Last night Tinseltown celebrated the best of Independent Cinema at the 19th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. The awards ceremony has been dubbed the “Indie Oscars” with many nominees eventually launching their careers by grabbing Oscar nominations.
Congrats to all of the nominees and winners. Kathyrn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and Big Fan were big winners of the night.
Natalie Portman was excited to be given a lifetime achievement award by her “Brothers” director Jim Sheridan. The ceremony was streamed live online via UStream.
Binside TV spotted Natalie Portman, Brooke Shields, Ryan Reynolds and Alec Baldwin schmoozing on the red carpet and mingling at Cipriani. Watch the live re-broadcast if you missed it.
Video streaming by Ustream
Stay tuned for Binside TV red carpet coverage of the event.
Kudos to you, great performance,” Rosie Perez told Willem Dafoe, after saying that Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, a dark, sex-filled drama in which Dafoe co-stars with Charlotte Gainsbourg, was a “sick-ass movie.” That was followed by: “Was that your … Oooohhhh. It was?”
And so went the 2009 edition of the Gotham Awards, in which performers cracked jokes that would be unacceptable on network TV. Unfortunately, that didn’t necessarily make the jokes any funnier or the show any better than, say, the Oscars or the Golden Globes, but on the bright side some of the Gotham choices were unusual — and thus interesting as well.
Chief among those was the choice of Catalina Saavedra as Breakthrough Actor for her performance as a resentful maid in Sebastián Silva’s Chilean-made The Maid (no rhyme intended). Saavedra made her acceptance speech in Spanish, dedicating the award to director-screenwriter Silva, co-screenwriter Pedro Peirano, and fellow cast members. (Silva interceded on her behalf at one point, telling the crowd, “Hey guys, she doesn’t have an agent!” Now, if Saavedra is as lucky as Melissa Leo was last year, she’ll surely have one after landing a best actress Oscar nod early next year.)
Ry Russo-Young’s You Won’t Miss Me, the tale of a problematic young woman (Stella Schnabel) released from a psychiatric hospital, was voted the Best Film Not Showing at a Theater Near You, while Robert Siegel was chosen best director for Big Fan, the tale of a New York Giants fan (Patton Oswalt) who gets beaten up by his favorite player — and then has to deal with it.
Unsurprising were the two The Hurt Locker victories: best picture and best ensemble. A Gotham best picture win usually indicates more awards (or at least award nominations) elsewhere. Among past Gotham best picture winners are Frozen River, Into the Wild, Half Nelson, Capote, and Sideways. [SOURCE]
A total of 22 films received nominations in six competitive categories, including: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You(r).
For the second year, the recipient of the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You award will receive a cash award of $5,000 provided by Reiff & Associates, a full service brokerage firm specializing in Arts & Entertainment Insurance.
In addition to the competitive awards, career tributes were presented to actors Natalie Portman and Stanley Tucci, filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow and producer/executives Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, Co-Chairman of Working Title Films. The awards ceremony was hosted by the up-and-coming comedian, Kumail Nanjiani.
The 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Award(tm) Recipients
Best Feature presented by actress Shohreh Aghdashloo.
THE HURT LOCKER
Directed and produced by Kathryn Bigelow; Written and produced by Mark Boal; Produced by Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro
Released by Summit EntertainmentThe Best Feature Jury included: actress Shohreh Aghdashloo; filmmakers Julie Taymor and William Friedkin, producer Wendy Finerman and musician/composer Stewart Copeland.
Best Documentary presented by actor Melonie Diaz and filmmaker Brett Morgen
FOOD, INC.
Directed and produced by Robert Kenner; Produced by Elise Pearlstein
Released by Magnolia PicturesThe Best Documentary Jury included: editor Sabine Hoffman and filmmakers Edet Belzberg, Albert and Allen Hughes, Brett Morgen and Julia Reichert.
Breakthrough Director Award presented by actors Rosie Perez and Anthony Mackie
ROBERT SIEGEL
Writer and director, BIG FANReleased by First Independent Pictures
The Breakthrough Director Jury included: actors William H. Macy and Rosie Perez, filmmaker Marc Forster, producer Heather Rae, director of photography Matthew Libatique, and editor Christopher Tellefsen.
Breakthrough Actor Award presented by actors Ellen Burstyn and Oliver Platt
CATALINA SAAVEDRA
Actress, THE MAIDReleased by Elephant Eye Films
The Breakthrough Actor Jury included: actors Ellen Burstyn, Melonie Diaz and Oliver Platt, and filmmakers Jesse Peretz and David O. Russell.
Best Ensemble Performance Award presented by actress and author Brooke Shields and writer/director Richard LaGravenese.
Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse and Evangeline Lilly in THE HURT LOCKER
Released by Summit Entertainment / Casting director: Mark Bennett
The Best Ensemble Performance Jury included: actors Dylan Baker, America Ferrera, Brooke Shields, writer/director Richard LaGravenese, and producer Susan Stover.
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Award presented by actors Patricia Clarkson and Sam Rockwell.
YOU WONT MISS ME
Ry Russo-Young, director, producer and co-writerThe recipient of The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You(tm) award was determined by the editors of Filmmaker magazine, a publication of IFP, and a curator from The Museum of Modern Art.
The Premier sponsor of the 2009 Gotham Independent Film Awards(tm) is The New York Times. The awards were promoted nationally in an eight-page special advertising section in The New York Times on Tuesday, November 24th. Presenting Sponsors: A Diamond Is Forever, Focus Features, Stella Artois and Universal Pictures.
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- The Gotham Awards 2009 Noms Include ‘Big Fan,’ ‘Serious Man,’ ‘Hurt Locker’ (cinematical.com)
- Antichrist: Von Trier’s Porno Horror Rhapsody (time.com)
- Hurt Locker, Big Fan Lead Gotham Award Nominees (cinemablend.com)
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