Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Joseph Decker’s “Madeline’s Madeline” and Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” have been nominated for the top award at the IFP Gotham Awards, the Independent Filmmaker Project announced on Thursday.
In nominations that were evenly distributed among 19 independent movies, “First Reformed” led all films with three nominations – one for the film, one for lead actor Ethan Hawke and one for Schrader’s screenplay about a pastor tortured by the death of his son in Iraq.
“The Favourite,” a twisted period piece set in early 18th century England, received nominations for film and screenplay, as well as a special Gotham Awards voted to its three leading actresses: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.
Other films with multiple nominations included “Beale Street,” “Madeline,” “Hereditary,” “Eighth Grade,” “Sorry to Bother You,” “Private Life,” “Support the Girls” and “Leave No Trace.”
In the acting categories, the nominees ranged from such likely Oscar contenders as Glenn Close in “The Wife” and Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” to Toni Collette in “Hereditary,” Kathryn Hahn in “Private Life” and Lakeith Sanfield in Sorry to Bother You.”
Some of the most high profile movies to be nominated – including “Roma,” “BlacKkKlansman” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” – were nominated for acting categories but bypassed in the Best Feature category.
Documentary nominees were “Bisbee ’17,” “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” “Minding the Gap,” “Shirkers” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
In the Gotham Awards’ two television categories, nominations went to “Alias Grace,” “Big Mouth,” “The End of the F***ing World,” “Killing Eve,” “Pose” and “Sharp Objects” in long form TV and “195 Lewis,” “Cleaner Daze,” “Distance,” “The F Word” and “She’s the Ticket” in short form.
The winners will be announced at the 28th annual awards ceremony on Nov. 26 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
Previously announced tributes will go to director Paul Greengrass, actors Willem Dafoe and Rachel Weisz, and RadicalMedia chairman Jon Kamen.
The New York-based Gotham Awards are one of the two major honors for independent film, and are presented early in awards season. The other major indie awards show, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, takes place in Los Angeles at the end of the season, the day before the Oscars. Its nominations will be announced on Nov. 16.
Gotham nominees are selected by a number of different juries consisting largely of film critics. Films must meet a variety of fairly nebulous requirements, including being “filmmaking with a point of view” that is “made with an economy of means” and is directed and/or produced by a filmmaker born or based in the United States.
Last year, two of the Gotham Best Feature nominees, “Get Out” and “Call Me by Your Name,” went on to receive Academy Award Best Picture nominations, while the Oscars also recognized six Gotham acting nominees, four screenplay nominees and one documentary nominee.
Over the 14 years since the Gotham Awards introduced the Best Feature category, the winner has subsequently won the Oscar only four times — but those four have all come in the last decade, including three years in a row with “Birdman” in 2014, “Spotlight” in 2015 and “Moonlight” in 2016. Last year’s winner, “Call Me by Your Name,” ended that streak.
The nominees:
Best Feature
“The Favourite”
Yorgos Lanthimos, director; Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Yorgos Lanthimos, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
“First Reformed”
Paul Schrader, director; Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Victoria Hill, Gary Hamilton, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, producers (A24)
“If Beale Street Could Talk”
Barry Jenkins, director; Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, Barry Jenkins, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Megan Ellison, producers (Annapurna Pictures)
“Madeline’s Madeline”
Josephine Decker, director; Krista Parris, Elizabeth Rao, producers (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
“The Rider”
Chloé Zhao, director; Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Mollye Asher, Chloé Zhao, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
Best Documentary
“Bisbee ’17”
Robert Greene, producer; Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, producers (4th Row Films)
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
RaMell Ross, director; RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim, producers (The Cinema Guild)
“Minding the Gap”
Bing Liu, director; Diane Quon, Bing Liu, producers (Hulu & Magnolia Pictures)
“Shirkers”
Sandi Tan, director; Sandi Tan, Jessica Levin, Maya Rudolph, producers (Netflix)
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Morgan Neville, director; Morgan Neville, Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma, producers (Focus Features)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Ari Aster for “Hereditary” (A24)
Bo Burnham for “Eighth Grade” (A24)
Jennifer Fox for “The Tale” (HBO)
Crystal Moselle for “Skate Kitchen” (Magnolia Pictures)
Boots Riley for “Sorry to Bother You” (Annapurna Pictures)
Best Screenplay
“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
“First Reformed,” Paul Schrader (A24)
“Private Life,” Tamara Jenkins (Netflix)
“Support the Girls,” Andrew Bujalski (Magnolia Pictures)
“Thoroughbreds,” Cory Finley (Focus Features)
Best Actor
Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman” (Focus Features)
Ben Foster in “Leave No Trace” (Bleecker Street)
Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Ethan Hawke in “First Reformed” (A24)
Lakeith Stanfield in “Sorry to Bother You” (Annapurna Pictures)
Best Actress*
Glenn Close in “The Wife” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Toni Collette in “Hereditary” (A24)
Kathryn Hahn in “Private Life” (Netflix)
Regina Hall in “Support the Girls” (Magnolia Pictures)
Michelle Pfeiffer in “Where is Kyra?” (Paladin and Great Point Media)
*The 2018 Best Actress nominating committee also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award to Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz for their ensemble performance in “The Favourite.” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Breakthrough Actor
Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma” (Netflix)
Elsie Fisher in “Eighth Grade” (A24)
Helena Howard in “Madeline’s Madeline” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
KiKi Layne in “If Beale Street Could Talk” (Annapurna Pictures)
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie in “Leave No Trace” (Bleecker Street)
Breakthrough Series – Long Form
“Alias Grace,” Sarah Polley, Mary Harron, Noreen Halpern, executive producers (Netflix)
“Big Mouth,” Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin, creators; Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin & Jennifer Flackett, executive producers (Netflix)
“The End of the F***ing World,” Andy Baker, Murray Ferguson, Petra Fried, Ed MacDonald, Dominic Buchanan, Jonathan Entwistle, executive producers (Netflix)
“Killing Eve,” Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, executive producers (BBC America)
“Pose,” Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Steven Canals, creators; Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Sherry Marsh, executive producers (FX Networks)
“Sharp Objects,” Marti Noxon, creator; Marti Noxon, Jason Blum, Gillian Flynn, Amy Adams, Jean-Marc Vallée, Nathan Ross, Gregg Fienberg, Charles Layton, Marci Wiseman, Jessica Rhoades, executive producers (HBO)
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
“195 Lewis,” Chanelle Aponte Pearson and Rae Leone Allen, creators
“Cleaner Daze,” Tess Sweet and Daniel Gambelin, creators
“Distance,” Alex Dobrenko, creator
“The F Word,” Nicole Opper, creator
“She’s the Ticket,” Nadia Hallgren, creator