“No matter where you start, you should always be able to dream of where you can go and be,” said an emotional Sean Dino Johnson, the formerly incarcerated actor turned recipient of a social justice tribute award Monday night. The air was full of possibility at the 34th annual Gotham Awards that evening, where Colman Domingo and the cast of Sing Sing got a second wind in the awards race; Nickel Boys made a big splash; and a surprise best feature win for A Different Man shook up an already crowded awards season.
Held at Cipriani Wall Street, the Gotham Awards saw Hollywood’s A-list convene to celebrate the best in independent cinema from 2024. Nominees like Nicole Kidman and Demi Moore mingled with their fellow stars, while Jessica Chastain and Zendaya slipped in right before the ceremony began. The only thing you couldn’t find on the list of nominees were big-budget blockbusters like Wicked and Gladiator II. In years past, the Gothams only nominated films with budgets below $35 million; although the cap was lifted in 2023, smaller films still reigned supreme at the ceremony and with the small juries who decided each category, panels that included actors, filmmakers, and past nominees like Greta Lee, Oscar Isaac, and Julia Stiles.
Demi MooreBy Landon Nordeman.
My Old Ass stars Aubrey Plaza and Maisey Stella kicked off the festivities onstage, riffing on their film’s title. (“Everywhere I go, people want to talk to me about my old ass,” deadpanned Plaza.) The first award of the night, best screenplay, went to Azazel Jacobs for His Three Daughters, which follows three estranged sisters who come together to care for their ailing father. One of the sisters, Natasha Lyonne, leapt to her feet to celebrate the writer and director, who thanked the Gothams for honoring his very personal film.
The first of a handful of non-competitive tribute awards went to Angelina Jolie for her work transforming into opera legend Maria Callas for Pablo Larrain’s biopic Maria. “She’s an angel to this film,” said Larrain as he introduced Jolie. Accepting the award on what would have been Callas’s 101st birthday, Jolie regaled the audience with an anecdote about how her mother stored their overflowing book collection in their apartment’s oven when she was growing up, sparking Jolie’s lifelong love of art and culture. “She took me to theater. She told me about meeting Tennessee Williams, and she introduced me to the Lee Strasberg Institute, where I would later study,” said Jolie. “I experience now the joy of seeing my own daughter love theater and getting involved.”
Misty Copeland and Ryan DestinyBy Landon Nordeman.
