‘Moonrise Kingdom,’ ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ Take Home Gotham Film Awards

It’s never too early to start your Christmas shopping — or to start the Hollywood awards season!

The 22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were held tonight in New York City at the Cipriani Wall Street. “Sleepwalk with Me” star (and award nominee for Best Actor) Mike Birbiglia hosted the ceremony that celebrates independent film and marks the beginning of the movie awards season that will continue going strong through the Oscars at the end of February.

Birbiglia got things rolling with his darkly funny opening monologue, which featured jokes written by his Twitter followers and a recitation of David O. Russell’s profane-laden rant at Lily Tomlin on the set of “I Heart Huckabees” (Russell was in attendance), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Not surprisingly, Benh Zeitlin was presented with the Best Director award for his work on the mesmerizing and perhaps even miraculous drama, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” with the cast of “Your Sister’s Sister” taking home Best Ensemble (with thanks from producer and co-star Mark Duplass for all working for $100 a day).

The most delightful aspect of the ceremony was definitely the Best Feature win for “Moonrise Kingdom.” Wes Anderson’s tale of young love and first-rate scouting was the perfect alternative to an otherwise extremely loud summer movie season.

Besides the awards listed below, career tributes were given to Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, David O. Russell and Jeffrey Skoll. Jared Leto’s documentary, “Artifact,” received the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award, which is voted for online.

BEST FEATURE:

“Bernie”
“The Loneliest Planet”
“The Master”
“Middle of Nowhere”
“Moonrise Kingdom”

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

“Detropia”
“How to Survive a Plague”
“Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present”
“Room 237″
“The Waiting Room”

BEST DIRECTOR:

Zal Batmanglij, “Sound of My Voice”
Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, “Francine”
Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, “Now, Forager”
Antonio Méndez Esparza, “Aquí y Allá”
Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

BEST ACTOR:

Mike Birbiglia, “Sleepwalk with Me”
Emayatzy Corinealdi, “The Middle of Nowhere”
Thure Lindhardt, “Keep the Lights On”
Melanie Lynskey, “Hello, I Must Be Going”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:

“Bernie”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Safety Not Guaranteed”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Your Sister’s Sister”

BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU:

“Kid-Thing”
“An Oversimplification of Her Beauty”
“Red Flag”
“Sun Don’t Shine”
“Tiger Tail in Blue”

Categories: Awards