Rizwan Ahmed, also known as Riz MC, is a British Pakistani actor, rapper, and activist. As an actor, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards. He was initially known for his work in independent films such as The Road to Guantanamo (2006), Shifty (2008), Four Lions (2010), Trishna (2011), Ill Manors (2012), and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013), as well as television series such as Britz (2007) and Dead Set (2008), before his breakout role in the film Nightcrawler (2014).
Florian Zeller is a French novelist, playwright and director. He won the prestigious Prix Interallié in 2004 for his novel La Fascination du Pire and several awards for his plays. He is, according to The Guardian, "the most exciting playwright of our time".
Chloé Zhao is a Chinese filmmaker, known primarily for her work in America. Her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Her second feature film, The Rider (2017), was critically praised and received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director.
The Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and was first awarded in 2004.
The Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards awarded since 2004.
The Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series – Long Form is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and honors series with episodes over 40 minutes. Until 2019, the award honored a new "continuing or limited series with episodes running 30 minutes or longer". It was first awarded in 2015.
The Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series – Short Form is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and honors series with episodes under 40 minutes. Until 2019, the award intended to honor a new continuing or limited series new digital media programming, with five or more episodes mostly under 20 minutes. It was first awarded in 2015.
Nomadland is a 2020 American independent contemporary Western drama film directed, written, edited and co-produced by Chloé Zhao. It is based on the 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, and stars Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves her small town to travel around the American West. It also features David Strathairn, as well as real-life nomads Linda May, Charlene Swankie, and Bob Wells as fictionalized versions of themselves.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Eliza Hittman. It stars Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold and Sharon Van Etten. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.
The Father is a 2020 drama film co-written and directed by Florian Zeller, based on his 2012 play Le Père. A French-British co-production, the film stars Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, and Olivia Williams, and follows an aging Welshman who must deal with his progressing memory loss.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 2020 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson. The film, and its source play, focus on Ma Rainey, an influential blues singer, and dramatizes a recording session in 1927 Chicago.
Sidney Flanigan is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Flanigan made her acting debut with the independent drama film Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020). Her performance garnered critical acclaim and won her the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.
Small Axe is a British anthology film series, created and directed by Steve McQueen. The anthology consists of five films which tell distinct stories about the lives of West Indian immigrants in London from the 1960s to the 1980s. The series premiered on 15 November 2020 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on 20 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video in the United States. The title references a proverb – "If you are the big tree, we are the small axe" – that was popularised by Bob Marley in his 1973 song "Small Axe".
Dear Comrades! is a 2020 Russian historical drama film about the Novocherkassk massacre produced, co-written and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. It was entered in competition at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. At Venice, the film won the Special Jury Prize. It was selected as the Russian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.
The 30th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, were held on January 11, 2021. The nominations were announced on November 12, 2020. Actors Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis, director Steve McQueen, writer Ryan Murphy and the cast of The Trial of the Chicago 7 received tribute awards.
The 41st Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2020, were given on December 13, 2020.
The 33rd Chicago Film Critics Association Awards were announced on December 21, 2020to honor the best in film for 2020. The nominations were announced on December 18, 2020. Nomadland led the nominations with seven, followed by Da 5 Bloods, First Cow and I'm Thinking of Ending Things with six.
The 25th Florida Film Critics Circle Awards was held on December 21, 2020.
The Gotham Independent Film Award for Best International Feature is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and was first awarded in 2021.
The 55th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 9 January 2021, honored the best in film for 2020.
