2024 Gotham Film Awards to Add Best Director, Breakthrough Performer Category Returns

The Gotham Film & Media Institute today announced the addition of two categories for the 2024 Gotham Awards for film, something new and something old; Best Director and Breakthrough Performer, respectively.

The new Best Director recognition will recognize a director who pushes the boundaries of creativity and demonstrates a unique vision. In order to be eligible for consideration, feature films must be scheduled for a theatrical release in 2024. The planned release, which can be through a theatrical releasing entity or by direct or self-distribution by the filmmakers, must run for a minimum of seven consecutive days. The Breakthrough Director category remains and an individual (or pair, etc) can be nominated in only one of the categories.

The Gotham Awards will also bring back the Breakthrough Performer award, which celebrates an outstanding debut or “breakthrough” performance in an eligible feature film (U.S. or international). The performance is not necessarily the performer’s first screen role but is considered the first lead or strong supporting role to display the expanse of their talent or suggest significant future accomplishment. A performer cannot be nominated in both Breakthrough Performer and either Best Lead or Supporting Performance. In instances where a performance could be considered for both Breakthrough and another acting award, the category placement will be at the discretion of the nominating committees.

“We’re thrilled to expand our recognition of exceptional talent this year,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “For the first time, we are introducing the Gotham Award for Best Director, honoring a filmmaker whose fiction film, whether U.S. or international, pushes the boundaries of creativity and demonstrates a unique vision. This new award complements our longstanding Breakthrough Director Award for first-time directing talent.”

2024/2025 Film Awards Calendar

The complete list of 2024 Gotham Awards categories are: Best Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best International Feature, Best Director, Breakthrough Director, Best Screenplay, Outstanding Lead Performance, Outstanding Supporting Performance, and Breakthrough Performer. Moving forward, all television categories will be celebrated at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards.

Submissions are now open for the 34th Annual Gotham Awards which are taking place in New York on Monday, December 2, 2024. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, September 19th, 2024. Applications, along with full criteria, are available at https://awards.thegotham.org/criteria/.

At the 33rd Annual Gotham Awards, which were held on November 27, 2023, Celine Song’s drama Past Lives took home Best Feature, Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall earned wins for Best International Feature and Best Screenplay (co-written with Justine Triet by Arthur Harari), Lily Gladstone won Outstanding Lead Performance for her performance in The Unknown Country, and Charles Melton scored the Gotham Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance for his turn in May December.

Nominees will be announced on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024, and winners will be honored at the awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Monday, December 2, 2024. All television award categories will be presented at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards, which will be held in New York on Monday, June 2, 2025.