2020 has been an eventful year for the film industry, as it has faced many significant changes. While most theatres were closed throughout the majority of the year and many highly anticipated releases were postponed, 2020 was a very solid year for film all things considering and there are still a handful of spectacular films that deserve awards recognition. Despite a shifted eligibility date, online guild screenings and a remote Oscars broadcast, awards season has quickly adapted to the new climate and fortunately remains mostly in tact. The staff here at keithlovesmovies are following awards season closely this year, by covering all of the major precursors. and frequently providing our updated Oscar predictions. This is part four of a regularly scheduled segment.
The 30th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were held last night and they were unpredictable to say the least. While the Gotham Awards exclusively honour American Independent Film’s, they are the first major awards body outside of the critics groups to host their ceremony, cementing them as an important precursor to both the Oscars and the Indie Spirit Awards. A few weeks back, I went through the nominees and made my predictions, which I was fairly confident about at the time. As they do every year, the Gotham’s threw in some curveballs that took everyone by surprise. Let’s take a look at the winners and discuss how the results will impact the Oscar Race.
BEST FEATURE
With the success First Cow and Never Rarely Sometimes Always have been having at the critics circles awards, I thought there was a possibility that either one could pull an upset, but in this case going with the obvious choice was the right choice. Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland is an absolute juggernaut and it if weren’t clear before, its win here cements it as a very strong frontrunner for Best Picture at the oscars.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
- 76 Days
- City Hall
- Out Time Machine
- A Thousand Cuts (tie)
- Time (tie)
The narrative in this category preceding the awards ceremony was Time vs. 76 Days, two films that capture two completely different topics that both defined the year 2020. As I expected, Garrett Bradley’s Time came up on top, but the Gotham’s decided to throw a curveball and also award Ramona S. Diaz’s A Thousand Cuts, a film that was not in the winning conversation. Its hard to tell whether this is an indication that it’s a serious contender at the Oscars or if its just an anomaly.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
- Bacurau
- Beanpole
- Cuties
- Identifying Features
- Marin Eden
- Wolfwalkers
Continuing the trend of making out of left field decisions, The Gothams picked the film that has the least amount of worldwide traction. Many expected the Brazilian epic Bacurau, the Russian drama Beanpole, the historical romance Martin Eden or the animated fantasy Wolfwalkers to all battle it out, but it was the Mexican drama Identifying Features that ended up coming out of no where and pulling off the win. Identifying Features is not eligible for the Oscars, as it was not an official submission, but it is still a film worth putting on your watchlist.
BEST ACTOR
- Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
- Jesse Plemmons (I’m Thinking of Ending Things)
- John Magaro (First Cow)
- Jude Law (The Nest)
- Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)
The late Chadwick Boseman’s performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is undeniably incredible and most awards body’s have been eager to honour him posthumously. The Gothams however decided to go with Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal, a performance that has been picking up a lot of traction among critics circles, at least in terms of receiving nominations. While in some respects it is surprising that the Gothams did not award Boseman, at the end of the day, they are an organization that honours independent film and Sound of Metal is more traditionally indie than Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, with Ahmed delivering the type of performance that the Gothams typically like to award. While I don’t think this win puts Ahmed above Boseman in the Oscar race, it certainly cements him as a serious threat.
BEST ACTRESS
- Carrie Coon (The Nest)
- Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
- Jessie Buckley (I’m Thinking of Ending Things)
- Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth)
- Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)
Possibly the biggest shocker of the night, Nicole Beharie won Best Actress for her performance in Miss Juneteenth, over juggernauts such as Frances McDormand in Nomadland and Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari. Out of the performances nominated, Beharie is from the film with the least amount of exposure, so it came as a shock when she pulled an upset. This is most likely an anomaly and won’t transfer over to other awards shows. The Gotham’s are an independent Awards ceremony, so in cases like this, its nice that they are awarding films and performances that need more exposure.
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Dan Sallitt (Fourteen) (tie)
- James Montague & Craig W. Sander (The Vast of Night)
- Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)
- Mike Makowsky (Bad Education)
- Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version) (tie)
Similar to the Best Documentary category, the Gotham Awards voting body decided to split the vote and award two films. I was personally predicting Kelly Reichardt to pull off the win for First Cow, as she is a dominant force on the independent film scene, however I am not surprised that Blank ended up taking home an award for The Forty Year-Old-Version. The Gothams like to honour new artistic voices, especially in this category, and Blank is someone who will likely continue to make noise in the independent scene. However, I don’t think anyone predicted Dan Sallitt would take home and award for Fourteen, a film that has received very little traction and is not readily available to the general public. Similar to the Best Actress category,
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
- Jasmine Batchelor (The Surrogate)
- Kelly O’Sullivan (Saint Frances)
- Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami)
- Orion Lee (First Cow)
- Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
Unlike the Best Actor category, the Gothams went with the more showy awards season performance, over the more subtle and understated one in this category. I was predicting Sidney Flanigan would end up winning for her performance in Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which would have given her a major awards season boost, but Kingsley Ben-Adir ended up winning instead, which I can’t complain about considering he delivered a phenomenal performance in his own right. While the Best Actor category is looking extremely crowded, this win could give Ben-Adir the boost he needs to sneak in there.
BINGHAM RAY BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR AWARD
- Alex Thompson (Saint Frances)
- Andrew Patterson (The Vast of Night)
- Carlo Mirabella-Davis (Swallow)
- Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth)
- Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version)
While I had predicted Blank would take home the award as she’s the most prolific name here, I’m ecstatic that Andrew Patterson got recognition, as The Vast of Night is an incredible directing achievement considering the budget. While the film likely won’t appear anywhere else outside of the Indie Spirits, this win gives Patterson more recognition which will hopefully get the attention of major studios as his style would definitely work well with larger budget films.
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