IFP has announced the nominees for the 2008 Gotham Independent Film Awards (formerly known as just the Gotham Awards), and just by virtue of nod count, Ballast is the big winner with nominations in four categories:Best Feature, Breakthrough Director (Lance Hammer), Breakthrough Performance (Michael J. Smith) and Ensemble Performance.

Also very exciting: Barry Jenkins will compete against Hammer in the Director category for Medicine for Melancholy; Sita Sings the Blues, one of my Tribeca 2008 favorites, will compete against Tom Quinn’s The New Year Parade and SXSW winner Wellness for the Not Coming to a Theater Near You award; and The Wrestler, Rachel Getting Married and Synecdoche NY, some of my favorite American films of the year, all received attention. The full release is after the jump.

Best Feature

Ballast

Lance Hammer, director; Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh, producers (Alluvial Film Company)

Frozen River

Courtney Hunt, director; Heather Rae, Chip Hourihan, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

Synecdoche, New York

Charlie Kaufman, director; Anthony Bregman, Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze, Sidney Kimmel, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Visitor

Tom McCarthy, director; Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London, producers (Overture Films)

The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky, director; Scott Franklin, Darren Aronofsky, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Documentary

Chris & Don: A Love Story

Guido Santi & Tina Mascara, directors; Julia Scott, Tina Mascara, Guido Santi, James White, producers (Zeitgeist Films)

Encounters at the End of the World

Werner Herzog, director; Henry Kaiser, producer (THINKFilm / Image Entertainment)

Man on Wire

James Marsh, director; Simon Chinn, producer (Magnolia Pictures)

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Maria Zenovich, director; Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Lila Yacoub, Marina Zenovich, producers (THINKFilm in association with HBO Documentaries)

Trouble the Water

Tia Lessin & Carl Deal, producers/directors (Zeitgeist Films)

Best Ensemble Performance

Ballast

Micheal J. Smith, Sr., JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail (Alluvial Film Company)

Rachel Getting Married

Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Debra Winger (Sony Pictures Classics)

Synecdoche, New York

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Tom Noonan (Sony Pictures Classics)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz (The Weinstein Company)

The Visitor

Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbas, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira (Overture Films)

Breakthrough Director

Antonio Campos for Afterschool

Dennis Dortch for A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy (Magnolia Pictures)

Lance Hammer for Ballast (Alluvial Film Company)

Barry Jenkins for Medicine for Melancholy (IFC Films)

Alex Rivera for Sleep Dealer (Maya Releasing)

Breakthrough Actor

Pedro Castaneda in August Evening (Maya Releasing)

Rosemarie DeWitt in Rachel Getting Married (Sony Pictures Classics)

Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (The Weinstein Company)

Melissa Leo in Frozen River (Sony Pictures Classics)

Alejandro Polanco in Chop Shop (Koch Lorber Films)

Micheal J. Smith, Sr. in Ballast (Alluvial Film Company)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™

Afterschool

Antonio Campos, director; Josh Mond, Sean Durkin, producers

Meadowlark

Taylor Greeson, producer/director

The New Year Parade

Tom Quinn, director; Steve Beal, Tom Quinn, producers

Sita Sings the Blues

Nina Paley, producer/director

Wellness

Jake Mahaffy, director; Jake Mahaffy, Jeff Clark, producers

The nominating committees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ announced above are as follows:

Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Best Ensemble Performance:

Ty Burr, Film Critic, The Boston Globe

Scott Foundas, Film Editor / Film Critic, LA Weekly

Dave Karger, Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly

Carrie Rickey, Film Critic, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor:

Cynthia Fuchs, Film Critic, PopMatters and NPR.org

Robert Koehler, Film Critic, Variety

Rob Nelson, Film Critic, Minnesota Post

Andrew O’Hehir, Senior Writer, Salon.com

Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:

Cynthia Fuchs, Film Critic, PopMatters and NPR.org

Owen Gleiberman, Film Critic, Entertainment Weekly

Tom Hall, Director of Programming, Sarasota Film Festival

Ronnie Scheib, Film Critic, Variety

Nominating Committee for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™:

Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film and Media, Museum of Modern Art;

and members of the editorial staff of Filmmaker Magazine: Scott Macaulay (Editor-in-Chief), Nick Dawson, Mary Glucksman, Jason Guerrasio, Brandon Harris, Ray Pride

2008 Gotham Independent Film Awards™ – Alphabetical List of Nominated Films

Afterschool

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

Breakthrough Director nominee

August Evening

Breakthrough Actor nominee

Ballast

Best Feature nominee

Best Ensemble Performance nominee

Breakthrough Actor nominee

Breakthrough Director nominee

Chop Shop

Breakthrough Actor nominee

Chris & Don: A Love Story

Best Documentary nominee

Encounters at the End of the World

Best Documentary nominee

Frozen River

Best Feature nominee

Breakthrough Actor nominee

A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy

Breakthrough Director nominee

Man on Wire

Best Documentary nominee

Meadowlark

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

Medicine for Melancholy

Breakthrough Director nominee

The New Year Parade

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

Rachel Getting Married

Best Ensemble Performance nominee

Breakthrough Actor nominee

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Best Documentary nominee

Sita Sings the Blues

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

Sleep Dealer

Breakthrough Director nominee

Synecdoche, New York

Best Feature nominee

Best Ensemble Performance nominee

Trouble the Water

Best Documentary nominee

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Ensemble Performance nominee

Breakthrough Actor nominee

The Visitor

Best Feature nominee

Best Ensemble Performance nominee

Wellness

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominee

The Wrestler

Best Feature nominee

Sponsors of the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards™ include Premiere sponsors The New York Times and Nokia. Presenting sponsors are A DIAMOND IS FOREVER, Focus Features, Stella Artois and Variety. Official Spirit ABSOLUT VODKA. Additionally, the awards will be promoted nationally in an eight-page special advertising section in The New York Times this December.

About IFP

After debuting with a program in the 1979 New York Film Festival, the nonprofit IFP has evolved into the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, and also the premier advocate for them. Since its start, IFP has supported the production of 7,000 films and provided resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers–voices that otherwise might not have been heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization has fostered early work by leading filmmakers including Charles Burnett, Edward Burns, Jim Jarmusch, Barbara Kopple, Michael Moore, Mira Nair and Kevin Smith. For more information: www.ifp.org.

Our programs provide filmmakers with access to the tools to develop and present their vision, and audiences with an opportunity to discover new work. Our signature programs include the Gotham Independent Film Awards™, Independent Film Week™, Filmmaker Magazine™, and the Independent Filmmaker Labs.