MOONRISE KINGDOM Wins Best Film At IFP Gotham Awards

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom won Best Feature at the 22nd Gotham Independent Film Awards held on Monday night, while Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild picked up two awards including the Breakthrough Director prize and the inaugural Bingham Ray award.

Anderson who is prepping his next production did not attend the awards, so Bob Balaban took to the stage with fellow actors saying that if ‘Wes Anderson asks you to be in a movie…just be in it.'

Zeitlin said he hopes more people gets the kind of ‘freedom' he had to make his film which won Sundance earlier this year as well as the Camera d'Or in Cannes.

The film which captures the ACT-UP movement and the push to get antivirals through government roadblocks, How to Survive a Plague, won Best Documentary.

The biggest shock of the night was the fact that The Master lost in the Best Feature category to Moonrise Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook lost in the Best Ensemble Performance category to Your Sisters Sister.

Besides, career achievement honors were given to actress Marion Cotillard, actor/writer Matt Damon, director David O. Russell and producer Jeff Skoll.

Hit the jump for the full list via THR.

Best Feature

MOONRISE KINGDOM

• Directed by Wes Anderson

• Produced by Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson

• Released by Focus Features

Best Documentary

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

• Directed and produced by David France

• Produced by Howard Gertler

• Released by IFC Films

Best Ensemble Performance