The 23rd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards will take place this year at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Monday, December 2nd. For the first time, Gotham Awards will be presented in the newly added competitive categories of Best Actor and Best Actress. The first award show of the season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards celebrate the authentic voices behind and in front of the camera in the year’s best American independent feature films. Recent winners include Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, and How To Survive A Plague (2012); Beginners, The Tree of Life, and Better This World (2011), and Winter's Bone and The Oath (2010). In addition to the new Best Actor and Best Actress awards, the competitive awards for 2013 include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Actor, and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. Additionally the Gotham Audience Award allows film enthusiasts to vote online for the winner. Nominations in these categories will be announced October 24th.
The Gotham Independent Film Awards also recognize those who have made significant contributions to independent filmmaking by selecting individuals to single out in tribute. Last year the organization feted director David O. Russell, actors Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard, and Participant Media founder and chairman Jeff Skoll. The 2013 Tributes will be announced in the next weeks.
For the third year, IFP will present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers 'Live the Dream' grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP's Independent Filmmaker Labs. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film. The 2012 winner of this grant was Stacie Passon, writer/director of the upcoming RADiUS-TWC release, Concussion. In addition, euphoria Calvin Klein will present the newly created Best Actress award.
Submissions are now open for the 2013 awards and the submission deadline is September 20th. More information here