The 26th Annual Gotham Awards kicked off yesterday (November 28th 2016) at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, honouring the year's greatest indie film releases as part of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), ahead of the arguably more famous Independent Spirit Awards. 

MoonlightMahershala Ali stars in 'Moonlight'

This year's Gotham Independent Film Awards saw some well-deserved winners, with 'Moonlight' scooping Best Feature among others and 'O.J.: Made in America' winning Best Documentary.

'Moonlight' was, in fact, the big winner of the night, taking home the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award and the Special Jury Award For Ensemble Performance. Crucially though, it was named Best Feature and Best Screenplay, beating the likes of 'Paterson' and 'Manchester by the Sea' who were also nominated in the two categories. 

On the other hand, 'Manchester by the Sea' star Casey Affleck did win Best Actor for his role, but the Best Actress award went to Isabelle Huppert for her performance in the French psychological thriller 'Elle'.

Manchester by the SeaMichelle Williams and Casey Affleck star in 'Manchester by the Sea'

Directed by Barry Jenkins and following the transition from childhood to adulthood of a young black man living in Miami, 'Moonlight' also has six nominations for the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards which takes place in February, alongside 'American Honey' which also has six.

More: The nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards

When it came down to the Breakthrough Gotham Awards, 'The Witch' star Anya Taylor-Joy won Breakthrough Actor, but the period horror was beaten to the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award by Trey Edward Shults for his film 'Krisha'. Meanwhile, 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' landed Breakthrough Series (Long Form), with 'Her Story' receiving the Short Form award.

The WitchAnya Taylor Joy stars in 'The Witch'

There were plenty of nominees who failed to land a single prize. Among them were Richard Linklater's 'Dazed and Confused' sequel 'Everybody Wants Some!!', Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson' starring Adam Driver, crime drama 'Hell or High Water' with Jeff Bridges and Kelly Reichardt's drama 'Certain Women'.