The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics), directed by Marielle Heller, tops the field of the 25th Annual Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) Gotham Independent Film Awards with four nominations. Next up with three noms apiece are the Todd Haynes-directed Carol (The Weinstein Company) and director Sean Baker’s Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures). All three of these films are in the running for Best Picture along with Josh and Benny Safdie’s Heaven Knows What (RADiUS) and Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight (Open Road Films).
Spotlight is already a Gotham winner as the nominating committee for the Best Actor and Best Actress categories category voted to present a Special Jury Award jointly to cast members Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James for their ensemble work in the movie. Beyond these individual actors, the committee cited the Spotlight cast as “an outstanding ensemble in which every performance, in every role, of every size, is beautifully realized.”
The other three noms for The Diary of a Teenage Girl are Heller for the Bingham Ray Best Breakthrough Director as well as Best Screenplay, and Bel Powley for Best Actress. Carol’s other two nominations are for Cate Blanchett for Best Actress and Phyllis Nagy for Best Screenplay. And the other pair of noms for Tangerine are Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in the Breakthrough Actor category.
In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actors Helen Mirren and Robert Redford, director Todd Haynes, and Industry Tribute recipient producer Steve Golin.
Twenty-five films received nominations this year. “We congratulate this year’s nominated independent storytellers, who represent a richly diverse range of cinematic achievements that are bold, risk-taking, and beautifully crafted, ” said Joana Vicente, executive director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center.
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. This year the Gotham Awards will also be presenting two new awards for serialized television and web content. Those nominations will be announced next week.
The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 30, at Cipriani Wall Street.
The 2015 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations are:
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)
Special Gotham Jury Award
The 2015 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. (Open Road Films).
