At today’s British Academy Film Awards there were some expected wins (Boyhood) and some unexpected overhauls (The Grand Budapest Hotel), while one Oscar snub got their comeuppance (The Lego Movie). The Brits gave love to their own by bequeathing a couple of awards on The Theory of Everything, while The Imitation Game went home empty-handed. Stephen Hawking, himself, even made an appearance handing out the award for Visual Effects to a standing ovation.

Nothing too surprising, but a few satisfactory awards to those who will likely not find gold come February 22nd at the Oscars.

BEST FILM

BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

’71 Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke
THE IMITATION GAME Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore
PADDINGTON Paul King, David Heyman
PRIDE Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten
UNDER THE SKIN Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter Campbell

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

ELAINE CONSTANTINE (Writer/Director) Northern Soul
GREGORY BURKE (Writer), YANN DEMANGE (Director) ’71
HONG KHAOU (Writer/Director) Lilting
PAUL KATIS (Director/Producer), ANDREW DE LOTBINIÈRE (Producer) Kajaki: The True Story
STEPHEN BERESFORD (Writer), DAVID LIVINGSTONE (Producer) Pride

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

IDA
LEVIATHAN
THE LUNCHBOX
TRASH
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

DOCUMENTARY

20 FEET FROM STARDOM
20,000 DAYS ON EARTH
CITIZENFOUR
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
VIRUNGA

ANIMATED FILM

BIG HERO 6 Don Hall, Chris Williams
THE BOXTROLLS Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable
THE LEGO MOVIE Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

DIRECTOR

BIRDMAN Alejandro G. Iñárritu
BOYHOOD Richard Linklater
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wes Anderson
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING James Marsh
WHIPLASH Damien Chazelle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BIRDMAN Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo
BOYHOOD Richard Linklater
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wes Anderson
NIGHTCRAWLER Dan Gilroy
WHIPLASH Damien Chazelle

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

AMERICAN SNIPER Jason Hall
GONE GIRL Gillian Flynn
THE IMITATION GAME Graham Moore
PADDINGTON Paul King
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Anthony McCarten

LEADING ACTOR

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH The Imitation Game
EDDIE REDMAYNE The Theory of Everything
JAKE GYLLENHAAL Nightcrawler
MICHAEL KEATON Birdman
RALPH FIENNES The Grand Budapest Hotel

LEADING ACTRESS

AMY ADAMS Big Eyes
FELICITY JONES The Theory of Everything
JULIANNE MOORE Still Alice
REESE WITHERSPOON Wild
ROSAMUND PIKE Gone Girl

SUPPORTING ACTOR

EDWARD NORTON Birdman
ETHAN HAWKE Boyhood
J.K. SIMMONS Whiplash
MARK RUFFALO Foxcatcher
STEVE CARELL Foxcatcher

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

EMMA STONE Birdman
IMELDA STAUNTON Pride
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY The Imitation Game
PATRICIA ARQUETTE Boyhood
RENE RUSSO Nightcrawler

ORIGINAL MUSIC

BIRDMAN Antonio Sanchez
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Alexandre Desplat
INTERSTELLAR Hans Zimmer
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Jóhann Jóhannsson
UNDER THE SKIN Mica Levi

CINEMATOGRAPHY

BIRDMAN Emmanuel Lubezki
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Robert Yeoman
IDA Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski
INTERSTELLAR Hoyte van Hoytema
MR. TURNER Dick Pope

EDITING

BIRDMAN Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Barney Pilling
THE IMITATION GAME William Goldenberg
NIGHTCRAWLER John Gilroy
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Jinx Godfrey
WHIPLASH Tom Cross

PRODUCTION DESIGN

BIG EYES Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
THE IMITATION GAME Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
INTERSTELLAR Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
MR. TURNER Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

COSTUME DESIGN

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Milena Canonero
THE IMITATION GAME Sammy Sheldon Differ
INTO THE WOODS Colleen Atwood
MR. TURNER Jacqueline Durran
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Steven Noble

MAKE UP & HAIR

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Frances Hannon
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
INTO THE WOODS  Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
MR. TURNER Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Jan Sewell

SOUND

AMERICAN SNIPER Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
BIRDMAN Thomas Varga, Martin Hernández, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak
THE IMITATION GAME John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen
WHIPLASH Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
INTERSTELLAR Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD

GUGU MBATHA-RAW
JACK O’CONNELL
MARGOT ROBBIE
MILES TELLER
SHAILENE WOODLEY

Tonight, plenty of big names and stars in independent film gathered together for the Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York. Earlier today everyone was talking about the New York Film Critics Circle winners, but tonight was one of the first “true” award shows of Oscar season (sorry Hollywood Film Awards, you don’t count). And like the Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham spreads the love to the year’s best independent films. All in all, it was a nice way to sit back and see some genuinely great talent get rewarded.

Boyhood surprisingly lost the night’s main award, losing Best Picture to Birdman. Comparing the two films, Boyhood seems like the easier bet for an indie-based award show like this, but the award jury (including the likes of Jon Hamm and Jane Fonda) preferred Alejandro González Iñárritu’s visually crazy satire. We raved about the film back when it closed the New York Film Festival, so it’s sure to earn plenty of other trophies for its mantle in the coming months.

There were unsurprising wins, though: Best Documentary went to Citizenfour, Michael Keaton won Best Actor for Birdman (he’s already trying out material for if he wins the Oscar, based on his speech), and Julianne Moore won Best Actress for Still Alice. They’re all the current frontrunners in their respective categories, so it didn’t come as a shock to see them end up winning.

One of the night’s more pleasant surprises came when Ana Lily Amirpour, director of our Must See Indie pick A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, won the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. It’s one of the year’s most accomplished debut features, and the fact alone that it beat out Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler says quite a lot. Also great: Tessa Thompson winning Breakthrough Performance for Dear White People, beating out Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood. Thompson was the best part of Dear White People by far, so it’s a deserved win.

Special awards were given to Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo for their work in Foxcatcher, as well as Tilda Swinton, Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. Read the full list of winners below, and let us know what you think deserved to win or got robbed.

Gotham Independent Film Awards Winners

Best Feature: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Best Actress: Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Best Actor: Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Best Documentary: Citizenfour
Breakthrough Actor: Tessa Thompson in Dear White People
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award: Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Gotham Independent Film Audience Award: Boyhood

December hasn’t even started yet, and the lists are already starting to come out. Sight & Sound just put out their list of the year’s best films, and it’s quite the mix between awards fare and more out there material. Now you may be asking yourself, “Why are we talking about this list?” Well it’s because Sight & Sound, run by the BFI, is one of the most respected film publications in the world. They’re also responsible for the survey on the greatest films ever made that gets updated once a decade, the gold standard when it comes to all-time lists.

So what’s on this list? First off, it’s based on UK release, so some films like Wolf of Wall Street and The Wind Rises are on the list despite coming out last year in the US. Putting those aside, the top of the list doesn’t come as a surprise with Richard Linklater’s Boyhood at number one. Seeing the number 1 next to Boyhood is going to be a sight we all have to get used to by the end of the year (not that anyone’s complaining, though). After that it’s a range of titles from the more mainstream (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ida, Mr. Turner, Birdman) to the extreme arthouse picks (Jauja, Horse Money, Goodbye to Language). In other words, watching these movies will give you a fair share of the accessible and inaccessible in 2014.

Read the list below, check out our reviews for some of the films by clicking on them, and take a peek over at the Sight & Sound website for more information on the list. And be sure to check out all of Way Too Indie’s year-end coverage coming up throughout December, when we reveal our list of the best films of 2014 at a more reasonable date than the end of November.

Sight & Sound’s Best Films of 2014

1. Boyhood
2. Goodbye to Language 3D
3. (tie) Leviathan
3. (tie) Horse Money
5. Under the Skin
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
7. Winter Sleep
8. (tie) The Tribe
8. (tie) Ida
8. (tie) Jauja
11. (tie) Mr. Turner
11. (tie) National Gallery
11. (tie) The Wolf of Wall Street
11. (tie) Whiplash
15. The Duke of Burgundy
16. (tie) Birdman
16. (tie) Two Days, One Night
18. (tie) Citizenfour
18. (tie) The Look of Silence
18. (tie) The Wind Rises

Starting in June 2013 Edward Snowden released, with the aid of The Guardian and the Washington Post, cables which revealed a global surveillance programme by the National Security Agency, this included the surveillance of British and American citizens. Directed by Laura Poitras Citizenfour documents the director’s relationship with the U.S. whistleblower from the beginning of their first series of cryptic correspondences to their meeting in a hotel in Hong Kong, as the NSA leaks were being published.

Laura Poitras, as she clearly outlines within the film’s opening sequences, has a history of producing documentaries that have aggravated the US government. The Poitras documentary My Country My Country, which offered insight into occupied Iraq, was perhaps too insightful for the government and led it to being held on Homeland Security’s ‘Watch List’. She was therefore an appropriate target for the ominously named ‘citizenfour’ to contact, who immediately starts to describe the danger the data he is sending her will put their lives in.

Poitras’ personal involvement with the publishing of NSA leaks injects Citizenfour with the urgency of a thriller. In an intelligent piece of filmmaking she showsSnowden’s emails being decrypted, before revealing their foreboding messages, a technique which heightens the drama of theinitial correspondence betweenPoitras and Snowden. When the messages are revealed, Poitras’ nervous reading builds to an increasing feeling of dread as ‘citizenfour’ describes an agency ‘reach’ which is ‘unlimited’ but whose ‘safeguards’ are not.

The focus of the majority of the film is the period in which Poitras and two of The Guardian journalists, who published the leaks, meet ‘citizenfour’, who reveals himself to be Edward Snowden, in a hotel room in Hong Kong. This is where the film plays its hand, allowing us to revel its key selling point; being a fly on the wall at the moment when he announced his staggering revelations on the mass surveillance plan of the NSA. It’s a fascinating and captivating watch. Snowden may not have the charisma typically associated with revolutionaries, initially shy and understandably nervous, but he has a resilience and conviction in his ideals and clearly an extraordinary intelligence. This inherent likability carries the film forwards in sections, in which Citizenfour could easily have started to drag, once the initial pace of the film tails off. The intimacy of the scenes in Hong Kong allow us to see the humanity in a figure who until now has been somewhat mythical, as Snowden worries about his appearance as he checks his hair in the mirror and anxiously watches the news on the television in his hotel room.

There is a distinct feeling when watching the film that this is a documentary that has been thrown together in a hurry, and Poitras does not always maintain the polish of the film’s opening sequences. This lack of polish however is part of the voyeuristic appeal of a film, which is literally shot on the run, as Snowden and Poitras, evade the ever pervading presence of the US government, who are desperate to stop any further publishing of leaked cables. Poitras, also adds a further credibility to Citizenfour by surrounding the film with insightful voices including the NSA veteran turned dissident William Binney, who worked for the NSA during and after the cold war, and since resigning in 2001 has been a vocal critic of the organisation. It is worth noting however, that Poitras has little time for those who oppose the Snowden leaks and those seeking a documentary which offers a balanced debate on whether mass surveillance is justified may be disappointed.

Citizenfour is a compelling documentary, which does what no one has yet achieved, to attempt to humanize Edward Snowden, the insight however brief into the inner workings of such a complicated figure is fascinating and is a major part of the appeal of the film. Citizenfour is also an important and globally significant film, providing a record of the evidence of NSA’s widespread surveillance, which has challenged the perception of ‘freedom of speech’ in democracies in the digital age.

You might be thinking “Already?!” but yes, award season is already starting. Today, New York’s Gotham Independent Film Awards put out their nominees, a list filled with pleasant surprises and some very obvious choices.

Let’s start with the obvious choice: Boyhood. Any indie award would be insane to deny Richard Linklater’s film, possibly the indie event of the year, some love, so Gotham understandably gave it four nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Ethan Hawke), Best Actress (Patricia Arquette) and Breakthrough Actor (Ellar Coltrane). Also unsurprising is Birdman nabbing three nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor (Michael Keaton). Expect to hear even more about Birdman in the months to come.

Because the Gotham Awards are about independent film, that gives some great underrated films and performances the chance for some exposure through a nomination. The biggest surprise might be Under the Skin and Scarlett Johansson scoring nominations for Best Picture and Actress. It’ll be unlikely for Jonathan Glazer’s strange sci-fi to get much love outside of critics’ circles this year, so nominations like these are nice to see. Another great choice by Gotham: Giving Ira Sachs’ wonderful Love is Strange a Best Picture nomination. Sachs’ film, a quietly heartbreaking drama, seems bound to get left out this year once the awards race kicks into high gear (if Best Actor weren’t so competitive this year, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina would have been locks). Any recognition for Love is Strange is a huge plus.

Read on below for the full list of nominees, including the nominees for Breakthrough Director and Actor. For those more interested in the bigger awards, take note of Oscar Isaac’s nomination for A Most Violent Year. The film hasn’t come out yet (it opens AFI Fest next month), so this nomination might be a hint of another shake-up in the coming weeks. And if anyone’s wondering where current Best Actor frontrunner Steve Carrell is, Gotham decided to give Carrell and co-stars Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo a special award for their ensemble performances in Foxcatcher.

The Gotham Independent Film Awards will hold their awards ceremony on December 1st.

Best Feature

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Love Is Strange
Under the Skin

Best Actor

Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Miles Teller in Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Actress

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beyond the Lights
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin
Mia Wasikowska in Tracks

Best Documentary

Actress
CITIZENFOUR
Life Itself
Manakamana
Point and Shoot

Breakthrough Actor

Riz Ahmed in Nightcrawler
Macon Blair in Blue Ruin
Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood
Joey King in Wish I Was Here
Jenny Slate in Obvious Child
Tessa Thompson in Dear White People

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
James Ward Byrkit for Coherence
Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
Eliza Hittman for It Felt Like Love
Justin Simien for Dear White People