Photo by David Bornfriend, courtesy of A24(NEW YORK) — Moonlight shone at the 26th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday night, taking home four awards including best feature film.
The coming of-age story directed by Barry Jenkins won awards for best feature, best screenplay, best ensemble performance and best film audience award.
The movie, which was inspired by the short play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, chronicles the life of Chiron, a Miami teenager who grapples with his sexuality and a complicated home life.
Trevante Rhodes portrays Chiron in the film. During the ceremony, Jenkins expressed his gratitude for his cast, his third-grade English teacher, who inspired him to tell his story, and the movie’s distributor, A24.
After receiving the award for best ensemble, Mahershala Ali, who played Juan in film, communicated the sentiment of the entire cast. “I can confidently speak for all of us when I say we are forever changed,” he said.
Early this month, Andre Holland, who plays Kevin, another young man who struggles with his sexual identity in the film, addressed the awards show buzz and the possibility of an Oscar.
“In terms of the Oscars, or awards — it’s cool if people recognize it, but I don’t hang my hat on that,” Holland tells ABC Radio. “I learned that lesson. It’s cool if it happens, but the reward is people responding to the work.”
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