Gotham Independent Film Awards honorees' favorite indies

Marion Cotillard
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
”One of the most beautiful and moving films about life, rock, heroes, struggle, men, women, humor, and love.”

David O. Russell
Blue Velvet (1986)
”There are so many that I love, it feels silly to choose just one. But if forced to close my eyes and pick from a hat of my favorites today, I pull — hold on — Blue Velvet, for its own very particular intensity, emotion, comedy, originality, overall amazingness, and, yes, surprising as it may sound, heart.”

Jeff Skoll
Gandhi (1982)
”Gandhi is my favorite indie film. Because it was a large-scale, Oscar-winning epic, it’s hard to believe today that it was an independent production, but no studio would back it, so [director] Lord Richard Attenborough and the late [producer] Jake Eberts had to find outside financing. Years later, Jake and I had the film dubbed in Arabic and screened it throughout Palestinian communities. That gave me the opportunity to experience firsthand how powerful film can be in changing people’s perception of the world.”