Six film-makers have been nominated for the Open Palm Award for outstanding directorial debut at this year's Gotham Awards which will be presented in New York City on Sept 29. The awards, presented by IFP/New York, celebrate outstanding achievement in New York's film-making community.

Nominees for the $10,000 award are Bertha Bay-Sa Pan (Face), Eric Eason (Manito), Ethan Hawke (Chelsea Walls), Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project), Peter Mattei (Love In The Time Of Money) and Fisher Stevens (Just A Kiss). Face, Manito, The Laramie Project and Love In The Time Of Money premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Chelsea Walls debuted at Cannes 2001, while Just A Kiss world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in Feb.

Ang Lee will receive the Bravo Lifetime Achievement Award, Bingham Ray will receive the Industry Lifetime Achievement Award and Julianne Moore will receive the IFP Gotham Actor Award.

Previous winners of the Open Palm Award include Henry Bean (The Believer) and John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig And The Angry Inch) who shared the prize last year and Karyn Kusama for Girlfight in 2000.

The nominations were announced yesterday in collaboration with Fondazione Prada, which has teamed up with IFP/New York for a collaborative series of programs to support emerging film-makers. Fondazione Prada is a non-profit organization established by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli designed to focus on the more important manifestations of contemporary art and culture.