Top brass at the Independent Filmmaker Project will host the 2013 awards show on Dec 2 and have introduced best actor and actress categories, scrapped Best Film Not Playing At A Theater Near You and renamed the Breakthrough Award in honour of Bingham Ray.

The 23rd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards will take place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York after nominees are announced on Oct 24.

The five pre-existing award categories are best feature, documentary, breakthrough actor and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award and the Gotham Audience Award, an onlin vote open to cinephiles.

While Best Film Not Playing At A Theater Near You has been discontinued, the best undistributed films of the year will continue to be showcased through IFP’s partnership with MoMA through the ninth annual Best Film Not Playing At A Theatre Near You screening series in November at the museum.

2013 Tributes will be announced in the coming weeks. For the third year IFP will present its $25,000 cash award, the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live The Dream’ grant for an alumnus of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs. Calvin Klein will also present the new best actress award.

“This has been a rich year for independent films – both those films out now and others on the release horizon,” said IFP executive director Joana Vicente. “It promises to be an exciting season, and as the home of independent film, it is IFP’s goal to celebrate these projects and the artists’ work behind each film, helping to bring them to the attention of wider audiences.”

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