Gotham Awards: "No Other Land"

by Nick Taylor

As part of The Film Experience’s coverage of this year’s Gotham Awards, I’ll be reviewing a handful of nomination films. Some of you may remember No Other Land from Cláudio Alves’s impassioned review from TIFF a month and a half ago. I hope you’ve been able to see it since then. If you haven’t, I hope you’re able to in the future. It's one of six films recognized by the Gothams for Best Documentary, and as per usual with this awards body, this could very well be another season where they have one of the year's strongest Doc lineups. Let my coverage of this be another endorsement for No Other Land as a staggering feat, “important” in every way a documentary like this could be, as well as a remarkably sturdy piece of filmmaking...

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"Anora" leads the Gotham Nominations

by Cláudio Alves

ANORA seems poised to dominate the awards season.

Another year, another awards season. And, like it happens every fall, the Gotham Awards have the privilege of kicking the race into high gear. Unsurprisingly, Anora leads with four nominations, followed by Nickel Boys and I Saw the TV Glow with three nods a piece, though the latter failed to get a spot in the Best Feature category. Then again, it's worth remembering that the Gothams' nine categories are divided into five distinct committees with no overlap between them. The same people (critics, curators, editors, and programmers) who decide the Director and Screenplay nominees have no say in who makes it into the acting races, for example.

So, expect idiosyncrasies and don't put much stock in how some films appear in a couple of major categories but not others. More than a precursor for Oscar gold, these prizes often feel like an opportunity to highlight the richness of the cinematic year before the viable contenders get reduced to a limited lot. So, let's take a look at their selection…

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Gotham Awards 2023: De Niro Censored and Gladstone Crowned

by Cláudio Alves

With the Gotham Awards ceremony, the season is officially underway. It was a night marked by studio intrusions into a space heretofore reserved for indie filmmaking, a "spread the wealth" attitude, and one controversy. When introducing a prize to Killers of the Flower Moon, Robert De Niro found his speech censored – presumably by Apple – but that didn't stop him from saying everything he had in mind. As soon as the video package wrapped, De Niro made sure to read his original text, complete with anti-Trump sentiment and John Wayne shade.

Some surprising results included a victory for A.V. Rockwell's A Thousand and One over Past Lives in the Breakthrough Director category, though the Celine Song film still took home the night's biggest prize. On the acting front, Charles Melton won Outstanding Supporting Performance for May December and charmed the whole room, while Lily Gladstone took the Lead Performance prize for The Unknown Country. Even when she's not representing Martin Scorsese's latest, voters are eager to recognize the actress…

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Gotham Awards 2023: Getting a grip on "Past Lives"

By Nick Taylor

With the Gotham Awards dropping tomorrow, I decided to cap off this little series with a rewatch, one of the year’s most popular independent films that, to my surprise, did not have a full review at The Film Experience . . . . until NOW!! That’s right folks, we’re talking about Celine Song’s Past Lives. Nominated in Best Feature, Breakthrough Director, and Lead Performance for Greta Lee, this sleeper hit has made about as strong of an impact as an early-year release could hope to achieve. I was fully seduced by it reputation in the weeks leading up to its release, and though I was completely besotted with Past Lives on first watch (to the point of showering it with attention across my own halfway-through-the-year ballot), I’ve never quite shaken the concern I succumbed to hype rather than fully engaging with it. This was an ideal opportunity to give the film another shot, and seeing it again helped to further solidify my feelings on this tricky flick . . . .

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Gotham Awards 2023: "Huesera: The Bone Woman" Stands Tall in a Stacked Category

by Nick Taylor

If awards-giving bodies serve one purpose, it’s to point curious, nubile cinephiles towards films they might not have otherwise come across. Unexpected, eccentric nominations are almost inherently fun to observe, especially from organizations meant to honor smaller films. Sure, the Gotham Awards removing their budgetary caps is a disappointing move, but aside from Barbie, several of their choices reflect what a great year this is for smaller, genuinely independent titles. And if we’re talking about titles, how could I not jump at the opportunity to check out a film called Huesera: The Bone Woman? Michelle Garza Cervera was recognized in the Breakthrough Director category, and for me, this is the ideal way of rewarding the strengths of this potent film.

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