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Netflix’s The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, dominated the 2021 Gotham Awards in New York on Monday night.
The film, which went into the event as a five-time nominee, won four awards, including the top prize of best feature.
After a quick speech thanking her loved ones and collaborators for best screenplay, Gyllenhaal declared she’d deliver a “real speech” after her second win of the evening, for breakthrough director.
“It’s expensive to make movies,” said Gyllenhaal in her second acceptance speech. “Movies cost a lot of money. You can write them, but someone’s got to make them. So then the question becomes, what is valuable? Is women telling stories that resonate between us valuable? And is it high art? And is it appealing to men? To see women that actually look like their wives or their sisters or their mothers up on-screen? I think the lineup of films being celebrated here tonight says ‘Yeah, it fuckin’ is.’”
The Lost Daughter‘s Olivia Colman won outstanding lead performance in a tie with The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain star Frankie Faison.
Ahead of the awards, Faison told The Hollywood Reporter that he was hopeful that his win would allow more people to see his movie, which he feels has a particularly important message.
“It’s so close to us all right now and all of the kinds of activities that have been going on with police, especially Blacks and Hispanics and poor people in this country,” Faison said of the issues explored in the film, in which he plays the eponymous elderly Black veteran who was killed by police officers after an accidental medical alert escalated to a standoff. “It’s also the last 90 seconds of this man’s life, so you get to see a man before he is shot by law-enforcement officers who are supposed to be there to protect him, and they’re the ones who end up killing him.”
Netflix’s Passing, which also had five nominations, went home empty-handed, as did three-time nominee Test Pattern, from Kino Lorber.
Apple’s CODA won two of the three awards for which it was nominated.
Accepting the breakthrough performer award, Emilia Jones said, “When you’re making a movie about a culture that you don’t belong to, it’s important to surround yourself with people who are a part of it. And on CODA, we surrounded ourselves with the best: Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant,” Jones thanked her co-stars, who are members of the deaf community. “They took me under their wing the minute they met me.”
The Gotham Awards are one of the first events in awards season, but Jones told THR ahead of Monday’s event that she wasn’t even thinking about awards.
“Anything that comes is just a bonus; I’m not expecting anything,” she said. “Obviously, I would love CODA to go to awards and win them, but I’m kind of trying to take it as it comes.”
On the TV side, the Gotham Awards honored buzzy new series Squid Game and Reservation Dogs with its two breakthrough series awards.
When accepting the award, Squid Game producer Kim Ji-yeon said, “We’ve experienced so many miracles since we launched this show, … and the biggest of them is how much love and support you all have shown to a foreign-language series with a very strange title.”
Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk reminisced about his long journey to get his series made and then how quickly it became a hit. “When I wrote this script it was 2009, 12 years ago. I did my best but nobody liked it,” he said. “People said, ‘it’s unrealistic, it’s too violent, it’s absurd, it’s weird.’ It took 12 years to make this show and show it to the people. And it took less than 12 days to become the No. 1 show on the planet. What can I say? It’s a miracle.”
Accepting his award relatively late in the roughly three-hour-long show, Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo joked, “White people have long-ass speeches and y’all been saying these speeches for way too fuckin’ long. … We love you, we’re here for you, don’t fuckin’ talk so long. Jesus Christ.”
On a more serious note, he called out the event venue, Cipriani Wall Street, urging the audience to remember the Indigenous people who called Manhattan home.
“Everyone think about Wall Street,” he said. “There were Indigenous people that lived here, and they fuckin’ came here and gave them beads and tricked them into giving up their land. And then they built a wall to keep them out of their land, and that’s why it’s called Wall Street. They built a fuckin’ wall to keep our people out of that land. I want you all to remember that. That’s what they did to us. Remember Trump tried to build a wall? They did that a long time ago to keep native people out of this land.”
Over the summer, the Gotham Awards made its acting awards gender-neutral, a move that was praised by nonbinary Billions actor Asia Kate Dillon as they presented the award for outstanding performance in a new series, the other category that resulted in a tie.
“I would first like to commend the Gotham Awards for eliminating gender from their awards categories because true talent shines through the constructs meant to separate us,” Dillon said.
One of the category’s two winners, Ethan Hawke, took a moment to talk about the value of being nominated alongside women.
“I’ve never been nominated where the male and female performances were not separated, and it’s a very powerful thing to see these clips and see us not defined by our gender,” Hawke, who was recognized for his role in The Good Lord Bird, said. “I wish that the women in this room had as many opportunities as the men. Directors don’t get differentiated by gender. I never understood why actors do, so I’m so proud to share this award.”
Following his win, Hawke presented a tribute award to his friend and fellow actor Peter Dinklage.
The Gotham Awards also honored Power of the Dog director Jane Campion, Spencer star Kristen Stewart, Magnolia exec Eamonn Bowles, the cast of The Harder They Fall, The Actors Fund and, posthumously, activist and filmmaker Kathleen Collins with the Gothams’ first Icon Tribute.
Julianne Moore and Spencer director Pablo Larraín presented Stewart with her tribute award.
“To work opposite her is to feel truly seen and partnered. She elevates everything,” Moore said. ”What she presents on-screen and in life is sometimes challenging to people because it’s like she’s skinless. She demonstrates a truth that can feel uncomfortable but cool at the same time because she’s cool, right? I mean, there’s no one cooler than her.”
“Kristen changed my life,” Larraín added. “You’re a fucking miracle of cinema.”
The 2021 awards took place in person less than a year after 2020’s winners were announced in a pandemic-delayed hybrid event in January, with winners participating via live video.
Recent Gotham Award winners have included Oscar winners Nomadland, Marriage Story, American Factory, Moonlight, Spotlight and Birdman.
A full list of this year’s winners and nominees follows.
Best Feature
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal, director; Osnat Handelsman-Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Charles Dorfman, producers (Netflix) (WINNER)
The Green Knight
David Lowery, director; Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, producers (A24)
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
Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sorensen, Charlotte de La Gournerie, producers (NEON) (WINNER)
Ascension
Jessica Kingdon, director; Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell, Jessica Kingdon, producers (MTV Documentary Films)
Faya Dayi
Jessica Beshir, director and producer (Janus Films)
President
Camilla Nielsson, director; Signe Byrge Sorensen, 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
Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films) (WINNER)
Azor
Andreas Fontana, director; Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney, producers (MUBI)
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) (WINNER)
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 Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix) (WINNER)
The Card Counter, Paul Schrader (Focus Features)
El Planeta, Amalia Ulman (Utopia Distribution)
The Green Knight, David Lowery (A24)
Passing, Rebecca Hall (Netflix)
Red Rocket, Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch (A24)
Outstanding Lead Performance (TIE)
Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter (Netflix) (WINNER)
Frankie Faison in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (Gravitas Ventures)(WINNER)
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
Troy Kotsur in CODA (Apple) (WINNER)
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)
Marlee Matlin in CODA (Apple)
Ruth Negga in Passing (Netflix)
Breakthrough Performer
Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple) (WINNER)
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)
Squid Game, Kim Ji-yeon, Hwang Dong-hyu, executive producers (Netflix)(WINNER)
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)
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)
Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, creators; Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Garrett Basch, executive producers (FX)(WINNER)
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)
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
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)(WINNER)
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)
Pride, Christine Vachon, Sydney Foos, Danny Gabai, Kama Kaina, Stacy Scripter, Alex Stapleton (FX)
Outstanding Performance in a New Series (TIE)
Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)(WINNER)
Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)(WINNER)
Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus (HBO Max/HBO)
Michael Greyeyes in Rutherford Falls (Peacock)
Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs (FX)
Lee Jung-jae in Squid Game (Netflix)
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)