The Gotham Awards kicked off Monday night in lower Manhattan honoring the best independent films of 2021 with a vaccinated, Covid-tested, in-person ceremony at its longtime Cipriani Wall Street home. It’s a big deal as the first, and the first live, major movie awards event at a time when the industry has struggled to gather together. It may also be a pivotal time as interesting films for grownups are finally seeing some traction at the box office after a dismal year.
Already, Emilia Jones has won the Breakthrough Performer award for her starring role in Apple’s CODA, and Maggie Gyllenhaal won Best Screenplay for Netflix’s The Lost Daughter. Drive My Car, the Cannes screenplay winner and Japan’s submission to the International Feature Oscar race, won Best International Film.
In the nonfiction categories, Denmark’s Oscar entry, the animated Flee, won for Best Documentary, while PBS’ Philly D.A. from Topic and Independent Lens won a new award, for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series.
Lost Daughter and Rebecca Hall’s Passing, also from Netflix, swept the top nominations, which were announced last month in 12 categories. In an interesting shift by organizer Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly IFP), the acting awards are no longer defined by gender; the Best Actress and Best Actor categories are now combined in Outstanding Lead Performance and Outstanding Supporting Performance with double the nominees – to 10, from five.
Tonight, in the gender-neutral Outstanding Performance in a New Series category there were two winners: Thuso Mbedu for Amazon Studios’ The Underground Railroad and Ethan Hawke for Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird.
In the series TV categories, Netflix’s Squid Game won its first major U.S. award since its record launch on the streamer, taking the honor tonight for Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes); star Li Jung-jae is also nominated for Outstanding Performer in a New Series.
“When I wrote this script 12 years ago in 2009 I did my best but no one liked it — they said it was too violent, absurd, weird,” Squid Game‘s creator Huwang Dong-hyuk said onstage accepting the trophy. Once it aired, he said, “it tool less than 12 days to become the No. 1 show on the planet.”
In the Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes) category, FX on Hulu’s Reservation Dogs took the prize.
The Gothams can be an industry bellwether coming early in awards season and following fall festival buzz. Last year’s Best Feature Gotham went to Nomadland, which went on to win the Oscar. (Other winners at the Gothams last year included Riz Ahmed as best actor for Sound of Metal and Nicole Beharie as best actress for Miss Juneteenth.)
Films released from March 1-December 31, 2021 and TV series from October 1, 2020-September 30, 2021 were eligible for this year’s 31st edition. Budgets are capped at $35 million, which eliminated some interesting indies from contention including Tick..tick…boom!, The Harder They Fall, The French Dispatch and The Tragedy of Macbeth.
The show is also recognizing an array of independent talent with honorary awards including Magnolia Pictures’ Eamonn Bowles, Industry Tribute; Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), the Directors Tribute; Netflix’s The Harder They Fall cast, Ensemble Tribute; Peter Dinklage (Cyrano) and Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Performer Tributes; late filmmaker/activist Kathleen Collins, inaugural Gotham Icon Award; and The Actors Fund, the Gotham Impact Salute.
Follow along below as we update with winners as they are announced as well as other coverage from inside the venue:
GOTHAM AWARDS 2021 WINNERS
Breakthrough Director
Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Breakthrough Series (over 40 minutes)
Squid Game
Kim Ji-yeon, Hwang Dong-hyu, executive producers (Netflix)
Breakthrough Series (under 40 minutes)
Reservation Dogs
Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, creators; Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Garrett Basch, executive producers (FX)
Breakthrough Nonfiction Series
Philly D.A.
Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar, creators; Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin, executive producers (Topic, Independent Lens, PBS)
Outstanding Performance in a New Series
(tie)
Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)
Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
Best Documentary Feature
Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie, producers (Neon)
Best International Feature
Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Best Screenplay
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix)
Breakthrough Performer
Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple)
Best Feature
Outstanding Lead Performance
Outstanding Supporting Performance
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