Awards Season Kicks off as The Lost Daughter Wins Big at the Gothams

Movie awards season got underway on Monday night as the Gotham Awards were handed out.

The three hour event was livestreamed from Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

The Gothams celebrate independent filmmaking in movies and TV. To qualify for a nomination, movies must have a production budget below $35 million. The awards are voted on by a jury of 34 writers, critics and programmers.

Last year's Best Feature winner Nomadland went on to win the same prize at the Oscars earlier this year, so Oscar buffs were keeping a close eye on this year's Gothams.

This year the Best Feature prize went to The Lost Daughter. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal turned writer/director to bring Elena Ferrante's acclaimed novel to the screen. The film stars Olivia Colman as a holidaying professor whose encounter with a young mother played by Dakota Johnson stirs up memories of her dark past.

It was one of four awards presented to The Lost Daughter. Gyllenhaal also scooped Best Screenplay and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director award, which is presented to a director making their first feature. The Outstanding Lead Performance award went to Colman for her role in the film. Colman was a winner in 2018, receiving a special Ensemble Performance award as part of the cast of the Irish produced period drama The Favourite.

Best Feature Winner: THE LOST DAUGHTER #GothamAwards pic.twitter.com/2DFxwz4xiG

— The Gotham (Formerly IFP) (@weare_thegotham) November 30, 2021

The Gothams made history this year by introducing gender neutral acting awards. However with two awards presented, with one going to a female and the other to a male performer, many have surmised that the gender split is still practically in effect.

The other Outstanding Lead Performance award went to Frankie Faison for his role in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. The film is based on the true story of a tragic incident that occurred when police arrived at the home of an African-American military veteran with mental health issues.

Coda, which tells the story of a teenage daughter of deaf parents pursuing her musical ambitions, scooped two acting awards. Newcomer Emilia Jones received the Breakthrough Performer award for her lead role. Troy Katsur won the Outstanding Supporting Performance award for portraying her father.

Best Documentary Feature went to Flee. Using animation, the documentary chronicles the life of an Afghan man who fled the country as a child refugee, ultimately making a new life in Denmark.

Best International Feature went to the much lauded Japanese film Drive My Car. Directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, the film is adapted from a short story by author Haruki Murakami. The movies sees a grief-stricken actor/director bonding with the woman assigned to be his driver while he mounts a production of Uncle Vanya.

Career tributes were presented to actors Kristen Stewart and Peter Dinklage, and director Jane Campion, whose latest film The Power of the Dog is an Oscar favourite.

An Ensemble Tribute was given to the cast of the Netflix western The Harder They Fall, whose acting line-up includes Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo and LaKeith Stanfield.

Congratulations to the cast of THE HARDER THEY FALL for our #GothamAwards Ensemble Tribute! pic.twitter.com/2juYpBh60V

— The Gotham (Formerly IFP) (@weare_thegotham) November 30, 2021

In the TV section, Netflix's Korean hit Squid Game won the Breakthrough Series (Over 40 minutes) award while the Under 40 minutes award went to Taika Waititi's Native-American drama Reservation Dogs.

Outstanding Performance in a New Series was shared between two actors, both of whom appeared in dramas based in America's slavery era. Ethan Hawke won for his role in The Good Lord Bird while Thuso Mbedu was awarded for his work in The Underground Railroad.

This year saw the introduction of the Icon Tribute, an award that recognises filmmakers from marginalised communities. The inaugural award was presented to Kathleen Collins, one of the first African-American women to direct a fiction film with her 1982 film Losing Ground.
 

Our #GothamAwards Icon Tribute goes to KATHLEEN COLLINS pic.twitter.com/XHUCUMfAsB

— The Gotham (Formerly IFP) (@weare_thegotham) November 30, 2021

Photo credit: John Nacion