Obie-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch co-creator and original star John Cameron Mitchell will host the 2017 IFP Gotham Awards, presented by The Independent Filmmaker Project.
The ceremony, which honors independent film and media, will be held November 27 at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan.
“We eagerly anticipate a fun, exciting and entertaining night with John Cameron Mitchell leading us through it,” said Joana Vicente, executive director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center, in a statement. “John’s unique gift to entertain will be a brilliant addition to the lineup of stellar Tributes and to the highly anticipated movies and nominees of 2017.”
Mitchell's 2001 film adaptation of Hedwig won him Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and the 2001 IFP Gotham Awards Open Palm Award for Best Directorial Debut. He received an honorary Tony Award in 2015 after reprising his performance in the Broadway revival.
In 2006 he directed Shortbus, and in 2011 he directed the David Lindsay-Abaire-adapted Rabbit Hole. His most recent film, the punk romance How to Talk to Girls at Parties, premiered at the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival. A24 will release the film in spring 2018.
IFP recently announced that Dustin Hoffman will receive the Actor Tribute, Nicole Kidman the Actress Tribute, Sofia Coppola the Director Tribute, former Vice-President Al Gore the Humanitarian Tribute, Ed Lachman the Cinematographer Tribute, and Film Producer and Founder of Blumhouse Productions Jason Blum the Industry Tribute at the 2017 IFP Gotham Awards.
The ten competitive IFP Gotham Awards for 2017 include Best Feature, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Documentary, Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Audience Award, Best Screenplay, Breakthrough Series – Short Form, and Breakthrough Series – Long Form.
Nominees will be announced October 19, and winners will be honored November 27.