“Diary of a Teenage Girl” leads Gotham Awards nominations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Marielle Heller‘s coming-of-age story “Diary of a Teenage Girl” led all films with four nominations for the 25th anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards, the Independent Feature Project (IFP) announced, according to TheWrap.

The film received four nominations in the Gothams’ seven competitive categories, including Best Feature, Breakthrough Director Award, Best Screenplay and Best Actress for Bel Powley.

Two strong Oscar contenders, Todd Haynes‘ “Carol” and Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight,” also received multiple nominations. “Carol” received three, including one for lead actress Cate Blanchett, while “Spotlight” was nominated for feature and screenplay. The journalism drama also received a special jury award for its ensemble cast, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D’Arcy James.

“Tangerine” also received three nominations, one for Best Feature and two for actresses Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor.

Films nominated for Best Feature were “Carol,” “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” “Heaven Knows What,” “Spotlight” and “Tangerine.”

“Heaven Knows What,” “James White” and “Love & Mercy” were the other films to receive more than one nomination, with two each.

In recognition of the strong work by female actors this year, the jury also chose to include six nominees for Best Actress. The field includes Powley, Blanchett, Brie Larson for “Room,” Blythe Danner for “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” Lily Tomlin for “Grandma” and Kristen Wiig for “Welcome to Me.”

Previously announced tributes will go to director Todd Haynes, actors Robert Redford and Helen Mirren and producer and Anonymous Content founder Steve Golin.

The New York-based Gotham Awards are one of the two major honors for independent film, and will be presented early in awards season, on Nov. 30 at Cipriani Wall Street.

Also Read: 2015 Oscar Hopefuls Poised to Outperform Last Year's at Box Office

The other major indie awards show, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, takes place in Los Angeles at the end of the season, the day before the Oscars.

Gotham nominees are selected by a number of different juries, consisting largely of film critics. Films must meet a variety of fairly nebulous requirements, including being “filmmaking with a point of view” that is “made with an economy of means” and is directed and/or produced by a filmmaker born or based in the United States.

In the last five years, nominees in the top Gotham category have ranged from a high of three Oscar Best Picture nominees (in 2010 and 2014) to a low of none (in 2012). Last year, Gotham and Oscar winner “Birdman” was joined in the category by Oscar nominees “Boyhood” and “Birdman” and by the smaller indies “Love Is Strange” and “Under the Skin.”

In three of the four categories that overlap between the Gothams and Oscars, the same film or person won: “Birdman” for best feature, “Citizenfour” for best documentary and Julianne Moore for best actress. (All three also won at the Spirit Awards.)