NEW YORK – Flowing from an empty concert hall and with catchy speeches made from living rooms, the 30th Gotham Awards gave a meaningful start to Monday’s Oscar season in a largely digital “Nomadland” crowning Chloe Zhao best film of 2020.
As the first visible awards ceremony to be held during the pandemic, the Gotham Awards took a trial-and-error approach to putting up a show that could not contain the. typical captures of the annual independent film awards: red carpet, free-flowing cocktails, standing ovations. Nevertheless the Gothams went ahead with a concert from their usual home of Wall Street Cipriani in downtown Manhattan, albeit without a personal audience and with very few presenters.
Opening the show, Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of the Gotham Film and Media Institute, expected “glitches and gremlins” throughout the event. The show was broadcast live on Facebook, with invitees digitally placed at tables via a poker program sent back by Gotham organizers to simulate sitting at the gala.
“While we are the first, there is no doubt that we are the ultimate award-winning show exploring new ways of coming together,” said Sharp.
The results were not always smooth, but they were like a pandemic that made large gatherings – not to mention glossy ones like the Gothams – impossible. Winners, appearing by video conference, were sometimes carried away.
“I think I have the right to speak right now but I hear so many different people talking, I’m not sure what’s going on,” said Kingsley Ben -Adir (“One Night in Miami”) won a hotel room actor in London.
Ramona S. Diaz, Maria Ressa’s image director, “A Thousand Cuts,” learned that she won best documentary, in line with Garrett Bradley’s incarceration story “Time,” while the live hearing awaiting her speech.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t heard anything. What’s going on? “Said Diaz, who then learned she had won.” Oh, I did? ” she said.
But the Gothams, which was postponed by about two months to coincide with the delayed Academy Awards calendar, fell into a kind of rhythm and expected winner. “Nomadland,” with Zhao in which Frances McDormand was a traveling widow living in her van, feeling the season of a pandemic-like film festival, earning top honors at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, along with the best image from the National Association of Film Critics.
“Nomadland” won both Best Feature and Gothams Audience Award on Monday. All of the films nominated for best feature were directed by women, including “First Cow,” lead nominee by Kelly Reichardt. Zhao, who won “The Rider” best feature at the Gothams two years ago, thanked the festivals that, like the Gothams, continued despite the difficult conditions.
“They genuinely showed us and reminded them that we are not alone,” Zhao said. “A strong community is brought together by our love of cinema.”
Other rewards were a bigger surprise. Nicole Behaire won Best Actress for “Miss Juneteenth. “Oh, my God,” she cried, still moving. Turning her hearing, she repeated: “Oh, my God. ”
The best actor category included a posthumous nomination for Chadwick Boseman’s performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” but the award went to Riz Ahmed, for “Sound of Metal.” ”
Boseman was still honored with an award of obedience, as was “Ma Rainey” co-star Viola Davis. The Gothams, who will be able to lead a move in an Oscar race, have won several honors awards in taped performances, including Steve McQueen (“Small Ax”), the ensemble of “The Trial of the Chicago 7 ”with Aaron Sorkin, Ryan Ryan (“ The Prom ”) and Jeffrey Wright.
Simwick Ledward Boseman, Chadwick ‘s widow, accepted his award in an emotional tape message.
“Chad, thank you,” she said. “I love you. I’m so proud of you. Keep your light on us.”
Other awards included best screenshot for both Radha Blank (“Forty Years Old”) and Dan Sallitt (“Fourteen”); executive director for Andrew Patterson (“The Vast of Night”); and “Feature Identification” for best international film.
Accepting the shared documentary award for “Time,” Bradley lamented that she could not take the stage with her colleagues, and the themes of her film, Sibil “Fox” and Rob Richardson.
“If this was in a real place, there would be so many more people here right now,” Bradley said. “But we live in two sizes right now. ”
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This story has been corrected to spell Garrett Bradley ‘s first name correctly.
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Follow AP film writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP