In the glamorous 33rd Gotham Awards held on Monday night, Past Lives bagged the best feature award. Per Deadline, A24’s Past Lives is a directorial debut of Celine Song, revolving around the lives of two childhood friends, who were made asunder when one of them had to emigrate to South Korea. They reunite 20 years later for only one week, where they unravel their notions of love and destiny.
Upon receiving one of the most prestigious awards, Celine Song thanked Gotham for the honor and mentioned how it means “the world to receive it with my debut set in New York City, a city that I live in and love deeply.” She expressed gratitude to her producers at A24 and the rest of her team. She was accompanied on stage by two of the film’s stars, Greta Lee and John Magaro.
The same night, per Hollywood Reporter, “fellow three-time and best feature nominee A Thousand and One won the breakthrough director award in the all-female category, helmed by A.V. Rockwell. Rockwell ventured forth to give a heart-touching speech sharing the trials and tribulations of recounting some of the most complex stories when it comes to one’s identity.
Teary-eyed, she said, “Maybe one of the biggest things actually was telling a very truthful, authentic, very raw experience that can be so hard when it’s culturally specific and I felt like I fought tooth and nail for every inch of, every piece of what you’ve seen on screen Just to be frank, it is very hard to tell a very culturally specific story when you look like this.”
In addition to these, director Andrew Haigh’s gay romance, All of Us Strangers, led Gotham’s field with four nominations across all categories, followed by Song’s Past Lives and Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, with three nominations each, according to Variety. Along with All of Us Strangers, Anatomy of a Fall, Poor Things, Totem, and The Zone of Interest were also nominated for the best international feature.
Per Variety, the Gotham Film and Media Institute has reportedly eliminated its 435 million budget requirement in 2023 for potential nominees. Along with the hotshots like Barbie, some indie and arthouse films have also gained recognition as nominees this year. In an interesting turn of events, the Gothams have modified their categories for acting awards; they are no longer determined by gender.
According to Deadline, Lily Gladstone bagged the accolade for her lead performance in The Unknown Country, while Charles Melton was also honored for his supporting performance in May December.
Here’s a complete list of all the winners and nominations whose nights were made more glamorous by Gotham Awards 2023 (courtesy of Variety):
1. Best Feature
- Passages
- Past Lives : (won)
- Reality
- Showing up
- A Thousand and One
2. Outstanding Lead Performance
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Origin
- Lily Gladstone, The Unknown Country (won)
- Greta Lee, Past Lives
- Franz Rogowski, Passages
- Babetida Sadjo, Our Father, The Devil
- Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
- Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
- Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One
- Michelle Williams, Showing Up
- Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
3. Outstanding Supporting Performance
- Juliette Binoche, The Taste of Things
- Penélope Cruz, Ferrari
- Jamie Foxx, They Cloned Tyrone
- Claire Foy, All of Us Strangers
- Ryan Gosling, Barbie
- Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry
- Sandra Hüller, The Zone of Interest
- Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
- Charles Melton, May December (won)
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdover
4. Best Screenplay
- All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh
- Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (won)
- May December, Samy Burch
- R.M.N., Cristian Mungiu
- The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
5. Best International Feature
- All of Us Strangers
- Anatomy of a Fall (won)
- Poor Things
- Tótem
- The Zone of Interest
6. Best Documentary Feature
- 20 Days in Mariupol
- Against the Tide
- Apolonia, Apolonia
- Four Daughters – (won)
- Our Body
6. Breakthrough Director
- Raven Jackson, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
- Georgia Oakley, Blue Jean
- Michelle Garza Cervera, Huesera
- Celine Song, Past Lives
- A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One (won)
7. Outstanding Performance in a New Series
- Jacob Anderson, Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire
- Dominique Fishback, Swarm
- Jharrel Jerome, I’m a Virgo
- Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
- Bel Powley, A Small Light
- Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
- Chaske Spencer, The English
- Rachel Weisz, Dead Ringers
- Ali Wong, Beef (won)
- Steven Yeun, Beef
8. Breakthrough Television Over 40 Minutes
- Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire
- Dead Ringers
- The English
- The Last of Us
- A Small Light – (won)
- Telemarketers
9. Breakthrough Television Under 40 Minutes
- Beef – (won)
- High School
- I’m A Virgo
- Rain Dogs
- Swarm