Gotham Nominees Announced – Ballast Out in Front

Lance Hammer’s Ballast Receives Four Nominations including Best Feature, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor and Best Ensemble Performance

Six titles receive two nominations each including Afterschool; Frozen River;
Rachel Getting Married; Synecdoche, New York; Vicky Cristina Barcelona; and
The Visitor

The 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film AwardTM nominees are:
Best Feature
Ballast
Frozen River
Synecdoche, New York
The Visitor
The Wrestler

Best Documentary:
Chris & Don: A Love Story
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Trouble the Water

Best Ensemble Performance
Ballast
Micheal J. Smith, Sr., JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail (Alluvial Film Company)
Rachel Getting Married
Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Debra Winger (Sony Pictures Classics)
Synecdoche, New York
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Tom Noonan (Sony Pictures Classics)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz (The Weinstein Company)
The Visitor
Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbas, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira (Overture Films)

Breakthrough Director
Antonio Campos for Afterschool
Dennis Dortch for A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy (Magnolia Pictures)
Lance Hammer for Ballast (Alluvial Film Company)
Barry Jenkins for Medicine for Melancholy (IFC Films)
Alex Rivera for Sleep Dealer (Maya Releasing)

Breakthrough Actor
Pedro Castaneda in August Evening (Maya Releasing)
Rosemarie DeWitt in Rachel Getting Married (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (The Weinstein Company)
Melissa Leo in Frozen River (Sony Pictures Classics)
Alejandro Polanco in Chop Shop (Koch Lorber Films)
Micheal J. Smith, Sr. in Ballast (Alluvial Film Company)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM
Afterschool
Meadowlark
The New Year Parade

Sita Sings the Blues
Wellness

Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Best Ensemble Performance:
Ty Burr, Film Critic, The Boston Globe
Scott Foundas, Film Editor / Film Critic, LA Weekly
Dave Karger, Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly
Carrie Rickey, Film Critic, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor:
Cynthia Fuchs, Film Critic, PopMatters and NPR.org
Robert Koehler, Film Critic, Variety
Rob Nelson, Film Critic, Minnesota Post
Andrew O’Hehir, Senior Writer, Salon.com

Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Cynthia Fuchs, Film Critic, PopMatters and NPR.org
Owen Gleiberman, Film Critic, Entertainment Weekly
Tom Hall, Director of Programming, Sarasota Film Festival
Ronnie Scheib, Film Critic, Variety

Nominating Committee for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM:
Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film and Media, Museum of Modern Art;
and members of the editorial staff of Filmmaker Magazine: Scott Macaulay (Editor-in-Chief), Nick Dawson, Mary Glucksman, Jason Guerrasio, Brandon Harris, Ray Pride

2008 Gotham Independent Film AwardsTM – Alphabetical List of Nominated Films
Afterschool
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee
Breakthrough Director nominee

August Evening
Breakthrough Actor nominee

Ballast
Best Feature nominee
Best Ensemble Performance nominee
Breakthrough Actor nominee
Breakthrough Director nominee

Chop Shop
Breakthrough Actor nominee

Chris & Don: A Love Story
Best Documentary nominee

Encounters at the End of the World
Best Documentary nominee

Frozen River
Best Feature nominee
Breakthrough Actor nominee

A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy
Breakthrough Director nominee

Man on Wire
Best Documentary nominee

Meadowlark
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

Medicine for Melancholy
Breakthrough Director nominee

The New Year Parade
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

Rachel Getting Married
Best Ensemble Performance nominee
Breakthrough Actor nominee