Following The Awards Season 2020: Gotham Award Nominations
Following The Award SeasonIt might be a month later than normal, but the awards season has finally had its traditional kickoff with the 2020 Gotham Awards announcing their nominations ahead of their awards ceremony on January 11th 2021. Although the awards show might not always be the most relevant when it comes to Oscar chances, with the group often rewarding smaller independent films that the Oscars tend to avoid, in this strange year with a limited field of nominees momentum is more important than ever. Hence, this might be possibly the most important Gotham Awards to date. While this year’s nominations were a resounding success for diversity, they also set clear narratives in motion both with nominations and snubs that could set the path for the rest of the awards season.
First speaking to the successes of the nominations: no film stands out quite as much as First Cow. The film has been on the backburner since its release early this summer but leading the nomination tally at four, including a Best Feature nomination, the chances for the film to find a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination – especially considering the weaker playing field – has to go up. Similarly, one of the largest talking points regarding the nominations is the success of Radha Blank bringing home both a Breakthrough Director and Best Screenplay nominations for her film The 40-Year Old Version. Similar to First Cow, whilst the merit of the film was never put into question, a smaller release made some people question if it could become a real contender with the general consensus being that the film’s best chances would be in the Screenplay category. Whilst it still remains to be seen if Netflix will give the film a major push, being in the conversation at all undeniably helps it stay relevant. This easily could be the start of The 40-Year Old Version’s path through the awards season towards a screenplay and possibly even Best Actress nomination, which could be helped by the Golden Globes nominations coming this January.
Whereas the notion of these smaller films being considered serious awards contenders might be exciting, Nomadland stands firm with a Best Actress and Best Feature nomination as an early frontrunner to take home the grand prize. The Gotham Awards have proven to be favorable to director Chloé Zhao in the past, giving her previous feature The Rider an upset victory for Best Feature back in 2018, but a win at the Gotham Awards for Best Feature isn’t always the best thing. Whilst historically the winner of Best Feature is often nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the winners often fail to line up. One of the major talking points within the awards season is the balance of having momentum to stay in the conversation but sustaining it long enough to survive until the Oscar Ceremony, and the Gotham Awards add to the complexity of this. Being so early in the season, films with a lot of hype surrounding them, such as Call Me By Your Name or Marriage Story, often find themselves being awarded the top prize at the Gotham Awards only to then fall out of the conversation when it comes to winning Best Picture Oscar shortly after. Nomadland is in danger of this narrative coming true, as the major buzz for the film already is starting to fade. If the film does win Best Feature at the Gotham Awards coming out of the fall film festivals set an incredible seven months before the Academy Awards, the writing will be on the wall.
What speaks even louder than what was nominated at the 2020 Gotham Awards is what missed out. Individual acting nominations were given out to Chadwick Boseman and Youn Yuh-jung for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Minari, respectively, but major contenders from each film, Viola Davis and Steven Yeun, were left unrewarded. Neither film scored a Best Screenplay or Best Feature nomination, which seems questionable considering the buzz surrounding them. Although both films will undeniably have a life outside the Gotham Awards this awards season, there were a handful of films bouncing in and out of the conversation that desperately needed a boost only to miss out entirely. On the Rocks, French Exit, Shirley and The Invisible Man all came away empty handed. Though it is far from impossible that these films will find a resurgence in the conversation down the line, that window is growing smaller.
Ultimately, The Gotham Awards might not define an awards season, but it always offers an early look into what is in the conversation and is at least fun, if not anything else. Sadly, there are only a handful of major award shows that will award films like The Assistant, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Miss Juneteenth, The Vast of Night and Swallow. There is only going to be a handful of major award shows which can say that every Best Feature nominee was directed by a woman. These are the things that should be rewarded and celebrated within award shows and, consistently, The Gotham Awards are a highlight of the season before the politics and frustration of the Oscars truly become realised. The next major steps in the awards season will come on January 11th as the winners of the Gotham Awards are announced and on February 3rd as the Golden Globe Nominations are known as well. Keep an eye on Clapper as we continue to cover every development this year as we continue to follow the 2020/2021 award season!
