The 2021 Gotham Award nominees have been announced, with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Rebecca Hall’s “Passing,” Shatara Michelle Ford’s “Test Pattern,” and Siân Heder’s “CODA” among the big contenders.
“The Lost Daughter,” a psychological drama based on Elena Ferrante’s novel, and “Passing,” a Nella Larsen adaptation about two light-skinned Black women who live on opposite sides of the color line, lead the nominations with five nods apiece. “Test Pattern,” which follows a Black woman as she tries to secure a rape kit, and “CODA,” a coming-of-age story about the only hearing member of a Deaf family, scored three nods each.
“The Lost Daughter,” “Passing,” and “Test Pattern” are all up for Best Feature, which means 60 percent of the category’s five films are from women or nonbinary directors. Women and nonbinary creatives also dominate the Breakthrough Director and Best Screenplay races. For the former Gyllenhaal, Hall, Ford, and “Shiva Baby” helmer Emma Seligman comprise four of the five nominees. Gyllenhaal, Hall, and “El Planeta” filmmaker-star Amalia Ulman represent half of the Best Screenplay contenders.
Three of the five Best Documentary Feature nominees are directed by women: Jessica Kingdon’s “Chinese Dream” portrait “Ascension,” Jessica Beshir’s look at the spiritual and financial significance of the crop khat “Faya Dayi,” and Camilla Nielsson’s “President,” which chronicles a landmark election in Zimbabwe. Two of the six Best International Feature nominees are from women directors: Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical “The Souvenir Part II” and Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or-winning thriller “Titane.”
On the TV side, three of the five Breakthrough Series – Short Format nominees are from women creators/co-creators. They are HBO Max’s dark comedy about stand-up and intergenerational conflict, “Hacks” (Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs); Starz’s tale of Black female friendship, “Run the World” (Leigh Davenport); and Peacock’s story of an all-Muslim women punk band “We Are Lady Parts” (Nida Manzoor).
For the first time, the Gotham Awards will honor performers in gender-neutral categories — happily women are well represented among the nominees. Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Brittany S. Hall (“Test Pattern”), Taylour Paige (“Zola”), Lili Taylor (“Paper Spiders”), and Tessa Thompson (“Passing”) comprise half of the Outstanding Lead Performance nominations. Four of the seven Outstanding Supporting Performance noms went to women, or 57 percent: Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Gaby Hoffmann (“C’mon C’mon”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), and Ruth Negga (“Passing”).
Meanwhile, all of the Breakthrough Performer nominees are women. They are Emilia Jones (“CODA”), Natalie Morales (“Language Lessons”), Rachel Sennott (“Shiva Baby”), Suzanna Son (“Red Rocket”), and Ulman (“El Planeta”). And six of the 10 Outstanding Performance in a New Series nominations went to women: Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”), Devery Jacobs (“Reservation Dogs”), Thuso Mbedu (“The Underground Railroad”), Jean Smart (“Hacks”), Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”), and Anjana Vasan (“We Are Lady Parts”).
The 2021 Gotham Awards will take place in-person in New York on November 29. Jane Campion is set to receive Director’s Tribute.
Head over to The Hollywood Reporter to check out all the nominations.
