The 34th Annual Gotham Awards were held on Monday, December 2 in New York City.
The 34th Annual Gotham Awards kicked off a huge week in film awards, with AFI, the National Board of Review, and New York Film Critics releasing their winners later this week.
And what did we learn from the 2024 Gotham Awards?
They really liked A24’s Sing Sing, with both Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin receiving Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance respectively, and Nickel Boys, with RaMell Ross winning Best Director and Brandon Wilson Breakthrough Performer.
Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man taking Best Feature might be the biggest surprise of the night, especially since it was going up against Cannes darling Anora, which surprisingly went home empty-handed. A Different Man is quirky, gutsy film that plays around with identity, like so many films from this year (see: The Substance, Nightbitch). Could this finally end the debate of which film Sebastian Stan will be in contention for in Best Actor? No one seems to want to touch The Apprentice — not as a film, but more as a subject.
It’s important to remember that the Gotham Awards provide hints at voting trends, but not necessarily what you can expect from Oscar voters. Anatomy of a Fall won Best Screenplay and Best International Feature at the 2023 Gothams, providing a path toward an Academy Award in Best Original Screenplay. On the other hand, the 2023 Gotham Awards also lauded Charles Melton with Best Supporting Performance in May/December, for which he was snubbed an Oscar nomination.
Personally, I think the biggest winner of the night when it comes to Academy Award influence is Best Documentary — No Other Land. This film has no U.S. distributor but still managed to win. Last year’s winner, Four Daughters, went on to secure an Academy Award nomination.
Best Feature
Anora
Babygirl
Challengers
A Different Man
Nickel Boys
Best International Feature
As We Imagine as Light
Green Border
Hard Truths
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Vermiglio
Best Documentary Feature
Dahomey
Intercepted
No Other Land
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
Union
Best Director
Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light
Sean Baker, Anora
Guan Hu, Black Dog
Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys
Best Screenplay
Between the Temples, Nathan Silver, C. Mason Wells
Evil Does Not Exist, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Femme, Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping
His Three Daughters, Azazel Jacobs
Janet Planet, Annie Baker
Breakthrough Director
Shuchi Talati, Girls Will Be Girls
India Donaldson, Good One
Alessandra Lacorazza, In the Summers
Vera Drew, The People’s Joker
Mahdi Fleifel, To a Land Unknown
Outstanding Lead Performance
Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions)
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist (A24)
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing (A24)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl (A24)
Keith Kupferer, Ghostlight (IFC Films)
Mikey Madison, Anora (NEON)
Demi Moore, The Substance (MUBI)
Saoirse Ronan, Outrun (Sony Pictures Classics)
Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Yura Borisov, Anora (NEON)
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson (Netflix)
Brigette Lundy-Paine, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Natasha Lyonne, His Three Daughters (Netflix)
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (A24)
Katy O’Brian, Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (A24)
Adam Pearson, A Different Man (A24)
Brian Tyree Henry, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios)
Breakthrough Performer
Lily Collias, Good One (Metrograph Pictures)
Ryan Destiny, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios)
Maisy Stella, My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
Izaac Wang, Dìdi (Focus Features)
Brandon Wilson, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
All the winners got a campaign boost except perhaps Vera Drew, who still might get a Spirit Awards boost out of the win.