Gotham Independent Film Awards winners: Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin, Emayatzy Corinealdi

At the Gotham Independent Film Awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin won Breakthrough Director and the inaugural Bingham Ray prize. Emayatzy Corinealdi won Breakthrough Actor for her role in Middle of Nowhere. Moonrise Kingdom won Best Feature and the cast of Your Sister’s Sister won Best Ensemble.

Best Feature

• Bernie
• The Loneliest Planet
• The Master
• Middle of Nowhere
• * Moonrise Kingdom

Best Documentary

• Detropia, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, directors; Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, Craig Atkinson, producers (Loki Films)
• * How to Survive a Plague, David France, director; Howard Gertler, David France, producers (Sundance Selects)
• Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
  Matthew Akers, director; Jeff Dupre, Maro Chermayeff, producers (HBO Documentary Films and Music Box Films)
• Room 237, Rodney Ascher, director; Tim Kirk, producer (IFC Midnight)
• The Waiting Room, Peter Nicks, director; Peter Nicks, Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch, producers (International Film Circuit)

Best Ensemble Performance

• Bernie, Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey (Millennium Entertainment)
• Moonrise Kingdom, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban (Focus Features)
• Safety Not Guaranteed, Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni, Jenica Bergere, Kristen Bell, Jeff Garlin, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Film District)
• Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher (The Weinstein Company)
• * Your Sister’s Sister, Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt, Mark Duplass (IFC Films)

Breakthrough Director

• Zal Batmanglij for Sound of My Voice (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for Francine (Factory 25 and The Film Sales Company)
• Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for Now, Forager (Argot Pictures)
• Antonio Méndez Esparza for Aquí y Allá (Here and There) (Torch Films)
• * Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Breakthrough Actor

• Mike Birbiglia in Sleepwalk with Me (IFC Films)
• * Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere (AFFRM and Participant Media)
• Thure Lindhardt in Keep the Lights On (Music Box Films)
• Melanie Lynskey in Hello, I Must Be Going (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You

• Kid-Thing, David Zellner, director; Nathan Zellner, Producer
• * An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Terence Nance, director; Terence Nance, Andrew Corkin, James Bartlett, producers
• Red Flag, Alex Karpovsky, director; Alex Karpovsky, Michael Bowes, producers
• Sun Don’t Shine,  Amy Seimetz, director; Kim Sherman, Amy Seimetz, producers
• Tiger Tail in Blue, Frank V. Ross, director; Adam Donaghey, Drew Durepos, producers

For the second consecutive year, IFP is proud present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film.

The nominees are:

• Leah Meyerhoff, director, I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS
• Stacie Passon, director, CONCUSSION
• Visra Vichit Vadakan, KARAOKE GIRL

Winner of the Gothams Audience Award: “Artifact,” Filmmaker Jared Leto

Winner of inaugural Bingham Ray prize: Benh Zeitlin, director, Beasts of the Southern Wild