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The 21st annual Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony takes place tonight, Monday, November 28th, at Cipriani’s Wall Street, and will be streamed live on the IFP's website HERE, so we can all watch it! 

And why wouldn't you? Dee Rees is nominated in the Breakthrough Director category for her much-buzzed about feature film debut, Pariah (although I was surprised that the star of that film, Adepero Oduye, wasn't nominated in the Breakthrough Actor category).

However, Harmony Santana, star of Rashaad Ernesto Green's acclaimed feature debut Gun Hill Road received a nom in that category. So congrats to him and Rashaad as well!

Also of note, documentaries we've covered on S&A – Steve James' The Interrupters, and The Redemption of General Butt Naked, from Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion, were both nominated in separate categories; Best Documentary for the former, and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You for the latter.

The event, which will be hosted by Oliver Platt and Edie Falco, is widely considered to be the official start of award’s season.

The full list of nominees for the 21st Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards follows:

Best Feature

Beginners

Mike Mills, director; Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Miranda de Pencier, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, producers (Focus Features)

The Descendants

Alexander Payne, director; Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Meek’s Cutoff

Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, producers (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Take Shelter

Jeff Nichols, director; Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick, director; Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Documentary

Better This World

Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, directors; Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Mike Nicholson, producers (Loteria Films, Picturebox, Motto Pictures and Passion Pictures; ITVS in association with American Documentary | POV)

Bill Cunningham New York

Richard Press, director; Philip Gefter, producer (Zeitgeist Films)

Hell and Back Again

Danfung Dennis, director; Mike Lerner, Martin Herring, producers (Docurama Films)

The Interrupters

Steve James, director; Alex Kotlowitz, Steve James, producers (The Cinema Guild)

The Woodmans

C. Scott Willis, director; Neil Barrett, Jeff Werner, C. Scott Willis, producers (Lorber Films; Kino Lorber, Inc.)

Best Ensemble Performance

Beginners

Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos (Focus Features)

The Descendants

George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Margin Call

Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi (Roadside Attractions)

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elizabeth Olsen, Christopher Abbott, Brady Corbet, Hugh Dancy, Maria Dizzia, Julia Garner, John Hawkes, Louisa Krause, Sarah Paulson (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Take Shelter

Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon, Lisagay Hamilton, Robert Longstreet (Sony Pictures Classics)

Breakthrough Director

Mike Cahill for Another Earth (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Sean Durkin for Martha Marcy May Marlene (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground (Sony Pictures Classics)

Evan Glodell for Bellflower (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Dee Rees for Pariah (Focus Features)

Breakthrough Actor

Felicity Jones in Like Crazy (Paramount Vantage)

Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road (Motion Film Group)

Shailene Woodley in The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Jacob Wysocki in Terri (ATO Pictures)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same

Madeleine Olnek, director; Laura Terruso, Madeleine Olnek, producers

Green

Sophia Takal, director; Lawrence Michael Levine, producer

The Redemption of General Butt Naked

Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion, directors and producers

Scenes of a Crime

Blue Hadaegh & Grover Babcock, directors and producers

Without

Mark Jackson, director; Mark Jackson, Jessica Dimmock, Michael Requa, Jaime Keeling, producers

New this year, IFP is proud present the inaugural euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumnus 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 nominees are:

Jenny Deller, director, FUTURE WEATHER

Lucy Mulloy, director, UNA NOCHE

Rola Nashef, director, DETROIT UNLEADED