Columbia University School of the Arts Film Program alumna Kathryn Bigelow's (Film '81) The Hurt Locker won Best Feature, the top prize, and Best Ensemble Performance at the 2009 Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani in New York on November 30.
Bigelow also received a tribute award for career achievement at the event.
In total, films by Columbia filmmakers received eight nominations for the 2009 Gotham Awards, including another nomination for Best Feature, Amreeka by Cherien Dabis (Film '04).
This is the second year in a row that a film by a School of the Arts alumna has won Best Feature at the Gotham Awards. In 2008, Frozen River, by alumna Courtney Hunt (Film '94) won Best Feature and Best Breakthrough Actor (Melissa Leo).
