"Anora" leads the Gotham Nominations
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 3:00PM 
ANORA seems poised to dominate the awards season.
Another year, another awards season. And, like it happens every fall, the Gotham Awards have the privilege of kicking the race into high gear. Unsurprisingly, Anora leads with four nominations, followed by Nickel Boys and I Saw the TV Glow with three nods a piece, though the latter failed to get a spot in the Best Feature category. Then again, it's worth remembering that the Gothams' nine categories are divided into five distinct committees with no overlap between them. The same people (critics, curators, editors, and programmers) who decide the Director and Screenplay nominees have no say in who makes it into the acting races, for example.
So, expect idiosyncrasies and don't put much stock in how some films appear in a couple of major categories but not others. More than a precursor for Oscar gold, these prizes often feel like an opportunity to highlight the richness of the cinematic year before the viable contenders get reduced to a limited lot. So, let's take a look at their selection…
Best Feature
- A DIFFERENT MAN, Aaron Schimberg, Gabriel Mayers, Vanessa McDonnell & Christine Vachon
- ANORA, Sean Baker, Alex Coco & Samantha Quan
- BABYGIRL, Halina Reijn, David Hinojosa & Julia Oh
- CHALLENGERS, Luca Guadagnino, Rachel O'Connor, Amy Pascal & Zendaya
- NICKEL BOYS, RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner & David Levine
Just as I suspected, A Different Man is more beloved than many pundits realize, having built up its buzz since the Berlinale earlier in the year. What most surprises from this bunch is Challengers, which got no love from any of the other Gotham committees. Babygirl is proving it's more than just a Nicole Kidman showcase – indeed, it's my pick for the year's best American film – and Nickel Boys keeps cementing its reputation with critics. As for Anora, there's no stopping Sean Baker's crowd-pleasing Palme d'Or champion.
Best Director
- Sean Baker, ANORA
- Guan Hu, BLACK DOG
- Payal Kapadia, ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
- RaMell Ross, NICKEL BOYS
- Jane Schoebrun, I SAW THE TV GLOW
Three cheers for Payal Kapadia, whose All We Imagine as Light deserves to be recognized as one of 2024's great cinematic achievements, far beyond the Best International Oscar race to which it has no access after being passed on by France, India, and Luxembourg. Like Kapadia, RaMell Ross is making his big narrative feature debut after much success in non-fiction film, while Guan Chu and Sean Baker have turned their Cannes laurels into actual buzz. I wonder if I Saw the TV Glow will climb up A24's priority list if critics groups keep honoring it and Schoebrun's queer horror vision.
Breakthrough Director
- India Donaldson, GOOD ONE
- Vera Drew, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER
- Mahdi Fleifel, TO A LAND UNKNOWN
- Alessandra Lacorazza, IN THE SUMMERS
- Shuchi Talati, GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
This category has a committee for itself, making the lack of overlap with the other lineups a sensible outcome of the process. Moreover, I wonder if the Gothams have systems in place to prevent someone like RaMell Ross from scoring here after already securing a spot in the primary Directing race. Vera Drew's nomination makes me happiest out of these, while Mahdi Fleifel's presence only makes me feel sadder that I missed To a Land Unknown at TIFF. A screener, a screener, my kingdom for a screener!
Best Screenplay
- Annie Baker, JANET PLANET
- Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping, FEMME
- Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
- Azazel Jacobs, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS
- Nathan Silver & C. Mason Wells, BETWEEN THE TEMPLES
I don't care for Femme, but all the other nominees feel like inspired choices on the committee's part. Baker and Hamaguchi are especially notable for defying a traditional relationship between a film's players and its text, experimenting with distance and fragmentation in uncommon ways. Speaking of Janet Planet, it's interesting how much the Gothams were into A24 this year and yet, they ignored two of their late-year releases – Queer and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. At this point, one must ask if the distributor is putting much effort into those titles' campaigns and promotion. Shed a tear for Problemista, which would have been a brilliant nominee.
Outstanding Lead Performance
- Pamela Anderson, THE LAST SHOWGIRL
- Adrien Brody, THE BRUTALIST
- Colman Domingo, SING SING
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste, HARD TRUTHS
- Nicole Kidman, BABYGIRL
- Keith Kupferer, GHOSTLIGHT
- Mikey Madison, ANORA
- Demi Moore, THE SUBSTANCE
- Saoirse Ronan, THE OUTRUN
- Justice Smith, I SAW THE TV GLOW
As I write this post, I received an invite for a special Hard Truths screening by Angela Bassett and Sam Rockwell, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste in attendance. In other words, despite their relative inexperience in the campaign trail, Bleecker Street is pulling the big guns and not wasting any time with Mike Leigh's latest. Good for them, as the picture deserves the world. Moving on, most of these nominations are unsurprising, with two exceptions. The first and most delightful is Kupferer, for one of the year's best-acted features. And then there's Justice Smith, whose performance I'd single out as one of I Saw the TV Glow's weak spots but the acting committee clearly thinks otherwise. Some notable absences include Daniel Craig for Queer and Sebastian Stan for A Different Man.
Outstanding Supporting Performance
- Yura Borisov, ANORA
- Kieran Culkin, A REAL PAIN
- Danielle Deadwyler, THE PIANO LESSON
- Brigette Lundy-Paine, I SAW THE TV GLOW
- Natasha Lyonne, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS
- Clarence Maclin, SING SING
- Katy O'Brian, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
- Guy Pearce, THE BRUTALIST
- Adam Pearson, A DIFFERENT MAN
- Brian Tyree Henry, THE FIRE INSIDE
Category Fraud is in style this season, with plenty of cases worth discussing. Prepare yourself for one of our LEAD or SUPPORTING polls in the next few days. Still, congratulations to the nominees, including Clarence Maclin and Adam Pearson, whose life stories could catapult them to the front of the race if they're given the chance to charm voters. Also, congratulations to the Gotham voters for ignoring the Mark Eydelshteyn buzz and actually nominating one of Anora's awards-worthy supporting actors. Lastly, I'd like to use this opportunity to signal how, for once, an acting category without gender separation was necessary to adequately honor one of the nominees. I still remember how, some months ago, non-binary actor Brigette Lundy-Paine failed to get a Gold Diggers nomination because their votes were split between gendered categories.
Breakthrough Performer
- Lily Collias, GOOD ONE
- Ryan Destiny, THE FIRE INSIDE
- Maisy Stella, MY OLD ASS
- Izaac Wang, DÌDI
- Brandon Wilson, NICKEL BOYS
Joan Chen didn't get into the Best Supporting Performance lineup, but at least Dìdi got something. One wonders if any of these young thespians will be able to be honored beyond these specialty categories for up-and-comers at the start of their screen acting career. From this quintet, who seems more likely? My hunch is Ryan Destiny.
Best International Feature
- ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, Payal Kapadia, Julien Graff & Thomas Hakim
- GREEN BORDER, Agnieszka Holland, Fred Bernstein & Marcin Wierzchoslawski
- HARD TRUTHS, Mike Leigh & Georgina Lowe
- INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL, Thien An Pham, Jeremy Chua & Tran Van Thi
- VERMIGLIO, Maura Delpero, Francesca Andreoli, Santiago Fondevila Sance & Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli
If you want more insight into the Best International Oscar race, look elsewhere. Out of these films, only Vermiglio is eligible for that specific Academy Award, representing Italy. In any case, this is a magnificent lineup that brings together old masters with those still at the start of their careers in film. Kapadya's Mumbai city symphony would get my vote but any title would be a just victor. In other news, maybe I'm Still Here isn't as popular as I'd have hoped.
Best Documentary Feature
- DAHOMEY, Mati Diop, Judith Lou Levy & Eve Robin
- INTERCEPTED, Oksana Karpovych, Darya Bassel, Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Rocío B. Fuentes, Giacomo Nudi, Lucie Rego & Pauline Tran Van Lieu
- NO OTHER LAND, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg & Bård Kjøge Rønning
- SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ÉTAT, Johan Grimonprez, Rémi Grellety & Daan Milius
- SUGARCANE, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie & Kellen Quinn
- UNION, Stephen Maing, Brett Story, Samantha Curley & Mars Verrone
It's shameful that two of the year's most acclaimed docs – No Other Land and Union – remain without distribution for evident political reasons. At least the production companies involved are securing qualifying releases, pushing the titles into awards consideration, and, hopefully, the eyes of some brave distributor. Dahomey, Sugarcane, and Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat find success here after some Critics Choice Awards mentions, solidifying their profile in the season. As for Intercepted, this is the first I've heard of it since the Berlinale, where it won a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury.
What's your favorite Gotham nomination? What absence hurt most?
Reader Comments (18)
Yay! Demi Moore.
Good for Marianne Jean Baptiste.
There's nothing more stupid than gender-neutral acting categories.
One acting winner for each category just leads to feeling short changed. We want 4 winners, please, not 2.
Mr Ripley79 -- Agreed on both counts.
Davus -- What is the solution for a case such as that of Lundy-Paine, then? Should they be excluded from awards altogether because they don't identify within a gender binary? Made illegible or the recipient of a special consolation prize? Or made to deny their own identity? Why aren't other categories gendered, like directing or writing? Speaking of writing, shouldn't you complain about only one screenplay award that doesn't distinguish between adapted and original since that is also a difference from the Oscars? A part of me would understand fearing that gender-neutral categories could have negative consequences in terms of parity with a voting group as big as AMPAS. But these nominations are chosen by a committee of less than ten people. Why is this stupid? Just because it breaks with tradition?
TOM -- This is ahistorical when it comes to the Gothams, as I have been commenting on multiple versions of this post since they implemented the change in 2021. The Gotham Awards started with a gender-neutral Acting award in 1991. Then, they had a gender-neutral Breakthrough Award starting in 1998. Excluding those gender-neutral categories, they only had gendered acting lineups from 2013 to 2020, with five nominees each. The recent change to two gender-neutral Leading and Supporting Awards didn't decrease the number of awards or the number of nominees. Instead, the opposite happened with the amount of nominees.
The best international feature lineup is quite strong. Happy that Hard Truths made it here even if other award bodies won't probably include it. Happy for Marianne Jean-Baptiste's nomination. May this will be the first among many notices this gifted character actress will receive this season. I would have included Mike Leigh in the screenplay and possibly director but happy the film got two nominations.
Glad to know Bleecker Street is doing some promotion if not on the same level (and budget) as others.
I have not seen Anora but Yura Borisov's inclusion is a pleasant surprise. I read somewhere that he is the secret weapon of the film. Be that as it may I hope character actors get wider acclaim so they get to do more challenging projects.
This was a wonderful year for weird fiction/horror in indie cinema. Like, I usually have one strange little feature to toss my support behind and obsess over; this year, I have three. They're all nominated here. The Substance, I Saw the TV Glow, and Love Lies Bleeding are my kind of film. I'm especially happy to see Jane Schoebrun get nominated somewhere as she directed the hell out of I Saw the TV Glow.
I think this debate could be terrific TFE column.
In retrospection, who would have won a non gendered lead role Oscar from a race between the winners of Best Actor and Best Actress?
For instance
1964
Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady or
Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins
1972
Marlon Brando in The Godfather or
Jane Fonda in Klute
1992
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs or
Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs
2008
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood or
Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose
2021
Anthony Hopkins in The Father or
Frances McDormand in Nomadland
Gotham Awards and nothing are the same for me.
They don't mean anything.
Just one more unimportant award that doesn't mean anything...
I really have no patience for yet another unimportant award among 90 other awards.
Soon we will hear news about the film award given by Iowa farmers.
Davis,
Completely agree.
"There's nothing more stupid than gender-neutral acting categories."
Exactly this. More, it's offensive. 🤮
Claudio Alves: Why should awards bodies care about Brigette Lundy-Paine' politics? If she has a vagina, she can be nominated for an actress award. End of story.
Someone: Wow, you're so close to advocating for genital checks. You sound just like an anti-trans Republican... unless you actually are.
Finbar McBride - I think your posts illustrates my issue with gender-neutral awards. In all of those cases except one, the male actor would probably have prevailed (I do think Julie Andrews could have beaten Rex Harrison), because their roles are generally deemed more serious and "important" by the Academy. The world is bad enough already, I don't want to see it compounded by watching Eddie Redmayne win an Oscar over Julianne Moore.
I loved The Substance and Love Lies Bleeding, but I Saw the TV Glow almost made me fall asleep. Am I alone?
jules -- this is my issue with it too and why Geena Davis was once against it (not sure if she still is). the gender binary has baggage, sure, but the baggage in terms of what roles are taken seriously for which gender doesn't go away if you eliminate distinctions. plus I'm just a statistical awards fanatic so i love the sociopolitical and artistic evolution ideas that are present if you can compare Best Actress 1937 (picking a year at random) and Best Actress 2029 (if it still exists).
it's one of the reasons I love the Oscars and Tonys more than any other big two awards because they don't change the rules and the categories and the category size every few years, like The Grammys or the Emmys do there's actual consistent context to think about. The world will never stop evolving of course but it's more fun to look at the evolution with parameter goggles. (This is also why i love calendar year eligibility rather than random dates)
Two that I was happy to see included in the conversation were:
Agnieska Holland’s The Green Border
Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl
I was also glad to see Marianne Jean-Baptiste, All We Can See As Light, and Love Lies Bleeding.
Afterwards, it struck me that the theme of The Last Showgirl is show biz nostalgia, which is kind of playing to the room, so maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. I haven’t seen it yet, so maybe it also touches a chord with long time movie professionals who see their world shrinking and them being forced out of business.
@jules I really loved TV Glow, but it's Love Lies Bleeding that I thought was just awful - so there you go.
That said, Lundy-Paine and O'Brian are both obvious leads - and I'm a little surprised an org like this isn't making space for Ed Harris in LLB - a scary actual supporting performance (or Ana Baryshnikov, for that matter).
I really wish that the awards that choose to do non-gendered categories would give two awards with the expanded list of nominees. How can we make that happen? It's a shame with all those nominees only one gets recognized.
I am excited by these nominations in general. So much love for my favorite films I feared would go unrecognized (ie I Saw the TV Glow, Janet Planet, The People's Joker, No Other Land, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell).
Having just seen Anora last night I am pleased to see Yura Borisov recognized (toosh).
My anticipation for Hard Truths, Babygirl, All We Imagine As Light, and The Brutalist is palpable!
"There's nothing more stupid than gender-neutral acting categories."
I agree.
Cláudio Alves: "What is the solution for a case such as that of Lundy-Paine, then? Should they be excluded from awards altogether because they don't identify within a gender binary? Made illegible or the recipient of a special consolation prize? Or made to deny their own identity?"
Let do what Asia Kate Dillon did, who was nominated for the Critics Choice for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, or more recently Emma D'Arcy. And choose which category that wants to compete in.
If we set out to satisfy each person, that will never happen.
Another thing, if you are going to make categories without gender definition (only acting) then be brave and choose five nominees to see what happens.
It's a good group of nominees, I have to accept that.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Nicole Kidman
Mikey Madison
Demi Moore
Saoirse Ronan
Potential group of nominees for Best Actress.