Yahoo Movies The Lost Daughter , Squid Game ignite awards season with Gotham Awards nominations
The Gotham Awards have set the Oscar race in motion as one of the first awards bodies to unveil its annual list of year-end nominees — which, in 2021, includes two new acting categories that don't divide contenders by gender.
Maggie Gyllenhaal's critically lauded awards hopeful The Lost Daughter — an adaptation of Elena Ferrante's novel of the same name — scored five overall nominations among Thursday's announcement, including Best Feature, Breakthrough Director (Gyllenhaal), Screenplay, and for the film's performances by Olivia Colman (lead) and Jessie Buckley (supporting). Among the Gotham Awards' Best Feature nominees, the film is joined by David Lowery's The Green Knight, the Nicolas Cage-starring thriller Pig, Rebecca Hall's Passing book adaptation, and Test Pattern.
In addition to Colman and Buckley, this year's acting nominees include heavily touted potential Oscar players like Joaquin Phoenix (C'mon C'mon), Simon Rex (Red Rocket), Tessa Thompson (Passing), and CODA's on-screen mother-father pair, Troy Kotsur and Marlee Matlin — a class that breaks new ground for the Gotham Awards as the first group to be separated solely by their performance being lead versus supporting, and not their gender.
YANNIS DRAKOULIDIS/NETFLIX; Netflix; Noh Juhan/Netflix 2021 Gotham Award nominations herald The Lost Daughter, Passing, and Squid Game.
This year, however, several high profile films were ineligible for nominations, including Netflix titles like Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tick, Tick... Boom!, Jeymes Samuel's The Harder They Fall, and Adam McKay's Don't Look Up, all of which exceeded the Gotham Awards' $35 million budget cap for eligibility.
Kristen Stewart's buzzy Pablo Larraín-directed Princess Diana drama Spencer was also eligible only in the international feature category, as it features a predominantly non-American roster of producers behind the scenes. Still, the actress was previously announced as this year's Performer Tribute at the Gotham Awards, while the president of Magnolia Pictures, Eamonn Bowles, will receive the Industry Tribute.
Also absent from the nominees list is Kenneth Branagh's popular festival breakout Belfast, which previously earned the TIFF People's Choice Award on the precursor trail and was eligible to receive Gotham Awards nominations in all categories, but failed to do so.
On the television side, Netflix's massive Korean hit Squid Game scored nominations for Breakthrough Series as well as Lee Jung-jae's performance, while Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), Jean Smart (Hacks), Omar Sy (Lupin), and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit) notched other acting nods.
The Gotham Film organization celebrates independent and indie-spirited projects at its annual awards ceremony, which has regularly touted nominees that become high profile Oscar contenders as a given year's respective awards race continues. Though not a steadfast foreteller of Oscar tastes, the Gotham Awards — voted on by juries of 34 collective writers, critics, and programmers, including EW senior editor Joshua Rothkopf — offer key visibility to awards hopefuls on the circuit, including last season's Best Picture-winning drama Nomadland.
Winners will be announced at a Nov. 29 ceremony in New York City. See the full list of 2021 Gotham Awards nominees below, and keep up with EW's Awardist coverage throughout Oscar season.
Best Feature
The Green Knight — David Lowery, director; Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, producers (A24)
The Lost Daughter — Maggie Gyllenhaal, director; Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Charles Dorfman, producers (Netflix)
Passing — Rebecca Hall, director; Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall, producers (Netflix)
Pig — Michael Sarnoski, director; Nicolas Cage, Steve Tisch, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Dori Roth, Joseph Restiano, Dimitra Tsingou, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, Vanessa Block, producers (NEON)
Test Pattern — Shatara Michelle Ford, director; Shatara Michelle Ford, Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su, producers (Kino Lorber)
Best Documentary Feature
Ascension — Jessica Kingdon, director; Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell, Jessica Kingdon, producers (MTV Documentary Films)
Faya Dayi — Jessica Beshir, director and producer (Janus Films)
Flee — Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie, producers (NEON)
President — Camilla Nielsson, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Greenwich Entertainment)
Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) — Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, director; Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein, producers (Searchlight Pictures, Onyx Collective, Hulu)
Best International Feature
Azor — Andreas Fontana, director; Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney, producers (MUBI)
Drive My Car — Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films)
The Souvenir Part II — Joanna Hogg, director; Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Andrew Low, Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller, producers (A24)
Titane — Julia Ducournau, director; Jean-Christophe Reymond, producer (NEON)
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? — Alexandre Koberidze, director; Mariam Shatberashvili, producers (MUBI)
The Worst Person In The World — Joachim Trier, director; Thomas Robsham, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, producers (NEON)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Edson Oda for Nine Days (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rebecca Hall for Passing (Netflix)
Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)
Shatara Michelle Ford for Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)
Best Screenplay
The Card Counter, Paul Schrader (Focus Features)
El Planeta, Amalia Ulman (Utopia Distribution)
The Green Knight, David Lowery (A24)
The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix)
Passing, Rebecca Hall (Netflix)
Red Rocket, Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch (A24)
Outstanding Lead Performance
Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Frankie Faison in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (Gravitas Ventures)
Michael Greyeyes in Wild Indian (Vertical Entertainment)
Brittany S. Hall in Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)
Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter (Focus Features)
Taylour Paige in Zola (A24)
Joaquin Phoenix in C'mon C'mon (A24)
Simon Rex in Red Rocket (A24)
Lili Taylor in Paper Spiders (Entertainment Squad)
Tessa Thompson in Passing (Netflix)
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Reed Birney in Mass (Bleecker Street)
Jessie Buckley in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
Colman Domingo in Zola (A24)
Gaby Hoffmann in C'mon C'mon (A24)
Troy Kotsur in CODA (Apple)
Marlee Matlin in CODA (Apple)
Ruth Negga in Passing (Netflix)
Breakthrough Performer
Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple)
Natalie Morales in Language Lessons (Shout! Studios)
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)
Suzanna Son in Red Rocket (A24)
Amalia Ulman in El Planeta (Utopia Distribution)
Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)
The Good Lord Bird, Ethan Hawke, Mark Richard, creators; James McBride, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke, Ethan Hawke, Jason Blum, Albert Hughes, Mark Richard, Marshall Persinger, David Schiff, executive producers (Showtime)
It's A Sin, Russell T Davies, creator; Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler, executive producers (HBO Max)
Small Axe, Steve McQueen, creator;Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen, executive producers (Amazon Studios)
Squid Game, Kim Ji-yeon, Hwang Dong-hyu, executive producers (Netflix)
The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins, Colson Whitehead, creators; Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Jacqueline Hoyt, executive producers (Amazon Studios)
The White Lotus, Mike White, creator; Mike White, David Bernad, Nick Hall, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)
Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)
Blindspotting, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, creators; Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann, executive producers (STARZ)
Hacks, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, creators; Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)
Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, creators; Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Garrett Basch, executive producers (FX)
Run the World, Leigh Davenport, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Leigh Davenport, Nastaran Dibai, executive producers (STARZ)
We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor, creator, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland, executive producers (Peacock)
Breakthrough Nonfiction Series
City So Real, Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder, executive producers (National Geographic)
Exterminate All the Brutes, Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)
How To with John Wilson, John Wilson, creator; Nathan Fielder, John Wilson, Michael Koman, Clark Reinking, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)
Philly D.A., Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar, creators; Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin, executive producers (Topic, Independent Lens, PBS)
Pride, Christine Vachon, Sydney Foos, Danny Gabai, Kama Kaina, Stacy Scripter, Alex Stapleton (FX)
Outstanding Performance in a New Series
Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus (HBO Max/HBO)
Michael Greyeyes in Rutherford Falls (Peacock)
Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs (FX)
Lee Jung-jae in Squid Game (Netflix)
Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)
Jean Smart in Hacks (HBO Max/HBO)
Omar Sy in Lupin (Netflix)
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)
Anjana Vasan in We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)
Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring Oscars analysis, exclusive interviews, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's movies and performances.
Related content:
