Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold to Receive Gotham Tribute for A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

The Gotham Film & Media Institute has announced that Academy-Award nominees Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold will receive the Visionary Tribute for their groundbreaking collaboration on A Complete Unknown, the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic from Searchlight Pictures, at the 34th edition of The Gothams, taking place on Monday, December 2, 2024 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. 

The Gotham Visionary Tribute recognizes groundbreaking collaborations that push the boundaries of storytelling in film. This year, The Gotham honors Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold for creating an extraordinary cinematic work with A Complete Unknown.

“In A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold have beautifully captured Dylan's emergence in 1960s New York not just as an artistic evolution, but as a meditation on the necessity of change,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham. “Through Chalamet's breathtakingly authentic performance and Mangold's masterful direction, we witness Dylan's transformation from folk prophet to electric rebel, showing how growth often requires letting go of the very relationships and identities that shaped us. Together, they have created a work that will not only resonate with longtime Dylan admirers but also introduce his revolutionary artistry to a new generation. We're thrilled to honor them with this year’s Visionary Tribute and look forward to recognizing their outstanding contributions to film at The Gothams.”

A Complete Unknown is set in New York in the early 1960s. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives in the West Village with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music.  As he forms his most intimate relationships during his rise to fame, he grows restless with the folk movement and, refusing to be defined, makes a controversial choice that culturally reverberates worldwide. Chalamet stars and sings as Bob Dylan in Mangold’s latest feature.

Presented by Searchlight Pictures, A Complete Unknown is scheduled for release on December 25, 2024. Production took place in New York City and New Jersey in the spring of 2024. The film’s renowned cast also includes Edward Norton (American History X, Birdman), Elle Fanning (The Neon Demon), and Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick). Written by Mangold and Jay Cocks (Silence, Gangs of New York), the film is produced by Range’s Fred Berger, p.g.a., Mangold, p.g.a, via his Turnpike Films, The Picture Company’s Alex Heineman, p.g.a, Veritas Entertainment Group’s Bob Bookman, Peter Jaysen and Alan Gasmer, Bob Dylan’s longtime representative Jeff Rosen, along with Chalamet.

An Academy-Award nominee and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Chalamet is among the most respected and influential actors of his generation. His collaborations with esteemed filmmakers have included Luca Guadagnino, Greta Gerwig, Denis Villeneuve, Adam McKay, Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. Chalamet was the youngest “Best Actor” Oscar nominee since 1939 for his breakout role in Call Me by Your Name. He has starred in five “Best Picture” Oscar nominees: Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird, Little Women, Dune, and Don’t Look Up. Last year, Chalamet broke a 45-year-old record by starring in two of the highest-grossing movies within eight months of each other, generating over $1.2 billion at the box office. He starred in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, which grossed over $700 million and became the highest-grossing film in Villeneuve's career; and in the film musical Wonka, directed Paul King, which surpassed $600 million and became the highest-grossing Willy Wonka film, surpassing its predecessors and other Roald Dahl adaptations. Chalamet is currently filming Marty Supreme for director Josh Safdie in New York.

Mangold is an Academy-Award nominated writer director whose body of work resists easy categorization. While keeping constant humanist themes, intimate performances, striking classical staging and imagery that unifies his work, he has moved from Sundance Independent to cop noir, from mental institution drama to romantic fantasy, and from pulp horror to western. With A Complete Unknown, Mangold returns to the musical biopic for the first time since the Oscar Winning Walk the Line. Other award-winning films Mangold has written and directed include Heavy, Cop Land, Girl Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari. Mangold’s films have been recognized with Academy Awards, Golden Globes, SAG, BAFTA, Sundance Film Festival and various guilds and critics wins and nominations.

Winners of The 2024 Gothams will be honored at the awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Monday, December 2, 2024. The Premier Sponsor of the 2024 Gothams is Vanity Fair, the Official Water is FIJI Water, the Official Airline is JetBlue, the Official Spirits are Rabbit Hole Distillery, and the Official Wine is Wolffer Estate Vineyard.

About the Gotham Film & Media Institute

The Gotham celebrates and nurtures independent film and media creators, providing career-building resources, access to industry influencers, and pathways to wider recognition. The organization, under the leadership of Executive Director and award-winning producer Jeffrey Sharp, fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Gotham Week, Gotham Labs, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gothams, Gotham EDU, Owning It, and Expanding Communities.

About The Gothams

The Gotham Film & Media Institute presents The Gothams as two annual awards ceremonies celebrating innovative talent both on-screen and off-screen in film and television.  As the first major event of both awards seasons, The Gothams shine a spotlight on groundbreaking work while advancing the Institute's year-round mission to support independent storytelling.

Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures