‘The Lost Daughter,’ ‘Passing’ Lead Gotham Awards Nominations

In the newly gender-neutral acting categories, nominations went to eight men and 14 women

The Lost Daughter
Yannis Drakoulidis/Netflix

“The Lost Daughter,” “The Green Knight,” “Passing,” “Pig” and “Test Pattern” are among the films that have been nominated for the 2021 Gotham Awards, the Gotham Film & Media Institute announced Thursday morning in New York City.

“The Lost Daughter” and “Passing,” the feature directorial debuts of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Hall, respectively, led all films with five nominations each, followed by “Test Pattern,” “Red Rocket” and “CODA” with three each. Gyllenhaal and Hall were both also nominated in the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director and Best Screenplay categories.

This year’s most closely-watched Gotham categories, though, are Outstanding Lead Performance, a gender-neutral category which replaced the Gothams’ old Best Actor and Best Actress categories, and Outstanding Supporting Performance, a new category open to both male and female performers. (The third acting category, Breakthrough Performer, had already been gender-neutral.)

In those categories, eight men and 14 women were nominated in all, with women sweeping the Breakthrough Performance category. Nominees in the acting categories included Olivia Colman in “The Lost Daughter,” Oscar Isaac in “The Card Counter,” Joaquin Phoenix in “C’mon, C’mon” and Tessa Thompson in “Passing.”

Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” was the highest-profile of the documentary nominees, which also included “Ascension,” “Faya Dayi,” “Flee” and “President.” In the international category, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Titane” will be competing against “Azur,” “Drive My Car,” “The Souvenir Part II,” “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” and “The Worst Person in the World.”

In the television categories, nominees included “The Good Lord Bird,” “Small Axe,” “Hacks,” “Reservation Dogs” and, with its first major U.S. nomination, the Korean sensation “Squid Game.”

Gotham Awards eligibility is restricted to films of more than 70 minutes that were made for less than $35 million. Films must be directed and/or produced and/or written by U.S. citizens or filmmakers permanently based in the United States. Films must also qualify as “filmmaking with a point of view,” which the Gothams define as a work “where the vision of an individual director, producer, writer or writer/director is abundantly evident, and where the film cannot be classically defined as ‘a work for hire.’”

The show’s special tribute awards, though, are not bound by those rules. In those awards, which were previously announced, Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” is ineligible in the competitive categories because its budget exceeded $35 million, but Campion herself will receive the Director’s Tribute. “The Harder They Fall” is similarly ineligible because of its budget, but its cast will receive the Ensemble Tribute Award. And Kristen Stewart will receive the Performer Tribute for “Spencer,” which is otherwise eligible only in the international category.

The Gothams are the first major awards show to announce their 2021 nominations. They will also be the first to hold their ceremony, which will take place in an in-person event on Monday, Nov. 29 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

The Gotham Awards typically don’t have much overlap with the Oscars, although last year “Nomadland” became the fifth film to win the best picture award at both shows. (The first four were “The Hurt Locker,” “Birdman,” “Spotlight” and “Moonlight.”) Over the last 10 years, 14 Gotham nominees have gone on to nab Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, with a slightly larger overlap in the acting categories.

The nominations were made by seven different nominating committees made up largely of film critics and writers.

The full list of nominations:

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)

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