Gotham Awards 2020 winners begin, full list of winners (live update)

Chloe Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’, the story of a woman who decides to live as a modern day nomad in the van of the American West, won the award for best feature at the hybrid virtual ceremony of the Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. This is the second time Zhao has won this in the past three years, as she also won for her 2018 debut, “The Rider”.

In addition to winning the top prize, it also took home the Audience Award, an honor selected from all nominees for best feature, documentary and international feature film. The Gotham Awards 2020 have made history, with all of the nominees for this year’s Best Feature Films Directed by Women in its 30th celebration.

Over the past decade, four Gotham winners for Best Feature have failed to secure nominations for Best Photo at the Oscars: “The Rider” (2018), “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013), “ Moonrise Kingdom ”(2012) and“ Beginners ”(2011), although it is tied with a possible Oscar nominated film,“ The Tree of Life ”.

The ceremony was broadcast live on the Independent Filmmaker Project and VarietyThe Facebook pages of and have had a lot of hiccups from delays from winners hearing their names to audio and visual problems. The ceremony gave a first look at what the rest of the awards season could look like from the TV shows, and hopefully that will work quickly.

Riz Ahmed won the Best Actor award for his performance in Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” over alleged frontrunner Chadwick Boseman for “My Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which he thanked in his speech. “It has been a difficult year for all of us,” said Ahmed. As the SAG awards vote begins today, it may have come to light at the best possible time.

The same can be said of Nicole Beharie, who won the Best Actress award for her phenomenal work in Channing Godfrey Peoples’ “Miss Juneteenth”. In shock, she thanked her writer and director, just trying to find the words of gratitude.

Zachary Quinto presented the Groundbreaking Actor Award to Kingsley Ben-Adir for his extraordinary performance in “A Night in Miami”. Ben-Adir, who plays Malcolm X in Regina King’s directorial debut, was surprised by his victory and praised fellow nominees, including Sidney Flanigan of “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.”

There were two links between the categories, including the award for best screenplay shared between “The Forty-Year-Old Version” by Radha Blank and “Quatorze” by Dan Sallitt. The other link came in the feature documentary category, with PBS Distribution and Frontline’s “A Thousand Cuts” and Amazon Studios’ “Time” sharing the honor.

André Holland paid a heartfelt and heartfelt acting tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. The two worked together on Brian Helgeland’s “42”, the biopic about baseball player Jackie Robinson. “He had a way of being nice without being sweet,” Holland said. “One and one don’t always make two. Sometimes that’s three or four if you have the right one. Chad was the one.

After asking for a moment of silence, the reel of Boseman’s most prolific works was presented, including “Black Panther” and his 2020 feature films “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”.

Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman, accepted his tribute, doing her best to hold back tears. “She was the most honest person I have ever met,” said Ledward Boseman. “He’s been fortunate enough to live many lives within his concentration. He harnessed the power to let go and let God’s love shine through. May we not let his conviction be in vain. It is my honor on behalf of my husband. She closed with tears streaming down her face, “Chad… thank you. I love you. I’m so proud of you. Keep enlightening us.”

George C. Wolfe, director of “My Rainey’s Black Bottom” presented the actress’ tribute to Oscar winner Viola Davis. Wolfe spoke of the “purity of heart, passion, fire, rage and generosity” of Davis that she brings to all of her roles. “Whites have always been the guardians of the black experience,” she said. “I am very proud to be a part of the legacy of Ma Rainey and August Wilson. You can leave something for people or you can leave something in people. This is what August Wilson did.

Davis won an Oscar in “Fences” in 2016 and was nominated for her performances in “The Help” in 2011 and “Doubt” in 2008.

Jeffrey Wright called Washington “idiocy” when he accepted his 2020 “Made in NY” award from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). “I came here to be a New York actor and that’s what I am.”

Lupita Nyong’o presented Steve McQueen with the director’s tribute by speaking personally about her time working with him on “12 Years a Slave,” for which she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. In addition to his best award-winning film, he has also directed “Hunger”, “Shame”, “Widows” and most recently “Small Ax” for Amazon Prime Video. “I am very grateful for this honor,” said McQueen. “This anthology of five films is deeply personal to me.”

HBO was a double winner in the breakthrough series categories. “Watchmen” won the honors for over 40 minutes while the famous “I May Destroy You” walked away with the statuette for less than 40 minutes.

Emmy winner Ryan Murphy received the industry tribute for a year which included his musical adaptation of “The Prom,” which he directed. He also produced the adaptation of “The Boys in the Band”.

Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” received the ensemble’s inaugural tribute, which he also presented. The Netflix feature includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, and John Carroll Lynch.

Jeff Sharp, Executive Director of IFP, also announced the Joel Schumacher Endowment initiative in partnership with MTV.

From January 11, IFP will be the Gotham Film & Media Institute, aka The Gothams.

The full list of winners and nominees can be found below.

Best feature

• “The Assistant” – Kitty Green, director; Scott Macaulay, James Schamus, P. Jennifer Dana, Ross Jacobson, producers (Bleecker Street)
• “First Cow” – Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (A24)
• “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” – Eliza Hittman, director; Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, producers (Focus Features)
• “Nomadland” – Chloé Zhao, director; Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao, producers (Searchlight Pictures) – WINNER
• “Relic” – Natalie Erika James, director; Anna Mcleish, Sarah Shaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, producers (IFC Midnight)

Best Documentary

• “76 days” – Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, anonymous, directors; Hao Wu, Jean Tsien, producers (MTV Documentary Films)
• “Town Hall” – Frederick Wiseman, Director; Frederick Wiseman, Karen Konicek, producers (Zipporah Films)
• “Our Time Machine” – Yang Sun, Directors of S. Leo Chiang; S. Leo Chiang, Yang Sun, producers (Passion River Films)
• “A Thousand Cuts” – Ramona S. Diaz, director; Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, producers (PBS Distribution | FRONTLINE) – WINNER
• “Time” – Garrett Bradley, director; Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley, producers (Amazon Studios) – WINNER (tie)

Best international feature film

• “Bacurau” – Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, directors; Emilie Lesclaux, Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt, producers (Kino Lorber)
• “Beanpole” – Kantemir Balagov, director; Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov, producers (Kino Lorber)
• “Cuties” – Maïmouna Doucouré, director; Zangro, producer (Netflix)
• “Identifying Features” – Fernanda Valadez, Director; Astrid Rondero, producer (Kino Lorber) – WINNER
• “Martin Eden” – Pietro Marcello, director; Pietro Marcello, Beppe Caschetto, Thomas Ordonneau, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, producers (Kino Lorber)
• “Wolfwalkers” – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, directors; Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, producers (Apple TV Plus / GKIDS)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

• Radha Blank, “The Forty Year Old Version” (Netflix)
• Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth” (vertical entertainment)
• Alex Thompson, “Saint Frances” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Carlo Mirabella-Davis, “Swallow” (IFC Films)
• Andrew Patterson, “The Vast of Night” (Amazon Studios) – WINNER

Best scenario

• “Bad Education” – Mike Makowsky (HBO)
• “First Cow” – Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt (A24)
• “The Forty Year Old Version” – Radha Blank (Netflix) – WINNER
• “Fourteen” – Dan Sallitt (Grasshopper Film) – WINNER
• “The Vast of Night” – James Montague, Craig Sanger (Amazon Studios)

Best actor

• Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios) – WINNER
• Chadwick Boseman, “My Rainey’s Black Background” (Netflix)
• Jude Law, “The Nest” (IFC Films)
• John Magaro, “First Cow” (A24)
• Jesse Plemons, “I’m Thinking of the End of Things” (Netflix)

Best actress

• Nicole Beharie, “Miss Juneteenth” (Vertical Entertainment) – WINNER
• Jessie Buckley, “I’m Thinking of the End of Things” (Netflix)
• Carrie Coon, “The Nest” (IFC Films)
• Frances McDormand, “Nomadland” (Projector Images)
• Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari” (A24)

Revolutionary actor

• Jasmine Batchelor, “The Surrogate” (Monument exit)
• Kingsley Ben-Adir, “A Night in Miami…” (Amazon Studios) – WINNER
• Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)
• Orion Lee, “First Cow” (A24)
• Kelly O’Sullivan, “Saint Frances” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Revolutionary series – Long format (more than 40 minutes)

• “The Great” – Tony McNamara, creator; Tony McNamara, Marian Macgowan, Mark Winemaker, Elle Fanning, Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding, Josh Kesselman, Ron West, Matt Shakman, executive producers (Hulu)
• “Immigration Nation” – Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson, executive producers (Netflix)
• “P-Valley” – Katori Hall, creator; Katori Hall, Dante Di Loreto, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Liz W. Garcia, executive producers (STARZ)
• “Unorthodox” – Anna Winger, Alexa Karolinski, creators; Anna Winger, Henning Kamm, executive producers (Netflix)
• “Watchmen” – Damon Lindelof, creator for television; Tom Spezialy, Nicole Kassell, Stephen Williams, Joseph E. Iberti, executive producers (HBO) – WINNER

Breakthrough Series – Short Format (less than 40 minutes)

• “Betty” – Crystal Moselle, Lesley Arfin, Igor Srubshchik, Jason Weinberg, executive producers (HBO)
• “Dave” – Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer, creators; Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer, Saladin K. Patterson, Greg Mottola, Kevin Hart, Marty Bowen, Scooter Braun, Mike Hertz, Scott Manson, James Shin, executive producers (FX Networks)
• “I can destroy you” – Michaela Coel, designer; Michaela Coel, Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni, Executive Producers (HBO) – WINNER
• “Taste the Nation” – Padma Lakshmi, David Shadrack Smith, Sarina Roma, executive producers (Hulu)
• “Work in Progress” – Abby McEnany, Tim Mason, Creators, Abby McEnany, Tim Mason, Lilly Wachowski, Lawrence Mattis, Josh Adler, Ashley Berns, Julia Sweeney, Tony Hernandez, Executive Producers (SHOWTIME)

Public Prize

• “Nomadland” – Chloé Zhao, director; Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao, producers (Searchlight Pictures) – WINNER

(Table of winners of the awards circuit (2020-2021)

Visit THE AWARDS HUB to see the full list of nominees by category.

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