Gotham Awards 2023: De Niro Censored and Gladstone Crowned
Tuesday, November 28, 2023 at 7:30PM 
With the Gotham Awards ceremony, the season is officially underway. It was a night marked by studio intrusions into a space heretofore reserved for indie filmmaking, a "spread the wealth" attitude, and one controversy. When introducing a prize to Killers of the Flower Moon, Robert De Niro found his speech censored – presumably by Apple – but that didn't stop him from saying everything he had in mind. As soon as the video package wrapped, De Niro made sure to read his original text, complete with anti-Trump sentiment and John Wayne shade.
Some surprising results included a victory for A.V. Rockwell's A Thousand and One over Past Lives in the Breakthrough Director category, though the Celine Song film still took home the night's biggest prize. On the acting front, Charles Melton won Outstanding Supporting Performance for May December and charmed the whole room, while Lily Gladstone took the Lead Performance prize for The Unknown Country. Even when she's not representing Martin Scorsese's latest, voters are eager to recognize the actress…
Check the complete nominations here, but now, let's look at this year's winners.
BEST FEATURE
PAST LIVES, Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon
Song's film won its first of many awards this season. At the very least, one can expect a lot of First Feature honors on the horizon. A Best Picture nomination doesn't seem unlikely either, with how audiences have reacted to the drama about South Korean childhood friends meeting for the first time in years, an emotional day around New York.
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
Lily Gladstone, THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY
May this be the beginning of an amazing few months for Lily Gladstone. Maybe other awards organizations will remember her stellar work in this underseen indie alongside her Oscar-hopeful turn in Killers of the Flower Moon.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER
Ever since Cannes, critics' enthusiasm for Melton as a potential contender has felt a tad overblown. AMPAS isn't always kind to Haynes movies, and, as Nathaniel mentions in his predictions, voters tend to turn their noses at beautiful young male actors. However, a recent groundswell of support, smart campaigning, and charming presence have made him look more viable for gold. Can he transcend the Academy's anti-hunk tendencies? Time will tell.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
FOUR DAUGHTERS, Nadim Cheikhrouha & Kaouther Ben Hania
Beyond competing for Best Documentary honors, Four Daughters is also Tunisia's official Oscar submission, a fact the director made sure to get into her speech. In recent years, awards organizations have been more open to recognizing documentaries and docu-fiction hybrids in their international categories, so here's hoping Kaouther Ben Hania's fascinating picture gets its time in the sun.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Truet, Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion
BEST SCREENPLAY
ANATOMY OF A FALL, Arthur Harari & Justine Triet
Anatomy of a Fall was the only feature to win more than one award at this year's Gothams, triumphing over nomination-leader All of Us Strangers, among other big titles. Since Triet wasn't in attendance, her life partner and co-writer Arthur Harari accepted both prizes, making sure to credit the director's genius along the way.
BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
A.V. Rockwell, A THOUSAND AND ONE
Maybe the night's biggest surprise, even Rockwell seemed shocked at the jury's decision. Her tearful speech was one of the ceremony's highlights, and it'll hopefully convince more people to watch the beautiful Sundance winner.
BREAKTHROUGH SERIES, OVER 40 MINUTES
A SMALL LIGHT, Peter Traugott, Susanna Fogel, Joan Rater, Alon Shtruzman, Lisa Roos, Avi Nir, William Harper & Tony Phelan
BREAKTHROUGH SERIES, UNDER 40 MINUTES
BEEF, Jacke Schreier, Lee Sing Jin, Ali Wong, Steven Yeun & Ravi Nandan
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SERIES
Ali Wong, BEEF
In TV-land, it was a good night for miniseries, with A Small Light and Beef triumphing over multi-season shows. Along with Triet and Gladstone, Wong was one of the Gothams' few double winners of 2023.
CULTURAL ICON AND CREATOR
Bradley Cooper, MAESTRO
GLOBAL ICON AND CREATOR
Greta Gerwig, BARBIE
HISTORICAL ICON AND CREATOR
Martin Scorsese & Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
ICON AND CREATOR TRIBUTE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
George C. Wolf, RUSTIN
ICON AND CREATOR TRIBUTE FOR INNOVATION
Michael Mann, FERRARI
VISIONARY ICON AND CREATOR
Ben Affleck, AIR
What did you think of this year's Gotham Award Winners? Will they affect the coming season, or will their results be forgotten as bigger prizes come around?
Reader Comments (14)
Just what do they mean by "icon" ? - "celebrity"? "someone we've heard of somewhere"? "someone who'll accept our award'? It looks like "icon" will be joining "hero" (= soldier), "diva" (= woman with a recording contract) and "surreal" (=anything out of the ordinary) on the short list of words rendered meaningless through overuse.
Also, the censorship of Robert DeNiro by Apple (with the Gotham Awards blessing?) is something truly ominous and needs to be taken seriously and prevented in the future. First, they fire John Stewart, now this.
"Leading performance", "Supporting performance".
This give me chills!
This really give me chills!
Genderless awards in your as*!
Seems so much emptier without 4 acting awards.
I would just like to mention that, before these genderless categories, the Gothams also only had 2 acting prizes, Best Actor and Best Actress. To say it feels emptier than in years before seems a bit ahistorical considering more people are nominated now and the number of winners is the same. Indeed, with the TV award they're awarding more acting prizes than before. Well, more or less, since they didn't have a Breakthrough Actor category this year as they've had in past editions.
I'm starting to root for Melton - don't know if he can make it to the big list, but he unravels brilliantly in May December.
The Gotham Awards are so goofy - what is up with all the "icon" awards?!
I'm happy to see Lily Gladstone being recognized. She's a big part of my classroom as she hosted the Crash Course Film Production series that we use when going in depth into different aspects of the industry.
I am not surprised Robert De Niro was censored. I think Barbra Streisand addresses the role of artist as citizen eloquently in her new autobiography
“I have great respect for artists. Their work gives us a reflection of the times, and sometimes they challenge us to see what others would prefer to ignore. They can give voice to the voiceless, by speaking up when no one else will. And when that work is done well, it makes us think and feel . . . and stimulates change. Artists can be a country’s conscience.
That’s why art is the enemy of tyrants and dictators.
When politicians denounce artists and defund the arts, it’s time to change the politicians.
I believe we all have not only the right, but the responsibility to be politically active and to question authority. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I knew I was no expert, but along with every other American I did share one particular qualification. President Jimmy Carter put it very well, in his farewell address from the Oval Office: “In a few days I will lay down my official duties in this office, to take up once more the only title in our democracy superior to that of president, the title of citizen.”
That sentiment really moved me. So, until women are treated equally with men, until gays and minorities are not discriminated against, and until children have their full rights, artists must continue to speak out. I will be one of them. Sorry . . . but the artist as citizen is here to stay.”
That about Raja as best eye-con?
Oh, come on. Robert De Niro likes the sound of his own voice, he likes angry Truth Social posts about himself, he likes headlines pitting him against Donald Trump. He’s been commandeering every stage he can with political rants, for attention—for years. The fact that one organization said “not tonight, let’s focus on the movies” doesn’t mean some sacred right of his has been violated.
Not a single vote in America has been changed by Robert De Niro shouting “Trump is bad!” at an awards show. I wish it were that easy. Also—I’m not surprised to hear Barbra Streisand is just as grandiose.
Icon is over used so many times it has become obsolete as a descriptive word.
I don't like the idea of celebrities voicing out their political opinions as it comes off as holier-than-thou and saying "we know more than you" but at the end of the day. We're still fucking peasants while they can relax in their mansions and expensive apartments eating freshly-hot appetizers. Still, I do agree with Streisand's sentiment in the role of being a citizen while de Niro is spot-on about Mr. Human Toilet as I'm upset that Univision is going to bed with that asshole and is now becoming MAGAVISION. No wonder John Leguizamo is pissed off. There's a right way to say something if you're famous and not wanting to be smug about it.
Otherwise, you'd be a moron like Susan Sarandon who has nothing of substance to say about anything as she and Tim Robbins managed to piss off everyone at that 9/11 concert at Madison Square Garden (which was not the time to say anything political) as a widow rightfully grabbed Sarandon's leg and she tripped down the stairs. It's shit like this is why I hate politics both left and right.
On a similar topic, I feel like there's been a torrent of "Marty isn't Native American, and he tried his best, but still got things wrong" takes on Killers of the Flower Moon -- from people that worked on it! Including Lily Gladstone! Why did they work on the film (and with Scorsese) if they were going to shit on the movie after it came out?
Finbar McBride,
Streisand's words are perfect.
She nailed it.
"My Name is Barbra" is delightful.
Hopefully Melton doesn't become just a critics pick and then come Oscar night we are disappointedly given a 'name' winner in DeNiro, Downey or Gosling.