2024 Gotham Awards Predictions and Odds – Picks for the “New York Oscars”

Anora (-250) is the favorite at online sportsbooks in a very competitive category, and it’s up for four Gotham Awards after winning the Palme d’Or for best feature at the Cannes Film Festival in May. It was written and directed by Sean Baker, who is the favorite for Best Director, an award he was nominated for at the 2021 Gotham Awards.

Babygirl (+300) brings a big name to the show as Nicole Kidman, who has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA, and six Golden Globes. Nickel Boys (+450) won for Best Film at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November, while Challengers (+600) is a Zendaya-helmed love story centered on tennis. A Different Man (+800) is the final Gotham Award nominee, featuring Sebastian Stan, best known as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier from the Marvel Universe.

But I’m sticking with the favorite, Anora, as winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes is nothing to sneeze at. It should also be noted that Anora is produced by A24, which has churned out the past two Best Feature winners, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Past Lives. Baker’s Red Rocket wasn’t nominated in 2021, but he’ll get Best Picture at the 2024 Gotham Awards. Keep an eye out for Anora and its Oscars odds!

Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (+200) is favored at offshore sportsbooks for Outstanding Lead Performance for his role as Laszlo Toth, a Holocaust survivor. Anora’s Mikey Madison (+220) is right behind him, but there is a strong list of contenders when you go down the board at BetOnline!

Demi Moore (+500) is back on the map after a great performance in The Substance, where she takes an illegal drug to try to look younger. Marianne Jean-Batiste (+800) won the Excellence in Acting Award at the Denver Film Festival for her role in Hard Truths, a story about depression.

Colman Domingo (+900) is nominated for an Academy Award this year, and has already won an Emmy as he tries to add a Gotham Award to his mantle for Sing Sing. Pamela Anderson (+1000) is nominated for The Last Showgirl, and has won awards at festivals in Zurich and Miami, among others. Kidman (+100) is way down the list for Babygirl, and she won for Best Actress in Venice. That shows how loaded this category is!

But I’ll go with Brody at +200, as this role is tailor-made to win an award for something like the Gotham Awards, although there are many deserving contenders here.

Baker (-250) leads the way for Best Director, and again, the rest of the contenders are deserving of consideration. Jane Schoenbrun (+330) did a fantastic job on the horror/drama, I Saw the TV Glow, while RaMell Ross (+400) was honored at the Chicago International Film Festival for Nickel Boys.

Payal Kapadia’s (+600) All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at Cannes, which is right behind the Palme d’Or in terms of importance (it was nominated for that as well). Guan Hun’s (+800) Black Dog also won a couple of awards at Cannes.

But I’m going with Baker to sweep Best Feature and Best Director in my 2024 Gotham Awards predictions, and it seems like Anora is going to get some Oscar attention when the nominations are announced on February 17!

This category looks to be a runaway win for No Other Land (-500), a film about a Palestinian activist documenting the war. He meets an Israeli journalist who aids him along the way. Considering everything that is going on in that part of the world, it’s going to be tough to bet against No Other Land.

That’s not to say the rest of the films aren’t worth considering. Sugarcane (+500) is about the Canadian Indigenous residential school tragedy. Intercepted (+600) focuses on the Russian-Ukraine war, while Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (+600) is about musicians who protest the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba at the UN Security Council. Dahomey (+650) is about a group of artifacts that were returned to Benin from France, and Union (+1000) pivots to the formation of a union at Amazon.

These are all heavy stories, but stories worth digging into. I’m recommending a bet on No Other Land, however.

All We Imagine as Light (-200) should get the nod in this category, fending off Hard Truths (+260). Green Border (+450) is about the border situation in Belarus, while Vermiglio (+500) is a drama located in the mountains in northern Italy during World War II. Finally, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (+800) won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2023.

Let’s go with All We Imagine as Light here, to wrap up the main 2024 Gotham Award predictions.