Here we go… awards season is off and running. In the latest nominations announcement, The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), revealed the nominees for the 27th Annual IFP Gotham Awards. The ceremony will be held on Monday, November 27th at Cipriani Wall Street.
For 2017, 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 Nicole Kidman and Dustin Hoffman, director Sofia Coppola, producer Jason Blum, cinematographer Ed Lachman, and a Gotham Humanitarian Tribute to Al Gore.
Thirty-four films and series received nominations this year. In addition, the nominating committee for the Best Actor and Best Actress categories voted to award a Special Jury Award to the ensemble cast of Mudbound.
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 2017 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations are:
Best Feature
Call Me by Your Name
Luca Guadagnino, director; Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Florida Project
Sean Baker, director; Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou, producers (A24)
Get Out
Jordan Peele, director; Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm, Jr., Jordan Peele, producers (Universal Pictures)
Good Time
Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis, Terry Dougas, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Oscar Boyson, producers (A24)
I, Tonya
Craig Gillespie, director; Bryan Unkeless, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, producers (NEON)
Best Documentary
Ex Libris – The New York Public Library
Frederick Wiseman, director and producer (Zipporah Films)
Rat Film
Theo Anthony, director; Riel Roch-Decter, Sebastian Pardo, producers (MEMORY and Cinema Guild)
Strong Island
Yance Ford, director; Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Netflix)
Whose Streets?
Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, directors; Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, Jennifer MacArthur, Flannery Miller, producers (Magnolia Pictures)
The Work
Jairus McLeary, director; Alice Henty, Eon McLeary, Jairus McLeary, Miles McLeary, producers (The Orchard and First Look Media)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Maggie Betts for Novitiate (Sony Pictures Classics)
Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (A24)
Kogonada for Columbus (Superlative Films/Depth of Field)
Jordan Peele for Get Out (Universal Pictures)
Joshua Z Weinstein for Menashe (A24)
Best Screenplay
The Big Sick, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (Amazon Studios)
Brad’s Status, Mike White (Amazon Studios)
Call Me by Your Name, James Ivory (Sony Pictures Classics)
Columbus, Kogonada (Superlative Films/Depth of Field)
Get Out, Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures)
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig (A24)
Best Actor*
Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project (A24)
James Franco in The Disaster Artist (A24)
Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out (Universal Pictures)
Robert Pattinson in Good Time (A24)
Adam Sandler in The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (Netflix)
Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky (Magnolia Pictures)
Best Actress*
Melanie Lynskey in I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Netflix)
Haley Lu Richardson in Columbus (Superlative Films/Depth of Field)
Margot Robbie in I, Tonya (NEON)
Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird (A24)
Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime (FilmRise)
Breakthrough Actor
Mary J. Blige in Mudbound (Netflix)
Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics)
Harris Dickinson in Beach Rats (NEON)
Kelvin Harrison, Jr. in It Comes at Night (A24)
Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project (A24)
* The 2017 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating committee also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Mudbound, The award will go to actors Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan Banks.
Breakthrough Series – Long Form
Atlanta, Donald Glover, creator; Donald Glover, Dianne McGunigle, Paul Simms, executive producers (FX Networks)
Better Things, Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K., creators; Dave Becky, M. Blair Breard, Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon, executive producers (FX Networks)
Dear White People, Justin Simien, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Justin Simien, Stephanie Allain, Julia Lebedev, executive producers (Netflix)
Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator; Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Harry Williams, Jack Williams, executive producers (Amazon)
Search Party, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, creators; Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, executive producers (TBS)
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
555, Kate Berlant, Andrew DeYoung and John Early, creators (Vimeo)
Inconceivable, Joel Ashton McCarthy, creator (YouTube)
Junior, Zoe Cassavetes, creator (Blackpills and VICE)
Let Me Die a Nun, Sarah Salovaara, creator (Vimeo)
The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes, Nancy Andrews, creator (YouTube)
(Additional credits to be determined.)
Twenty-eight writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process. The
Nominating Committees for the 2017 IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards were:
Nominating Committee for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Breakthrough Director:
Justin Chang, Film Critic, Los Angeles Times
Peter Debruge, Chief Film Critic, Variety
Christy Lemire, Film Critic, RogerEbert.com; Co-host of What the Flick?!
David Rooney, Chief Theater Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Joshua Rothkopf, Global Deputy Film Editor, Time Out New York
Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Ben Fowlie, Executive Director, Points North Institute; Founder, Camden International Film Festival
Cynthia Fuchs, Film & TV Reviews, PopMatters; Director of Film & Media Studies, George Mason University
Eric Kohn, Deputy Editor & Chief Critic, Indiewire
Mike Maggiore, Programmer, Film Forum
Alissa Wilkinson, Film Critic, Vox
Nominating Committee for Best Actor and Best Actress:
A.A. Dowd, Film Editor, The A.V. Club
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
Alison Willmore, Film Critic, BuzzFeed News; Co-host Filmspotting: Streaming Video Unit
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Actor:
Bilge Ebiri, Film Critic, Village Voice
David Sims, Senior Associate Editor, The Atlantic
Brian Tallerico, Film Editor, RogerEbert.com
Katie Walsh, Film Critic, Tribune Content Agency, Los Angeles Times
Emily Yoshida, Film Critic, New York Magazine/Vulture.com
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series – Long Form:
Sophie Gilbert, Staff Writer, Culture, The Atlantic
Tim Goodman, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Liz Shannon Miller, TV Editor, Indiewire
Sonia Saraiya, TV Critic, Variety
Matt Zoller Seitz, Editor-in-Chief, RogerEbert.com; TV Critic, New York Magazine/Vulture.com
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series – Short Form:
Jude Dry, Reporter, Critic, Indiewire
Randi Kleiner, Founder & CEO, SeriesFest
Paula Mejia, Associate Editor, Atlas Obscura; Author, Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy
Gotham Independent Film Audience Award
IFP members will determine the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award with nominees comprised of the 14 nominated films in the Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories.
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
IFP members will determine the winner from among the five nominees for this award by viewing and voting for them online.
All IFP current, active members at the Individual Level and above will be eligible to vote for these audience-determined categories. Voting will take place online from November 17th at 12:01 AM EST and conclude on November 25th 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 10-21.
