19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Award Nominees Announced

Earlier today, the Independent Film Project announced the nominees for the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. Michelle Byrd, executive director of the IFP, was enthusiastic about the nominations. “Ranging from the small gems produced on micro-budgets to extraordinary films from specialty distributors, the nominees all share the type of creative vision and risk-taking that are a hallmark of independent film,” she says.

Leading the nominations with three apiece were The Hurt Locker and Big Fan. All of the nominated films will be screened for the public at the Museum of Modern Art from November 19 – 22. The Gotham Independent Film Awards is the first awards season event, giving independent films recognition and attention that they deserve. The winners will be announced on Monday, November 30 along with career tributes presented to director Kathryn Bigelow, actors Natalie Portman and Stanley Tucci and producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.

The nominees are…

Best Feature
Amreeka
directed by Cherien Dabis
Big Fan
directed by Robert Siegel
The Hurt Locker
directed by Kathryn Bigelow
The Maid
directed by Sebastian Silva
A Serious Man
directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best Documentary
Food, Inc.
directed by Robert Kenner
Good Hair
directed by Jeff Stilson
My Neighbor My Killer
directed by Anne Aghion
Paradise
directed by Michael Almereyda
Tyson
directed by James Toback

Best Ensemble Performance
Adventureland
starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Ryan Reynolds
Cold Souls
starring Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, Katheryn Winnick, David Strathairn (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
The Hurt Locker
starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brain Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly
A Serious Man
starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
Sugar
starring Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Michael Gatson, Andre Holland, Ann Whitney, Richard Bull, Ellary Porterfield, Jaime Tirelli

Breakthrough Director
Cruz Angeles for Don’t Let Me Drown
Frazer Bradshaw for Everything Strange and New
Noah Buschel for The Missing Person
Derick Martini for Lymelife
Robert Siegel for Big Fan

Breakthrough Actor
Ben Foster in The Messenger
Patton Oswalt in Big Fan
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Catalina Saavedra in The Maid
Soulémane Sy Savané in Goodbye Solo

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Everything Strange and New
directed by Frazer Bradshaw
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
directed by Damien Chazelle
October Country
directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher
You Won’t Miss Me
directed by Ry Russo-Young
Zero Bridge
directed by Tariq Tapa