The Gotham Film & Media Institute has announced that submissions are now open for the 34th Annual Gotham Awards, which are taking place in New York on Monday, December 2nd, 2024. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, September 19th, 2024, for the following nine competition categories: Best Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best International Feature, Best Director, Breakthrough Director, Best Screenplay, Outstanding Lead Performance, Outstanding Supporting Performance, and Breakthrough Performer. Moving forward, all television categories will be celebrated at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards.
The new Best Director recognition will recognize a director who pushes the boundaries of creativity and demonstrates a unique vision. In order to be eligible for consideration, feature films must be scheduled for a theatrical release in 2024. The planned release, which can be through a theatrical releasing entity or by direct or self-distribution by the filmmakers, must run for a minimum of seven consecutive days.
The Gotham Awards will also bring back the Breakthrough Performer award, which celebrates an outstanding debut or “breakthrough” performance in an eligible feature film (U.S. or international). The performance is not necessarily the performer’s first screen role. Still, it is considered the first lead or strong supporting role to display the expanse of their talent or suggest significant future accomplishment.
“We’re thrilled to expand our recognition of exceptional talent this year,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “For the first time, we are introducing the Gotham Award for Best Director, honoring a filmmaker whose fiction film, whether U.S. or international, pushes the boundaries of creativity and demonstrates a unique vision. This new award complements our longstanding Breakthrough Director Award for first-time directing talent.”
Submission applications, along with full criteria, are available at https://awards.thegotham.org/criteria/. Nominees will be announced on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024, and winners will be honored at the awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Monday, December 2nd, 2024. All television award categories will be presented at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards, which will be held in New York on Monday, June 2nd, 2025.
During the 33rd Annual Gotham Awards, which were held on November 27th, 2023, Celine Song’s nuanced and poignant drama Past Lives took home Best Feature, Justine Triet’s gripping Anatomy of a Fall earned wins for Best International Feature and Best Screenplay (co-written with Justine Triet by Arthur Harari), Lily Gladstone won Outstanding Lead Performance for her poetic performance in The Unknown Country, and Charles Melton scored the Gotham Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance for his unexpected turn in May December.
The Premier Sponsor of the 2024 Gotham Awards is Vanity Fair.
About The Gotham Film & Media Institute
The Gotham celebrates and nurtures independent film and media creators, providing career-building resources, access to industry influencers, and pathways to wider recognition. The organization, under the leadership of Executive Director and award-winning producer Jeffrey Sharp, fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Gotham Week, the Documentary Development Initiative in partnership with HBO Documentary Films, the Gotham Awards, Gotham EDU, Owning It, Expanding Communities, and Filmmaker Magazine.
About The Gotham Awards
The Gotham Awards, one of the leading honors for independent film and television, provides early acknowledgment to groundbreaking independent films and television series. Selected by distinguished juries and presented in New York City, the home of independent film, the Gotham Awards are the first honors of the film awards season. This public showcase honors the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that The Gotham Film & Media Institute does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.
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