'Manchester By The Sea' dominates Gothams nominations

Manchester By The Sea is in the running for best feature, best screenplay for Lonergan, best actor for Casey Affleck and breakthrough actor for Lucas Hedges.

The film premiered at Sundance, when Amazon Studios acquired North American rights and Universal picked up the rest of the world.

Meanwhile Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight from A24 continued to build up a head of steam following its recent world premiere in Telluride and subsequent Toronto presentations, picking up a nomination for best feature and the special jury award for ensemble cast.

“We wish to offer our hearty congratulations to the 2016 Gotham Awards nominees, all of whose unique and exciting artistic achievements represent the very best in independent storytelling,” said Joana Vicente, executive director of IFP and the Made In NY Media Center.

IFP members will determine the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award from the 15 nominated films in the best feature, best documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories. Voting will take place online from November 16-23.

The Gotham Awards will be handed out on November 28 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

The 2016 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations are:

BEST FEATURE

Certain Women (IFC Films)
Everybody Wants Some!! (Paramount Pictures)
Manchester By The Sea (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight (A24)
Paterson (Amazon Studios)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Cameraperson (Janus Films)
I Am Not Your Negro (Magnolia Pictures)
O.J.: Made in America (ESPN Films)
Tower (Kino Lorber, Independent Lens)
Weiner (Sundance Selects and Showtime Documentary Films)

BINGHAM RAY BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR AWARD

Robert Eggers, The Witch (A24)
Anna Rose Holmer, The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Swiss Army Man (A24)
Trey Edward Shults, Krisha (A24)
Richard Tanne, Southside With You (Roadside Attractions and Miramax)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Hell Or High Water, Taylor Sheridan (CBS Films)
Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman (Amazon Studios)
Manchester By The Sea, Kenneth Lonergan (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)
Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (Amazon Studios)

BEST ACTOR*

Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea (Amazon Studios)
Jeff Bridges, Hell Or High Water (CBS Films)
Adam Driver, Paterson (Amazon Studios)
Joel Edgerton, Loving (Focus Features)
Craig Robinson, Morris From America (A24)

BEST ACTRESS*

Kate Beckinsale, Love & Friendship (Amazon Studios)
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women (A24)
Isabelle Huppert, Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ruth Negga, Loving (Focus Features)
Natalie Portman, Jackie (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR*

Lily Gladstone, Certain Women (IFC Films)
Lucas Hedges, Manchester By The Sea (Amazon Studios)
Royalty Hightower, The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories
)Sasha Lane, American Honey (A24)
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch (A24)

*The 2016 Best Actor/Best Actress and Breakthrough Actor nominating panels have voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Moonlight, “in which actors at all levels of experience give outstanding performances that speak eloquently to one another both within and across each chapter of the story.”

The awards will go to actors Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, and Ashton Sanders.

BREAKTHROUGH SERIES – LONG FORM

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)
The Girlfriend Experience (Starz)
Horace And Pete (louisck.net)
Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Netflix)
Master Of None (Netflix)

BREAKTHROUGH SERIES – SHORT FORM

The Gay And Wondrous Life Of Caleb Gallo (YouTube)
Her Story (herstoryshow.com)
The Movement (Mic.com) 
Sitting In Bathrooms With Trans People (Seriously.TV)
Surviving (YouTube)