"The Lost Daughter" reigns at the Gotham Awards
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 at 1:50PM
NATHANIEL R in CODA, Drive My Car, Emilia Jones, Ethan Hawke, Flee, Gotham Awards, Kristen Stewart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Passing, The Lost Daughter, Troy Kotsur, precursor awards

by Nathaniel R

Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Dakota Johnson at the Gotham Awards

Last night, while many film journalists were at one of the several West Side Story premieres, the Gotham Awards were held celebrating much less expensive but also captivating cinema.  Maggie Gyllenhaal's feature directorial debut, The Lost Daughter  reigned winning four of its five categories. This was bad news for Passing, another Netflix film (which we like even more though they're both fine films) which received 5 nominations but lost in all of its categories. Other multiple nominees who took home no prizes included A24 films like Red Rocket, The Green Knight, and C'mon C'mon, 

Outside of  The Lost Daughter the biggest awards season boost was definitely for CODA. The family drama about a child of deaf adults who wants to be a professional singer won prizes for both its leading lady Emilia Jones and her onscreen father Troy Kotsur. Kotsur really should be more competitive in Best Supporting Actor discussions so perhaps this will help!

THE WINNERS and more commentary are after the jump...

BEST FEATURE 

OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE

 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

 

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER 

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR 

BEST SCREENPLAY 

BREAKTHROUGH SERIES (40 minutes +)

Since both Squid Game and White Lotus are getting second life after their astounding success will the Emmys deem them regular ol' drama series for competition next year? Or will they compete in miniseries or anthology or... 

BREAKTHROUGH SERIES (under 40 minutes)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SERIES 

Both lead acting categories resulted in a tie between a man and a woman... which doesn't do a lot to sell dropping the separate gender competitions.

It's also worth noting in this particular category that their wins feel a lot like purposeful Emmy shaming since both Mbedu and Hawke were denied Emmy nominations that many feel were more than well-earned. Some of the others here were either Emmy nominated or are not eligible until next year's Emmys. Also: Ethan Hawke is  beloved at the Gothams, having received nominations or prizes in 6 difference ceremonies.

BREAKTHROUGH NON-FICTION SERIES 

 

NON COMPETITIVE PRIZES
The Gothams also give out extra prizes. In some cases the films involved weren't eligible so the cynic will say "a way for the Gothams to still be an Oscar precursor whether or not their jurors complied!" whilst the generous viewer will say "a way for them to honor other great films and filmmakers!"

DIRECTORS TRIBUTE Jane Campion
ENSEMBLE TRIBUTE The Harder They Fall
ICON TRIBUTE Kathleen Collins (posthumous)
IMPACT SALUTE Actors Fund of America
INDUSTRY TRIBUTE Eammon Bowles
PERFORMER TRIBUTE Kristen Stewart and Peter Dinklage

"still alice" co-stars reunited at the Gothams last night.

OSCAR CORRELATION
It always feels gross to do this since awards should not be measured by how well they predict Oscars but nevertheless it's fun to think about from a statistics and trivia perspective. The Gothams are very different from the Oscars in all sorts of ways --  juried nominations, smaller eligibility pool, budget restrictions, tiny amount of categories -- which accounts for some of the differences but generally speaking Gotham winners do go on to at least a couple of Oscar nominations.

The Gotham Awards have more categories than they used to but the performance of The Lost Daughter is still unusual in terms of both number of nominations and number of awards.  Here is a list of the past 10 years of Gotham's top winner and how the films fared at the Oscars. If it's in red the film was not nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

2020 - Nomadland (2 nominations, 1 win + Audience Award) / 6 Oscar nominations, 3 wins
2019 - Marriage Story (3 nominations, 2 wins) / 6 Oscar nomination, 1 win.
2018 - The Rider (1 nomination, 1 win) / No Oscar nominations
2017 - Call Me By Your Name (3 nominations, 2 wins) / 4 Oscar nominations, 1 win
2016 - Moonlight (2 nominations, 2 wins + Audience Award and Ensemble Prize). 8 Oscar nominations, 3 wins
2015 - Spotlight (2 nominations, 2 wins + Ensemble Prize). 6 Oscar nominations, 2 wins.
2014 - Birdman (2 nominations, 2 wins). 9 nominations, 4 wins
2013 - Inside Llewyn Davis (2 nominations, 1 win). 2 Oscar nominations
2012 - Moonrise Kingdom (2 nominations, 1 win). 1 Oscar nomination
2011 - TIE Beginners (2 nominations, 2 wins) and Tree of Life (1 nomination, 1 win) / Beginners: 1 oscar nomination, 1 win; Tree of Life: 3 Oscar nominations 

In short The Lost Daughter is a bigger threat than we thought for a Best Picture nomination but that's still hardly a done deal, Netflix having a full plate and all, even without this particular film. Still these wins, especially the combination of them, are good for the film and make Oscar nominations in three categories (Adapted Screenplay, Actress, Director) look at least slightly more competitive than they did before. 

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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