The Gotham Awards are American film awards presented annually at a ceremony in New York City.
The awards are a program of the Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly the Independent Filmmaker Project or IFP), the United States' largest membership organization dedicated to independent film, founded in 1979. First presented in 1991, the awards were originally created to showcase and honor films made primarily in the Northeastern United States.
Name The name "Gotham," () a nickname for New York, was first popularized by native son Washington Irving in an 1807 issue of Salmagundi.
Scope In 2004, the awards' scope expanded significantly from a regional to a national and international focus. The number of award categories increased from six to nine, and eligibility was broadened to include films from Los Angeles, California, and international locations.
Venue Having outgrown previous venues in Manhattan, the 17th Annual Gotham Awards ceremony was held for the first time in the Brooklyn borough on November 27, 2007. The gala took place at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and was "promoted nationally via a partnership with The New York Times and locally via broadcast on WNYE."Database (undated). "The 17th Annual Gotham Awards (2007)" . IMDb. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
Categories Current categories Tribute Award: since 1991 Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award: since 1991 (formerly the Open Palm Award until 2002, and the Breakthrough Director Award from 2003 to 2012) Breakthrough Performer: since 1998 (known as the Award for Breakthrough Actor until 2020; not awarded in 2023) Best Feature: since 2004 Best Documentary: since 2004 Spotlight on Women Filmmakers "Live the Dream" Grant: since 2011 Appreciation Award: since 2015 Made in NY Award: since 2016 Best International Feature: since 2020 Outstanding Lead Performance: since 2021 Outstanding Supporting Performance: since 2021 Best Director: since 2024 Best Original Screenplay: since 2025 Best Adapted Screenplay: since 2025
From 1991 to 2002, the Tribute Award (also called Career Tribute) was presented as a single Lifetime Achievement Award. Individual achievement awards (e.g., Filmmaker, Writer, Actor) were given separately. Beginning with the 2003 ceremony, the IFP consolidated these individual categories into the Career Tribute awards.
Discontinued categories
Ceremonies EditionDate Host(s) 1stSeptember 30, 1991Charles Grodin2nd19923rdSeptember 28, 1993Eric Bogosian4thSeptember 20, 19945thSeptember 19, 1995Michael Moore6thSeptember 17, 19967thSeptember 16, 1997Jon Stewart8thSeptember 23, 1998Stanley Tucci9thSeptember 22, 1999Sandra Bernhard10thSeptember 20, 2000Jason Alexander11thOctober 1, 2001Andy Dick12thSeptember 26, 2002Rosie Perez and John Turturro13thSeptember 22, 2003Michael Ian Black14thDecember 1, 2004Bob Balaban15thNovember 30, 2005Kyra Sedgwick16thNovember 29, 2006David Cross17thNovember 27, 2007Sarah Jones18thDecember 2, 2008Aasif Mandvi19thNovember 30, 2009Kumail Nanjiani20thNovember 29, 2010Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci21stNovember 28, 2011Edie Falco and Oliver Platt22ndNovember 26, 2012Mike Birbiglia23rdDecember 2, 2013Nick Kroll24thDecember 1, 2014Uma Thurman25thNovember 30, 2015Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer26thNovember 28, 2016Keegan-Michael Key27thNovember 27, 2017John Cameron Mitchell28thNovember 26, 2018No host29thDecember 2, 2019No host30thJanuary 11, 2021No host31stNovember 29, 2021No host32ndNovember 28, 2022No host33rdNovember 27, 2023No host34thDecember 2, 2024No host35thDecember 1, 2025No host
Gotham TV Awards
In April 2024, the Gotham Film & Media Institute announced that television series and performances would be honored at a separate ceremony going forward with the first edition of the Gotham TV Awards taking place on June 4, 2024. In previous years, television categories had been part of the main awards ceremony, where two television awards for new series were presented for the first time in 2015. In 2021, two further awards, one for performance and one for nonfiction television, were introduced. Out of the eight categories to be presented at the inaugural Gotham TV Awards, only the award for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series had been given out before (in 2021 and 2022); the three other awards for series, the three awards for outstanding performances, and the audience award for television were newly created.
Categories Current categories Breakthrough Comedy Series: since 2024 Breakthrough Drama Series: since 2024 Breakthrough Nonfiction Series: since 2021 (part of the film awards ceremony from 2021 to 2022; not awarded in 2023) Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series: since 2026 Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast or Streaming: since 2025 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series: since 2025 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama Series: since 2025 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited or Anthology Series: since 2026 Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy Series: since 2025 Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama Series: since 2025 Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited or Anthology Series: since 2026 Outstanding Performance in an Original Film: since 2025 Audience Award (TV): since 2024
Discontinued categories Breakthrough Limited Series: 2024–2025 Outstanding Performance in a Comedy Series: 2024 Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series: 2024 Outstanding Performance in a Limited Series: 2024 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited Series: 2025 Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited Series: 2025
Ceremonies Edition Date Host 1st June 4, 2024 No host 2nd June 2, 2025 No host 3rd June 1, 2026 No host
See also
List of film awards
References
External links