Awards season took another leap into the unknown with the unveiling of the 2021 Gotham Awards nominations. Chosen by select committees film and television critics, this year’s crop of honorees gave major boosts to independently financed films such as “CODA,” “Passing” and “The Green Kinght.” It also unintentionally provides a buzzworthy pop culture moment by the inclusion of Netflix breakout “Squid Game” in the Breakthrough Television Category.
READ MORE: Will “Mass” put Ann Dowd on a path to an Oscar nomination?
This year’s Best Feature nominees are “The Greek Knight,” “The Lost Daughter,” “Passing,” “Pig” and “Test Pattern.” Breakthrough Series (Long Format) included “It’s A Sin,” “Small Axe,” “The Underground Railroad,” “The Good Lord Bird” and “The White Lotus.” Breakthrough Series (Short Format) features “Blindspotting,” “Hacks,” “Reservation Dogs,” “Run The World” and “We Are Lady Parts.”
In a big day for Netflix acquired films, “Passing” and “The Lost Daughter” led all films with five nominations each including directing nods for both Rebecca Hall and Maggie Gylenhaal respectively. “Red Rocket” and “CODA” each landed three, but were snubbed from the Best Feature category. Other notable snubs in the top category included “The Card Counter,” “C’Mon C’Mon,” “Shiva Baby” and “Zola.”
Notable nominees among the 10 for Outstanding Lead performance category, non-gendered for the first time, included Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Tessa Thompson (“Passing”), Taylour Paige (“Zola”) and Simon Rex (“Red Rocket”). In the Supporting Performance category, Reed Birney made the cut over the more hyped Ann Dowd (“Mass”) alongside Ruth Nega (“Passing”), Gabby Hoffman (“C’Mon C’Mon”) and Marlee Matlin (“CODA”).
On the television side, Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”), Lee Jung-jae (“Squid Game”), Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”), Jean Smart (“Hacks”) and Thuso Mbedu (“The Underground Railroad”) were all recognized in the Outstanding Performance in a Series category.
The Gothams previously announced that Jane Campion will receive this year’s Directors Tribute, Kristen Stewart will be honored with the Performer Tribute, Magnolia Pictures co-founder Eamonn Bowles was chosen for the Industry Tribute and the cast of “The Harder they Fall” will receive the Ensemble Tribute.
For those wondering if the Gothams influence Academy members, well, last year only one nominee for Best Film at the Gothams was nominated for Best Picture, “Nomadland.” That also occurred in 2019 with “Marriage Story” and 2018 with “The Favourite.” In 2017 and 2016, two films earned both, “Call Me By Your Name” and “Get Out” and then “Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight,” respectfully. So, take these honorees as independent industry champions first. Likely just one or two of them will even make it to Oscar’s final 10. This year, we’d put our money on “The Power of the Dog” as a guaranteed Best Picture play.
The Gotham Awards will be handed out in person on Monday, November 29th in New York City.
A full list of this year’s nominations are as follows:
Best Feature
The Green Knight
David Lowery, director; Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, producers (A24)
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal, director; Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Charles Dorfman, producers (Netflix)
Passing
Rebecca Hall, director; Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall, producers (Netflix)
Pig
Michael Sarnoski, director; Nicolas Cage, Steve Tisch, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Dori Roth, Joseph Restiano, Dimitra Tsingou, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, Vanessa Block, producers (NEON)
Test Pattern
Shatara Michelle Ford, director; Shatara Michelle Ford, Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su, producers (Kino Lorber)
Best Documentary Feature
Ascension
Jessica Kingdon, director; Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell, Jessica Kingdon, producers (MTV Documentary Films)
Faya Dayi
Jessica Beshir, director and producer (Janus Films)
Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie, producers (NEON)
President
Camilla Nielsson, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Greenwich Entertainment)
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director; Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein, producers (Searchlight Pictures, Onyx Collective, Hulu)
Best International Feature
Azor
Andreas Fontana, director; Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney, producers (MUBI)
Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films)
The Souvenir Part II
Joanna Hogg, director; Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Andrew Low, Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller, producers (A24)
Titane
Julia Ducournau, director; Jean-Christophe Reymond, producer (NEON)
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
Alexandre Koberidze, director; Mariam Shatberashvili, producers (MUBI)
The Worst Person In The World
Joachim Trier, director; Thomas Robsham, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, producers (NEON)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Edson Oda for Nine Days (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rebecca Hall for Passing (Netflix)
Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)
Shatara Michelle Ford for Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)
Best Screenplay
The Card Counter, Paul Schrader (Focus Features)
El Planeta, Amalia Ulman (Utopia Distribution)
The Green Knight, David Lowery (A24)
The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix)
Passing, Rebecca Hall (Netflix)
Red Rocket, Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch (A24)
Outstanding Lead Performance
Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Frankie Faison in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (Gravitas Ventures)
Michael Greyeyes in Wild Indian (Vertical Entertainment)
Brittany S. Hall in Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)
Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter (Focus Features)
Taylour Paige in Zola (A24)
Joaquin Phoenix in C’mon C’mon (A24)
Simon Rex in Red Rocket (A24)
Lili Taylor in Paper Spiders (Entertainment Squad)
Tessa Thompson in Passing (Netflix)
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Reed Birney in Mass (Bleecker Street)
Jessie Buckley in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Colman Domingo in Zola (A24)
Gaby Hoffmann in C’mon C’mon (A24)
Troy Kotsur in CODA (Apple)
Marlee Matlin in CODA (Apple)
Ruth Negga in Passing (Netflix)
Breakthrough Performer
Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple)
Natalie Morales in Language Lessons (Shout! Studios)
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)
Suzanna Son in Red Rocket (A24)
Amalia Ulman in El Planeta (Utopia Distribution)
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
The Good Lord Bird, Ethan Hawke, Mark Richard, creators; James McBride, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke, Ethan Hawke, Jason Blum, Albert Hughes, Mark Richard, Marshall Persinger, David Schiff, executive producers (Showtime)
It’s A Sin, Russell T Davies, creator; Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler, executive producers (HBO Max)
Small Axe, Steve McQueen, creator; Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen, executive producers (Amazon Studios)
Squid Game, Kim Ji-yeon, Hwang Dong-hyu, executive producers (Netflix)
The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins, Colson Whitehead, creators; Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Jacqueline Hoyt, executive producers (Amazon Studios)
The White Lotus, Mike White, creator; Mike White, David Bernad, Nick Hall, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Blindspotting, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, creators; Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann, executive producers (STARZ)
Hacks, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, creators; Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)
Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, creators; Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Garrett Basch, executive producers (FX)
Run the World, Leigh Davenport, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Leigh Davenport, Nastaran Dibai, executive producers (STARZ)
We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor, creator, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland, executive producers (Peacock)
Breakthrough Nonfiction Series
City So Real, Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder, executive producers (National Geographic)
Exterminate All the Brutes, Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)
How To with John Wilson, John Wilson, creator; Nathan Fielder, John Wilson, Michael Koman, Clark Reinking, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)
Philly D.A., Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar, creators; Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin, executive producers (Topic, Independent Lens, PBS)
Pride, Christine Vachon, Sydney Foos, Danny Gabai, Kama Kaina, Stacy Scripter, Alex Stapleton (FX)
Outstanding Performance in a New Series
Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus (HBO Max/HBO)
Michael Greyeyes in Rutherford Falls (Peacock)
Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs (FX)
Lee Jung-jae in Squid Game (Netflix)
Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)
Jean Smart in Hacks (HBO Max/HBO)
Omar Sy in Lupin (Netflix)
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Anjana Vasan in We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)