‘Frozen River’ Wins Best Feature at 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on December 3, 2008 under Awards, IFP | 
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IFP announced last night, the winners of the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film AwardsTM at a ceremony held at New York City’s Cipriani Wall Street.
Presented by IFP, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, the Gotham Independent Film AwardsTM is one of the leading awards for independent film and the first major honors of the film awards season. The awards provide critical early recognition for worthy independent films, such as past winners JUNO (2007), HALF NELSON (2006), and JUNEBUG (2005) – all of which went on to earn numerous awards and Oscar® nominations for their stars Ellen Page, Ryan Gosling, and Amy Adams, respectively.
A total of 22 films received nominations in six categories: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM. New this year, the recipient of the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM will receive a cash award of $15,000 provided by Artists Public Domain, the non- profit dedicated to supporting the artistic vision of filmmakers working outside of the commercial mainstream, and D.R. Reiff & Associates Inc., a full service brokerage firm specializing in Arts & Entertainment Insurance.
Selecting this year’s nominees were 18 critics, journalists, and film programmers. Final award recipients were determined by separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, casting directors, composers and others directly involved in making films. (See below for jurors.) The recipient of The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM award was determined by the editors of Filmmaker magazine, a publication of IFP, and a curator from The Museum of Modern Art.
In addition to the juried awards, four Tributes were presented this evening – to actor Penélope Cruz (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, ELEGY), president of HBO Documentary Films’ Sheila Nevins, filmmaker Gus Van Sant (MILK, DRUGSTORE COWBOY), and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles (SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSS SONG, CONFESSIONSOFA EX-DOOFUS ITCHYFOOTED MUTHA).
The ceremony was hosted by Aasif Mandvi, actor, filmmaker and correspondent for THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART. Mandvi has also earned acclaim as an actor and writer for both stage and screen. In 2008, Filmmaker Magazine named Mandvi one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. He recently completed production on 7 TO THE PALACE, an independent film that he stars in and co-wrote. The film is loosely based on his critically acclaimed one-man show, SAKINA’S RESTAURANT, which earned him a 1999 Obie Award.
The 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film AwardTM Recipients
Best Feature presented by actors Michelle Williams & Marisa Tomei.
FROZEN RIVER (pictured above)
Directed by Courtney Hunt; Produced by Heather Rae, Chip Hourihan (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Best Feature Jury included actor Steve Buscemi, filmmakers Mira Nair and Whit Stillman, editor Lee Percy and producer Sarah Green.
Best Documentary presented by filmmaker Mira Nair and actor Dennis Hopper.
TROUBLE THE WATER
Directed & Produced by Tia Lessin & Carl Deal (Zeitgeist Films in association
with HBO Documentary Films)
The Best Documentary Jury included filmmakers Barbara Kopple, Stanley
Nelson, Terry Zwigoff, Peter Gilbert and Cynthia Wade.
Breakthrough Director Award presented by actors Patricia Clarkson & Mickey
Rourke.
Lance Hammer
Director, BALLAST (Alluvial Film Company)
The Breakthrough Director Jury included actor/filmmaker Ethan Hawke,
director of photography Maryse Alberti, producer Frida Torresblanco, and
filmmakers Charles Burnett & Rebecca Miller.
Breakthrough Actor Award presented by actors Amy Adams & Debra Winger
Melissa Leo
Actress, FROZEN RIVER (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Breakthrough Actor Jury included actors Amy Ryan and Terrence Howard,
filmmaker Rian Johnson, producer Lydia Dean Pilcher and composer Carter
Burwell.
Best Ensemble Performance Award presented by actors Ethan Hawke &
Jennifer Esposito.
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine
Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and
Tom Noonan (Sony Pictures Classics); Casting Director Jeanne McCarthy
- AND -
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz & Patricia
Clarkson (The Weinstein Company); Casting Directors Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto
& Juliet Taylor
The Best Ensemble Performance Jury included actors Olympia Dukakis, Matt
Dillon and Jennifer Esposito, filmmaker Doug Liman, and casting director Ellen
Lewis.
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Award presented by actors
Rosemarie DeWitt & Melissa Leo.
SITA SINGS THE BLUES
Written, Directed & Animated by Nina Paley
The recipient of The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near YouTM award
was determined by the editors of Filmmaker magazine, a publication of IFP,
and a curator from The Museum of Modern Art.
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