The Gotham Awards– which will be held on January 11th– start the drum roll for Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Frances McDormand. I’m a little surprised that “The Father” and “French Exit” didn’t get anything. (Anthony Hopkins? Michelle Pfeiffer?) Very puzzling. Also, how could “The Assistant” be nominated but not Julia Garner for Best Actress? Makes no sense unless it was just nominated to stick it to Harvey Weinstein. Chadwick Boseman is a cinch to get Best Actor posthumously. This is also the start of the march of “Time” toward Best Documentary.
PS I don’t want to oversell “Nomadland” but when everyone gets to see it, you’ll understand. It’s lovely. The Oscar winner, hands down.
The 2020 IFP Gotham Award nominations are:
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)
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)
City Hall
Frederick Wiseman, director; Frederick Wiseman, Karen Konicek, producers (Zipporah Films)
Our Time Machine
Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang directors; 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 )
Time
Garrett Bradley, director; Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley, producers (Amazon Studios)
Best International Feature
 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 (Mignonnes)
Maïmouna Doucouré, director; Zangro, producer (Netflix)
Identifying Features
Fernanda Valadez, director; Astrid Rondero, producer (Kino Lorber)
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)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Radha Blank for The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
Channing Godfrey Peoples for Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)
Alex Thompson for Saint Frances (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Carlo Mirabella-Davis for Swallow (IFC Films)
Andrew Patterson for The Vast of Night (Amazon Studios)
 Best Screenplay
Bad Education, Mike Makowsky (HBO)
First Cow, Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt (A24)
The Forty-Year-Old Version, Radha Blank (Netflix)
Fourteen, Dan Sallitt (Grasshopper Film)
The Vast of Night, James Montague, Craig Sanger (Amazon Studios)
Best Actor
Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Jude Law in The Nest (IFC Films)
John Magaro in First Cow (A24)
Jesse Plemons in I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)
 Best Actress
Nicole Beharie in Miss Juneteenth (Vertical Entertainment)
Jessie Buckley in I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)
Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari (A24)
Carrie Coon in The Nest (IFC Films)
Frances McDormand in Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Breakthrough Actor
Jasmine Batchelor in The Surrogate (Monument Releasing)
Kingsley Ben-Adir in One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Sidney Flanigan in Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Orion Lee in First Cow (A24)
Kelly O’Sullivan in Saint Frances (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 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; Â Tom Spezialy , Nicole Kassell , Stephen Williams, Joseph E. Iberti, executive producers (HBO)
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 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, Â executive producers (FX Networks)
I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel , creator; Michaela Coel, Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni, executive producers (HBO)
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)