Gotham Nominations: Marriage Story, The Farewell Come in Strong

Here are the nominees for the Gothams, all but securing Marriage Story’s place in the Oscar race – but remember what I always tell you about these awards – know the critics, understand the nominations. Usually one, sometimes two from their Best Feature lineup will make it into the Oscar race for Best Picture. Also note, Awkwafina makes it in but not Scarlett Johansson – it’s a nice bump for Uncut Gems too, getting in for Best Feature and Best Actor and nice to see Last Black Man in San Francisco recognized.

The Gothams aren’t an industry award – they are yet another critics award by the same critics who give out their other critics award with a focus on independent film. But it is always important to remember that they are coming from the place of CRITICS, not industry:

Best Feature

The Farewell
Lulu Wang, director; Daniele Melia, Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf, Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng, Lulu Wang, Anita Gou, producers (A24)

Hustlers
Lorene Scafaria, director; Jessica Elbaum, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, producers (STXfilms)

Marriage Story
Noah Baumbach, director; Noah Baumbach, David Heyman, producers (Netflix)

Uncut Gems
Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, directors; Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear McClard, producers (A24)

Waves
Trey Edward Shults, director; James Wilson, Kevin Turen, Trey Edward Shults, producers (A24)

Best Documentary

American Factory
Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, directors; Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert, Julie Parker Benello, producers (Netflix)

Apollo 11
Todd Douglas Miller, director; Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Baxley Petersen, Evan Krauss, producers (NEON and CNN Films)

The Edge of Democracy
Petra Costa, director; Petra Costa, Tiago Pavan, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris, producers (Netflix)

Midnight Traveler
Hassan Fazili, director; Emelie Mahdavian, Su Kim, producers (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

One Child Nation
Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, directors; Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (Amazon Studios)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre for The Mustang (Focus Features)
Kent Jones for Diane (IFC Films)
Joe Talbot for The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
Olivia Wilde for Booksmart (United Artists Releasing)
Phillip Youmans for Burning Cane (ARRAY Releasing)

Best Screenplay
The Farewell, Lulu Wang (A24)
High Flying Bird, Tarell Alvin McCraney (Netflix)
The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jimmie Fails, Joe Talbot, Rob Richert (A24)
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach (Netflix)
Midsommar, Ari Aster (A24)

Best Actor
Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse (A24)
Adam Driver in Marriage Story (Netflix)
Aldis Hodge in Clemency (NEON)
André Holland in High Flying Bird (Netflix)
Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems (A24)

Best Actress
Awkwafina in The Farewell (A24)
Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell (Gunpowder & Sky)
Mary Kay Place in Diane (IFC Films)
Florence Pugh in Midsommar (A24)
Alfre Woodard in Clemency (NEON)

Breakthrough Actor
Julia Fox in Uncut Gems (A24)
Aisling Franciosi in The Nightingale (IFC Films)
Chris Galust in Give Me Liberty (Music Box Films)
Noah Jupe in Honey Boy (Amazon Studios)
Jonathan Majors in The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
Taylor Russell in Waves (A24)

Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)

Chernobyl, Craig Mazin, creator; Craig Mazin, Carolyn Strauss, Jane Featherstone, executive producers (HBO)

David Makes Man, Tarell Alvin McCraney, creator; Mike Kelley, Melissa Loy, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Denitria Harris-Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, executive producers (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

My Brilliant Friend, Saverio Costanzo, creator; Domenico Procacci, Mario Gianani, Guido De Laurentiis, Elena Recchia, Jennifer Schuur, Paolo Sorrentino, executive producers (HBO)

Unbelievable, Susannah Grant, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Lisa Cholodenko, Ayelet Waldman & Michael Chabon, Katie Couric, Richard Tofel, Neil Barsky, Robyn Semien, Marie, executive producers (Netflix)

When They See Us, Ava DuVernay, creator; Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Berry Welsh, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, executive producers (Netflix)

Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)

PEN15, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, creators; Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Debbie Liebling, Gabe Liedman, Marc Provissiero, Brooke Pobjoy, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Becky Sloviter, Shelley Zimmerman, Brin Lukens, Jordan Levin, executive producers (Hulu)

Ramy, Ramy Youssef, Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch, creators; Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Ravi Nandan, Bridget Bedard, Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch, executive producers (Hulu)

Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, creators; Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, Dave Becky, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, Allison Silverman, executive producers (Netflix)

Tuca & Bertie, Lisa Hanawalt, creator; Lisa Hanawalt, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong, executive producers (Netflix)

Undone, Kate Purdy, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creators; Kate Purdy, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tommy Pallotta, executive producers (Amazon Prime Video)

Twenty-six writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process. The
Nominating Committees for the 2019 IFP Gotham Awards were:

Nominating Committee for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Breakthrough Director:
Justin Chang, Film Critic, Los Angeles Times
Ann Hornaday, Chief Film Critic, The Washington Post
Eric Kohn, Executive Editor & Chief Critic, IndieWire
Joshua Rothkopf, Global Deputy Film Editor, Time Out Media
Alison Willmore, Film Critic, Vulture

Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Chris Boeckmann, Director of Programming, True/False Film Fest
Ben Fowlie, Executive Director, Points North Institute; Founder, Camden International Film Festival
Cynthia Fuchs, Contributing Editor, PopMatters; Director Film & Media Studies, George Mason University
Tom Hall, Executive Director, Montclair Film
Caroline Libresco, Curator, Producer, and Strategist

Nominating Committee for Best Actor and Best Actress:
David Ehrlich, Senior Film Critic, Indiewire
David Fear, Senior Editor/Critic, Rolling Stone
Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic, Screen Daily; Chief Film Critic, Paste Magazine
Jessica Kiang, Film Critic, Variety, The Playlist, Sight & Sound
Alissa Wilkinson, Film Critic, Vox

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Actor:
Kate Erbland, Deputy Editor, Film, IndieWire
Jon Frosch, Reviews Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Odie Henderson, Reviewer, RogerEbert.com
Tomris Laffly, Film Critic, Time Out New York, RogerEbert.com, Variety
David Sims, Staff Writer, Culture, The Atlantic

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series
Judy Berman, TV Critic, TIME
Jen Chaney, TV Critic, Vulture
Daniel Fienberg, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Caroline Framke, TV Critic, Variety
Alan Sepinwall, Chief TV Critic, Rolling Stone
Brian Tallerico, Editor, RogerEbert.com

Gotham Audience Award
IFP members will determine the Gotham Audience Award with nominees comprised of the 15 nominated films in the Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories. All IFP current, active members will be eligible to vote. Voting will take place online from November 25th at 12:01 AM EST and conclude on November 30th at 5:00 PM EST. In addition, IFP will be scheduling screenings of the nominated films for IFP members in the theater at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP in Brooklyn. These screenings will take place from November 6-25.