Gotham Awards: Women Filmmakers Make History, Chadwick Boseman Nominated Posthumously

The awards season has officially begun with the Independent Film Project (IFP) announcing its nominations for the 30th annual Gotham Awards. For the first time in the award body’s 30-year history, all the movies nominated in the Best Picture category were directed by female filmmakers.

The jury announced a total of 41 nominees on the organization’s website. The movies nominated for the biggest prize of the star-studded event include “Nomadland” from Chloe Zhao, “The Assistant” from Kitty Green, “First Cow” from Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” from Eliza Hittman, and “Relic” from Natalie Erika James.

“Nomadland” is considered to be a frontrunner in the category as it is looking to make a solid start to the awards season by nabbing the prestigious accolade. The movie, which stars Frances McDormand in the lead role, chronicles the journey of a woman named Fern (played by McDormand) who has lost everything during the Great Recession. Fern embarks on a journey and starts living as a modern-day nomad.

The film won the prestigious Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice Film Festival, making Zhao only the fifth female director to get her hands on the trophy.

Meanwhile, Chadwick Boseman has managed to garner a Best Actor nod posthumously for his upcoming film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The other actors included in the category are Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jude Law (“The Nest”), Jesse Plemons (I’m Thinking of Ending Things”), and John Magaro (“First Cow”).

Similarly, Frances McDormand has received a Best Actress nod for her impeccable acting in Zhao’s “Nomadland.” The actress will get stiff competition from fellow nominees like Nicole Beharie, Jessie Buckley, Yuh-Jung Youn, and Carrie Coon.

On the Television side, HBO’s blockbuster series “Watchmen” is nominated in the breakthrough series category. The other nominees are “The Great,” “Immigration Nation,” “P-Valley,” and “Unorthodox.”

Check out the full list of nominees:

Best Feature

"The Assistant"

Kitty Green, director; Kitty Green, 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 - "Sound of Metal" (Amazon Studios)

Chadwick Boseman - "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" (Netflix)

Jude Law - "The Nest" (IFC Films)

John Magaro - "First Cow" (A24)

Jesse Plemons - "I’m Thinking of Ending Things" (Netflix)

Best Actress

Nicole Beharie - "Miss Juneteenth" (Vertical Entertainment)

Jessie Buckley - "I’m Thinking of Ending Things" (Netflix)

Yuh-Jung Youn - "Minari" (A24)

Carrie Coon - "The Nest" (IFC Films)

Frances McDormand - "Nomadland" (Searchlight Pictures)

Breakthrough Actor

Jasmine Batchelor - "The Surrogate" (Monument Releasing)

Kingsley Ben-Adir - "One Night in Miami…" (Amazon Studios)

Sidney Flanigan - "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" (Focus Features)

Orion Lee - "First Cow" (A24)

Kelly O’Sullivan - "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; 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, 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)