Last night’s Gotham Independent Film Awards saluted the best in American independent cinema, with top honors going to Kathryn Bigelow’s gritty war drama The Hurt Locker. Presented by the Independent Feature Project, the often boozy ceremony heralds the start of the film awards season, and in past years has proven a good indicator of which indies will receive Oscar nods.
The crowd at Cipriani Wall Street — which included Willem Dafoe, Meryl Streep, and Alec Baldwin — was eager to express their support for independent filmmaking. Said presenter Ellen Burstyn, “I love independent film because I think that’s where all the people stories are now. The big studio films have gotten to be so much about explosions and special effects.” Richard Kind, a character actor currently in A Serious Man and previously in every movie, sitcom, and animated film ever, added, “The Coen brothers said that when they got a really big budget it wasn’t as much fun as keeping it small, and I think they’re right. I think you’re more focused.”
