Back in October, I shared the nominations for the Gotham Independent Film Awards with the readership and this was the very first time that I was broadcasting this particular awards show to our audience. I mentioned that I don’t really follow much of the independent releases these days and lean more towards Warner Brothers, Universal and Disney for the superhero and monster stuff. With that being said, I am very happy to share the announced winners for the 2019 Gotham Independent Film Awards. For this rundown I’ve even left the nominated so you can see just who beat who.

Best Feature:
The Farewell – Lulu Wang, director; Daniele Melia, Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf, Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng, Lulu Wang, Anita Gou, producers (A24).
Hustlers – Lorene Scafaria, director; Jessica Elbaum, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, producers (STXfilms)
WINNER – Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach, director; Noah Baumbach, David Heyman, producers (Netflix)
Uncut Gems – Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, directors; Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear McClard, producers (A24)
Waves – Trey Edward Shults, director; James Wilson, Kevin Turen, Trey Edward Shults, producers (A24)

Best Documentary:
WINNER – American Factory – Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, directors; Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert, Julie Parker Benello, producers (Netflix)
Apollo 11 – Todd Douglas Miller, director; Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Baxley Petersen, Evan Krauss, producers (NEON and CNN Films)
The Edge of Democracy – Petra Costa, director; Petra Costa, Tiago Pavan, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris, producers (Netflix)
Midnight Traveler – Hassan Fazili, director; Emelie Mahdavian, Su Kim, producers (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
One Child Nation – Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, directors; Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (Amazon Studios)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award:
WINNER – Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre for The Mustang (Focus Features)
Kent Jones for Diane (IFC Films)
Joe Talbot for The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
Olivia Wilde for Booksmart (United Artists Releasing)
Phillip Youmans for Burning Cane (ARRAY Releasing)

Best Screenplay:
The Farewell, Lulu Wang (A24)
High Flying Bird, Tarell Alvin McCraney (Netflix)
The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jimmie Fails, Joe Talbot, Rob Richert (A24)
WINNER – Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach (Netflix)
Midsommar, Ari Aster (A24)

Best Actor:
Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse (A24)
WINNER – Adam Driver in Marriage Story (Netflix)
Aldis Hodge in Clemency (NEON)
André Holland in High Flying Bird (Netflix)
Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems (A24)

Best Actress:
WINNER – Awkwafina in The Farewell (A24)
Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell (Gunpowder & Sky)
Mary Kay Place in Diane (IFC Films)
Florence Pugh in Midsommar (A24)
Alfre Woodard in Clemency (NEON)

Breakthrough Actor:
Julia Fox in Uncut Gems (A24)
Aisling Franciosi in The Nightingale (IFC Films)
Chris Galust in Give Me Liberty (Music Box Films)
Noah Jupe in Honey Boy (Amazon Studios)
Jonathan Majors in The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24)
WINNER – Taylor Russell in Waves (A24)

Breakthrough Series – Long Format:
Chernobyl, Craig Mazin, creator; Craig Mazin, Carolyn Strauss, Jane Featherstone, executive producers (HBO)
David Makes Man, Tarell Alvin McCraney, creator; Mike Kelley, Melissa Loy, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Denitria Harris-Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, executive producers (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
My Brilliant Friend, Saverio Costanzo, creator; Domenico Procacci, Mario Gianani, Guido De Laurentiis, Elena Recchia, Jennifer Schuur, Paolo Sorrentino, executive producers (HBO)
Unbelievable, Susannah Grant, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Lisa Cholodenko, Ayelet Waldman & Michael Chabon, Katie Couric, Richard Tofel, Neil Barsky, Robyn Semien, Marie, executive producers (Netflix)
WINNER – When They See Us, Ava DuVernay, creator; Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Berry Welsh, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, executive producers (Netflix)

Breakthrough Series – Short Format:
WINNER – PEN15, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, creators; Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Debbie Liebling, Gabe Liedman, Marc Provissiero, Brooke Pobjoy, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Becky Sloviter, Shelley Zimmerman, Brin Lukens, Jordan Levin, executive producers (Hulu)
Ramy, Ramy Youssef, Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch, creators; Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Ravi Nandan, Bridget Bedard, Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch, executive producers (Hulu)
Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, creators; Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, Dave Becky, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, Allison Silverman, executive producers (Netflix)
Tuca & Bertie, Lisa Hanawalt, creator; Lisa Hanawalt, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong, executive producers (Netflix)
Undone, Kate Purdy, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creators; Kate Purdy, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tommy Pallotta, executive producers (Amazon Prime Video)

Audience Award:
American Factory
Apollo 11
Booksmart
Burning Cane
Diane
The Edge of Democracy
The Farewell
Hustlers
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
WINNER – Marriage Story
Midnight Traveler
The Mustang
One Child Nation
Uncut Gems
Waves

Made In NY Award:
Jason DaSilva

Gotham Tributes:
Glen Basner
Laura Dern
Ava DuVernay
Sam Rockwell

*** end of rundown ***

Piercing Ken Thoughts: So there you have it my friends. Did some of your favorites on the Independent side win out big at the end of the day? If not and you feel that your preference was cheated I’d love for you to chime in down below in the comments section. I’ll be approving the topical notions straight away so bring it on. We’re only about a month away from the brand-new year at this point and I am excited since a number of things are already scheduled for January for “The Chronicles”. As you know we hit the Boat Show, The New York Times Travel Show and the BroadwayCon over the course of the month and as usual I will be loading up the Official Instagram with images so make sure you are following that account by clicking the highlighted text. See you next time and welcome to December. Let’s make it a good one.

Official Website: https://gotham.ifp.org/