The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s premier member organization of independent storytellers, announced today the nominees for the 29th Annual IFP Gotham Awards. Ten competitive awards will be presented to independent features and series. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Tributes will be given to actors Laura Dern and Sam Rockwell, director Ava DuVernay, and the Gotham Industry Tribute to Glen Basner.
The IFP 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 season, the IFP Gotham 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 congratulate the 2019 IFP Gotham Award nominees and are excited to recognize these artists on December 2nd here in New York, a city known for its great tradition of independent storytelling. This year has been filled with brilliant performances and dynamic work across film and television and we look forward to celebrating these achievements together,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center.
Thirty-three films and series received nominations this year. 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 IFP 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 winners will be selected by online voting of IFP members. Voting for that award begins November 25th and the winner will be announced at the ceremony.
The IFP Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, December 2nd at Cipriani Wall Street.
The 2019 IFP Gotham Award nominations are:
Best Feature
The Farewell
Lulu Wang, director; Daniele Melia, Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf, Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng, Lulu Wang, Anita Gou, producers (A24)
Hustlers
Lorene Scafaria, director; Jessica Elbaum, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, producers (STXfilms)
Marriage Story
Noah Baumbach, director; Noah Baumbach, David Heyman, producers (Netflix)
Uncut Gems
Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, directors; Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear McClard, producers (A24)
Waves
Trey Edward Shults, director; James Wilson, Kevin Turen, Trey Edward Shults, producers (A24)
Best Documentary
American Factory
Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, directors; Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert, Julie Parker Benello, producers (Netflix)
Apollo 11
Todd Douglas Miller, director; Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Baxley Petersen, Evan Krauss, producers (NEON and CNN Films)
The Edge of Democracy
Petra Costa, director; Petra Costa, Tiago Pavan, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris, producers (Netflix)
Midnight Traveler
Hassan Fazili, director; Emelie Mahdavian, Su Kim, producers (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
One Child Nation
Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, directors; Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (Amazon Studios)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre for The Mustang (Focus Features)
Kent Jones for Diane (IFC Films)
Joe Talbot for The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
Olivia Wilde for Booksmart (United Artists Releasing)
Phillip Youmans for Burning Cane (ARRAY Releasing)
Best Screenplay
The Farewell, Lulu Wang (A24)
High Flying Bird, Tarell Alvin McCraney (Netflix)
The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jimmie Fails, Joe Talbot, Rob Richert (A24)
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach (Netflix)
Midsommar, Ari Aster (A24)
Best Actor
Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse (A24)
Adam Driver in Marriage Story (Netflix)
Aldis Hodge in Clemency (NEON)
André Holland in High Flying Bird (Netflix)
Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems (A24)
Best Actress
Awkwafina in The Farewell (A24)
Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell (Gunpowder & Sky)
Mary Kay Place in Diane (IFC Films)
Florence Pugh in Midsommar (A24)
Alfre Woodard in Clemency (NEON)
Breakthrough Actor
Julia Fox in Uncut Gems (A24)
Aisling Franciosi in The Nightingale (IFC Films)
Chris Galust in Give Me Liberty (Music Box Films)
Noah Jupe in Honey Boy (Amazon Studios)
Jonathan Majors in The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
Taylor Russell in Waves (A24
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
Chernobyl, Craig Mazin, creator; Craig Mazin, Carolyn Strauss, Jane Featherstone, executive producers (HBO)
David Makes Man, Tarell Alvin McCraney, creator; Mike Kelley, Melissa Loy, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Denitria Harris-Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, executive producers (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
My Brilliant Friend, Saverio Costanzo, creator; Domenico Procacci; Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani, Guido De Laurentiis, Elena Recchia, Jennifer Schuur, Paolo Sorrentino, executive producers (HBO)
Unbelievable, Susannah Grant, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Lisa Cholodenko, Ayelet Waldman & Michael Chabon, Katie Couric, Richard Tofel, Neil Barsky, Robyn Semien, Marie, executive producers (Netflix)
When They See Us, Ava DuVernay, creator; Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Berry Welsh, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, executive producers (Netflix)
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
PEN15, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, creators; Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Debbie Liebling, Gabe Liedman, Marc Provissiero, Brooke Pobjoy, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Becky Sloviter, Shelley Zimmerman, Brin Lukens, Jordan Levin, executive producers (Hulu)
Ramy, Ramy Youssef, Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch, creators; Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Ravi Nandan, Bridget Bedard, Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch, executive producers (Hulu)
Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, creators; Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, Dave Becky, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, Allison Silverman, executive producers (Netflix)
Tuca & Bertie, Lisa Hanawalt, creator; Lisa Hanawalt, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong, executive producers (Netflix)
Undone, Kate Purdy, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creators; Kate Purdy, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tommy Pallotta, executive producers (Amazon Prime Video)
Twenty-six writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process. The
Nominating Committees for the 2019 IFP Gotham 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, Executive Editor & Chief Critic, IndieWire
Joshua Rothkopf, Global Deputy Film Editor, Time Out Media
Alison Willmore, Film Critic, Vulture
Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Chris Boeckmann, Director of Programming, True/False Film Fest
Ben Fowlie, Executive Director, Points North Institute; Founder, Camden International Film Festival
Cynthia Fuchs, Contributing Editor, PopMatters; Director Film & Media Studies, George Mason University
Tom Hall, Executive Director, Montclair Film
Caroline Libresco, Curator, Producer, and Strategist
Nominating Committee for Best Actor and Best Actress:
David Ehrlich, Senior Film Critic, Indiewire
David Fear, Senior Editor/Critic, Rolling Stone
Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic, Screen Daily; Chief Film Critic, Paste Magazine
Jessica Kiang, Film Critic, Variety, The Playlist, Sight & Sound
Alissa Wilkinson, Film Critic, Vox
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Actor:
Kate Erbland, Deputy Editor, Film, IndieWire
Jon Frosch, Reviews Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Odie Henderson, Reviewer, RogerEbert.com
Tomris Laffly, Film Critic, Time Out New York, RogerEbert.com, Variety
David Sims, Staff Writer, Culture, The Atlantic
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series
Judy Berman, TV Critic, TIME
Jen Chaney, TV Critic, Vulture
Daniel Fienberg, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Caroline Framke, TV Critic, Variety
Alan Sepinwall, Chief TV Critic, Rolling Stone
Brian Tallerico, Editor, RogerEbert.com
Gotham Audience Award
IFP members will determine the Gotham 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 will be eligible to vote. Voting will take place online from November 25th at 12:01 AM EST and conclude on November 30th 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 6-25.
Sponsors
The Premier Sponsor of the 2019 IFP Gotham Awards is The New York Times, and the Philanthropic Supporter is The Rockefeller Foundation. The Official Water Partner is FIJI Water, the Official Airline Partner is JetBlue and the Official Wine Partner is Robert Hall Winery. Additionally, the awards will be promoted nationally in an eight-page special advertising section in The New York Times in November 2019.
2019 IFP Gotham Awards – Alphabetical List of Nominated Films & Series
American Factory
Best Documentary
Apollo 11
Best Documentary
Booksmart
Breakthrough Director
Burning Cane
Breakthrough Director
Chernobyl
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
Clemency
Best Actor
Best Actress
David Makes Man
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
Diane
Breakthrough Director
Best Actress
The Edge of Democracy
Best Documentary
The Farewell
Best Feature
Best Screenplay
Best Actress
Give Me Liberty
Breakthrough Actor
Her Smell
Best Actress
High Flying Bird
Best Screenplay
Best Actor
Honey Boy
Breakthrough Actor
Hustlers
Best Feature
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Breakthrough Director
Best Screenplay
Breakthrough Actor
The Lighthouse
Best Actor
Marriage Story
Best Feature
Best Screenplay
Best Actor
Midnight Traveler
Best Documentary
Midsommar
Best Screenplay
Best Actress
The Mustang
Breakthrough Director
My Brilliant Friend
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
The Nightingale
Breakthrough Actor
One Child Nation
Best Documentary
PEN15
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Ramy
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Russian Doll
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Tuca & Bertie
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Unbelievable
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
Uncut Gems
Best Feature
Best Actor
Breakthrough Actor
Undone
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Waves
Best Feature
Breakthrough Actor
When They See Us
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
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 IFP Week, IFP Labs (Film, Series & Audio Storytelling), Filmmaker Magazine, IFP Gotham 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.
About the IFP Gotham Awards
The IFP Gotham 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, visit the Gothams website.
