Ava DuVernay, Sam Rockwell to Receive Gotham Awards Honors

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Ava DuVernay will receive the Director Tribute and Sam Rockwell will be presented with the Actor Tribute at the Independent Filmmaker Project’s Gotham Awards.

The 29th IFP will take place this year at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Dec. 2 in the first awards show of the season.

“ is a groundbreaking and influential filmmaker whose work casts an overdue and much needed light on the history of our nation’s systemic racism embedded in our institutions of justice today,” said Jeff Sharp, executive director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. “She is enlightening and impactful to a new wave of filmmakers and her films are profoundly consequential to our nation’s continued endeavor to provide equal justice for all.”

DuVernay directed “Selma,” the Oscar-nominated criminal justice documentary “13th” and Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” Her most recent project is the multi Emmy-nominated “When They See Us.” Currently, DuVernay is overseeing production on her TV series “Queen Sugar” and her upcoming OWN series “Cherish the Day.”

“We are equally delighted to present the deeply talented with the Actor Tribute,” Sharp said. “Sam simply brings brilliance to every role he plays — whether an anti-hero in an auteur-driven film, a hero in a studio tentpole or a legendary icon in a limited series. His compelling and genuine performances are a gift to us all. Both Ava and Sam are leaders and champions for independent film. Their support and dedication to the craft, community and IFP continue to inspire this generation.”

Rockwell won a supporting actor Oscar for his performance in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” He was also nominated for an Academy Award for portraying George W. Bush in Adam McKay’s “Vice.” Earlier this year, Rockwell earned an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Bob Fosse in FX’s “Fosse/Verdon.”