The Gotham Awards 2021 and Where to Watch

The 2021 Gotham Awards take place at 8 p.m. ET, the evening of November 29th, and will be live streamed here

The Gotham Film and Media Awards is the start of the Awards season. The proverbial kick-off event and an excellent way to get festivities started with the best of the independent film movement. Any film with a budget exceeding $35 million is automatically disqualified from contention, meaning many of the front runners in the early Oscar conversation don’t make the cut.

Conversely, the smaller films get the tiniest leg up on the other contenders with the early spotlight. However, it rarely helps in the long run but does have a minor impact with giving these films some exposure. The value of winning a Gotham can be measured by slightly better than a critics awards but less than a precursor.

In the previous year awards, Nomadland’s Gotham success did transfer over to Oscars. Chloe Zhao won Best Feature and the Audience Award. First film since 2016 where the two awards bodies matched up (Moonlight) for feature, but 2017 ended a three-year run of the two lining up (Birdman, Spotlight, and Moonlight). In 30 year history of the Gotham Awards, five times has the winner gone on to take Best Picture (and they didn’t start awarding Best Feature till 2003).

Here are the nominees

BEST FEATURE

The Green Knight
The Lost Daughter
Passing
Pig
Test Pattern

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Ascension
Faya Dayi
Flee
President
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

BINGHAM RAY BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR AWARD

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Edson Oda, Nine Days
Rebecca Hall, Passing
Emma Seligman, Shiva Baby
Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern

BEST SCREENPLAY

The Card Counter, Paul Schrader
El Planeta, Amalia Ulman
The Green Knight, David Lowery
The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Passing, Rebecca Hall
Red Rocket, Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian
Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern
Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter
Taylour Paige, Zola
Joaquin Phoenix, C’mon C’mon
Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Lili Taylor, Paper Spiders
Tessa Thompson, Passing

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Reed Birney, Mass
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Colman Domingo, Zola
Gaby Hoffmann, C’mon C’mon
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Marlee Matlin, CODA
Ruth Negga, Passing