and others directly involved in making films will determine the final Gotham Award recipients.

The Gotham Audience Award nominees are comprised of the 15 films nominated for Best Feature, Best Documentary, and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. The winner will be selected by online voting of IFP members. Voting for that award begins November 16th at 12:01 AM EST.

The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 28th at Cipriani Wall Street.

The 2016 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations are:

Best Feature

Certain Women

Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (IFC Films)

Everybody Wants Some!!

Richard Linklater, director; Megan Ellison, Ginger Sledge, Richard Linklater, producers (Paramount Pictures)

Manchester by the Sea

Kenneth Lonergan, director; Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. Walsh, producers (Amazon Studios)

Moonlight

Barry Jenkins, director; Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, producers (A24)

Paterson

Jim Jarmusch, director; Joshua Astrachan, Carter Logan, producers (Amazon Studios)

 

Best Documentary

Cameraperson

Kirsten Johnson, director; Marilyn Ness, producer (Janus Films)

I Am Not Your Negro

Raoul Peck, director; Rémi Grellety, Raoul Peck, Hébert Peck, producers (Magnolia Pictures, Independent Lens)

O.J.: Made in America

Ezra Edelman, director; Caroline Waterlow, Ezra Edelman, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Deirdre Fenton, Erin Leyden, producers (ESPN Films)

Tower

Keith Maitland, director; Keith Maitland, Megan Gilbride, Susan Thomson, producers (Kino Lorber, Independent Lens)

Weiner

Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg, directors and producers (Sundance Selects and Showtime Documentary Films)

 

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Robert Eggers for The Witch (A24)

Anna Rose Holmer for The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for Swiss Army Man (A24)

Trey Edward Shults for Krisha (A24)

Richard Tanne for Southside with You (Roadside Attractions and Miramax)

 

Best Screenplay

Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan (CBS Films)

Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman (Amazon Studios)

Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan (Amazon Studios)

Moonlight, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)

Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (Amazon Studios)

 

Best Actor*

Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)

Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water (CBS Films)

Adam Driver in Paterson (Amazon Studios)

Joel Edgerton in Loving (Focus Features)

Craig Robinson in Morris from America (A24)

 

Best Actress*

Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship (Amazon Studios)

Annette Bening in 20th Century Women (A24)

Isabelle Huppert in Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)

Ruth Negga in Loving (Focus Features)

Natalie Portman in Jackie (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

 

Breakthrough Actor*

Lily Gladstone in Certain Women (IFC Films)

Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)

Royalty Hightower in The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Sasha Lane in American Honey (A24)

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (A24)

* The 2016 Best Actor/Best Actress and Breakthrough Actor nominating panels also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Moonlight, “in which actors at all levels of experience give outstanding performances that speak eloquently to one another both within and across each chapter of the story.” The awards will go to actors Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, and Ashton Sanders.

 

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom & Aline Brosh McKenna, creators; Marc Webb, Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna, Erin Ehrlich, executive producers (The CW)

The Girlfriend Experience, Lodge Kerrigan, Amy Seimetz, creators; Steven Soderbergh, Philip Fleischman, Amy Seimetz, Lodge Kerrigan, Jeff Cuban, Gary Marcus, executive producers (Starz)

Horace and Pete, Louis C.K., creator; M. Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Vernon Chatman, Dino Stamatopoulos, executive producers (louisck.net)

Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Melissa Rosenberg, creator; Melissa Rosenberg, Liz Friedman, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Jim Chory, Jeph Loeb, Howard Klein, executive producers (Netflix)

Master of None, Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, creators; Michael Schur, David Miner, Dave Becky, executive producers (Netflix)

 

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, Brian Jordan Alvarez, creator (YouTube)

Her Story, Jen Richards and Laura Zak, creators (herstoryshow.com)

The Movement, Darnell Moore, Host (Mic.com)

Sitting in Bathrooms with Trans People, Dylan Marron, creator (Seriously.TV)

Surviving, Reagan Gomez, creator (YouTube)

Twenty-nine writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process. The Nominating Committees for the 2016 IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards were:

Nominating Committee for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Breakthrough Director:

Justin Chang, Film Critic, Los Angeles Times

Ann Hornaday, Chief Film Critic, The Washington Post

Eric Kohn, Deputy Editor & Chief Film Critic, Indiewire

Dana Stevens, Movie Critic, Slate

Stephanie Zacharek, Film Critic, TIME

 

Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:

Joanne Feinberg, Producer, Consultant, and Curator, FeinFilm

Ben Fowlie, Executive Director of the Points North Institute; Founder of the Camden International Film Festival

Cynthia Fuchs, Film-TV Editor, PopMatters; Director of Film & Media Studies, George Mason University

Tom Hall, Executive Director, The Montclair Film Festival

Sky Sitney, Professor, Film and Media Studies, Georgetown University; Co-Director, Double Exposure Festival

 

Nominating Committee for Best Actor and Best Actress:

A.A. Dowd, Film Editor, The A.V. Club

Mark Harris, Columnist, Vulture

Jessica Kiang, Features Editor & Festival Critic, The Playlist; Film Critic, Variety

David Rooney, Chief Theater Critic, The Hollywood Reporter

Alison Willmore, Critic, BuzzFeed

 

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Actor:

Bilge Ebiri, Film Critic, Village Voice

David Ehrlich, Senior Film Critic, Indiewire

Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic, Screen International; Chief Film Critic, Paste

Sheila O’Malley, Writer/Film Critic, RogerEbert.com, The Sheila Variations

Katie Walsh, Film Critic, Tribune Content Agency, Los Angeles Times

 

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series – Long Form:

Matthew Gilbert, TV Critic, The Boston Globe

Liz Shannon Miller, TV Editor, Indiewire

Sonia Saraiya, TV Critic, Variety

David Sims, Senior Associate Editor, The Atlantic

Tim Goodman, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter

 

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series – Short Form:

Rich Goldstein, Producer, The Daily Beast

Randi Kleiner, Founder & CEO, SeriesFest

Paula Mejia, Reporter & Culture Writer, Newsweek

Aymar Jean Christian, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University

deep euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ Grant

For the sixth consecutive year, euphoria Calvin Klein is proud to present the Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP’s Screen Forward Lab. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film or episodic series. The nominees are:

Shaz Bennett, director, Alaska is a Drag

Katie Orr, director, Poor Jane

Roxy Toporowych, director, Julia Blue

Gotham Independent Film Audience Award
IFP members will determine the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award with nominees comprised of the 15 nominated films in the Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories. All IFP current, active members at the Individual Level and above will be eligible to vote.  Voting will take place online from November 16th at 12:01 AM EST and conclude on November 23rd at 5:00 PM EST. In addition, IFP will be scheduling screenings of the nominated films for IFP members in the theater at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP in Brooklyn. These screenings will take place from November 9-15. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced at the Gotham Awards Ceremony on November 28, 2016.

Sponsors
The Premier Sponsor of the 2016 Gotham Awards is The New York Times, and the Platinum Sponsors are deep euphoria Calvin Klein and Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Office of Film, Music and Entertainment.

2016 IFP Gotham Awards – Alphabetical List of Nominated Films & Series

20th Century Women

Best Actress

American Honey

Breakthrough Actor

Cameraperson

Best Documentary

Certain Women

Best Feature

Breakthrough Actor

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

Elle

Best Actress

Everybody Wants Some!!

Best Feature

The Fits

Breakthrough Director

Breakthrough Actor

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

The Girlfriend Experience

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

Hell or High Water

Best Screenplay

Best Actor

Her Story

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

Horace and Pete

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

I Am Not Your Negro

Best Documentary

Jackie

Best Actress

Krisha

Breakthrough Director

Love & Friendship

Best Screenplay

Best Actress

Loving

Best Actor

Best Actress

Manchester by the Sea

Best Feature

Best Screenplay

Best Actor

Breakthrough Actor

Marvel’s Jessica Jones

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

Master of None

Breakthrough Series – Long Form

Moonlight

Best Feature

Best Screenplay

Special Jury Award – Ensemble Performance

Morris from America

Best Actor

The Movement

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

O.J.: Made in America

Best Documentary

Paterson

Best Feature

Best Screenplay

Best Actor

Sitting in Bathrooms with Trans People

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

Southside with You

Breakthrough Director

Surviving

Breakthrough Series – Short Form

Swiss Army Man

Breakthrough Director

Tower

Best Documentary

Weiner

Best Documentary

The Witch

Breakthrough Director

Breakthrough Actor

About IFP
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) champions the future of storytelling by connecting artists with essential resources at all stages of development and distribution. The organization fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Independent Film Week, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the Made in NY Media Center by IFP, a tech and media incubator space developed with the New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

IFP represents a growing network of storytellers around the world, and plays a key role in developing 350 new feature and documentary works each year. During its 37-year history, IFP has supported over 10,000+ projects and offered resources to more than 20,000+ filmmakers, including Debra Granik, Miranda July, Michael Moore, Dee Rees, and Benh Zeitlin. More info at www.ifp.org.

About the Gotham Independent Film Awards by IFP
The IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards, selected by distinguished juries and presented in New York City, the home of independent film, are the first honors of the film awards season. This public showcase honors the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that IFP does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.

For information on attending: http://gotham.ifp.org
 

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