On November 26 the prestigious Gotham awards were handed out in New York with 'Moonrise Kingdom' taking home the top prize.
The awards, which are the equivalent to the Indie Spirit Awards in California, honor the best Independent Films of the Year. This year the Gothams surprised audiences and pundits as 'Moonrise Kingdom' won the top award over Oscar potential 'The Master.'
'The Master' was in need of this award as its Academy Award hopes seem to be fading. The Gotham Award while not the most reliable when it comes to Oscar prognostications has helped smaller films like 'Winter's Bone', 'Frozen River', 'The Hurt Locker' and lasts years 'The Tree of Life ignite' their Oscar campaigns and eventually obtain the awards nominations they needed. For 'Moonrise Kingdom' this comes at a good time especially when many have had this film as a potential Best Picture contender but not as a frontrunner. The Gotham may help it solidify its chances as the Best Picture nomination arrive in January.
Other surprises were the Best Ensemble award as it went home to Lynn Shelton's micro budget film 'Your Sister's Sister' which stars Rose Marie DeWitt, Mark Duplass and Emily Blunt. The film which for many stated had no chance defeated the Oscar contender 'Silver Linings Playbook', and Best Feature nominees 'Bernie' and 'Moonrise Kingdom.'
In the Breakthrough Actor category Emayatzy Corinealdi took the award for her powerful performance in 'Middle of Nowhere.' This also came as a surprise as pundits believed that Quevenzhane Wallis was the frontrunner for her performance in 'Beasts of the Southern Wild.' Still Ms. Wallis' Oscar chances were not harmed as the film took home two awards. Benh Zeitlin took home the award for Breakthrough Director for 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' as well as a new award, the Bingham Ray Award, which comes with a $60,000 camera package.
The Best Documentary award went to the acclaimed film 'How to Survive a Plague.' Jared Letos' 'Artifact' won the Audience Award while 'An Oversimplification of her Beauty' won the Best Film Not Playing in a Theater Near You Award.
The awards also took time to honor Matt Damon, David O. Russell and Marion Cotillard in their annual Career Tribute awards.
List of winners
Best Feature: Moonrise Kingdom
Best Ensemble: Your Sister's Sister
Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Breakthrough Director: Benh Zeitlin-Beasts of the Southern Wild
Breakthrough Actor: Emayatzy Corinealdi-Middle of Nowhere
Best Film Not Playing a Theater Near You: An Oversimplification of her BeautyAudience Award: Artifact
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