AwardsWatch Podcast #206: Gotham Awards Noms, AFI FEST 2023 Recap and more

On episode 206 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Sophia Ciminello recap the AFI FEST 2023.

Before they get into their final festival experience of the year, the 2023 Gotham Awards were announced last week, giving us the first nominations of the upcoming Oscar season. Voted on by a jury system of selected critics, the films listed comprised of some of the best indie films of the year, including Past Lives, Passages, Showing Up, A Thousand and One, All of Us Strangers and more. This year, the organization removed the budget cap requirements, which limited the film’s that could be considered for consideration to anything made for less than $35 million. Once they were done discussing that, Ryan and Sophia moved on to briefly talk about a big release that debuted in theaters while the podcast was off last week, Killers of the Flower Moon, and why it is one of the best films of the year, in their opinion.

After they were done talking about Scorsese’s latest, they moved on to the AFI FEST, that saw the world premieres of films like Leave the World Behind and Freud’s Last Session and closed with Bradley Cooper’s Maestro. Ryan and Sophia talk about those films, as well as their thoughts on Perfect Days, La Chimera, American Fiction, and two highlights, A Matter of Life and Death and All That Jazz, from Greta Gerwig’s special Guest Director section, showcasing five big screen classics.

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h27m. We will be back next week to talk about a really fun topic, our Top 5 Modern Movie Stars. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro)