Angelina Jolie put on an elegant display as she attended the star-studded Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on Monday.The actress, 49, wore a stunning black down that featured a quirky voluminous hem while accepting the Performer Tribute award for her role in Maria. Angelina portrays opera legend Maria Callas in the new biopic which follows the last days of the soprano's life and spent seven months learning six of her songs. Looking incredible in the simple gown, she teamed her outfit with a pair of strappy, platform heels and accessorised with a gold bangle. The star smiled for photos on the red carpet with her award before layering a cape-style coat over her dress to head home. The 34th Annual Gotham Awards marks the official kickoff of the 2024-2025 awards season.This year's event introduces two new competitive categories: Best Director, which is being presented for the first time, and the return of the Breakthrough Performer award.The nominations highlight a diverse range of independent films, with Anora leading the pack with four nominations, followed by I Saw the TV Glow and Nickel Boys with three nominations each.Special tribute awards will be presented to several industry luminaries, including Denis Villeneuve receiving the Director Tribute for Dune: Part Two and Angelina receiving the Performer Tribute for Maria.The awards, presented by the Gotham Film & Media Institute, celebrate and nurture independent film and media creators, providing crucial recognition for emerging and established talent.Maria was directed by Pablo Larrain, who is behind other projects such as Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021).Along with Jolie, other cast members of Maria include international stars Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer and Kodi Smit-McPhee.Maria - which has already generated Oscars buzz following the trailer's release - is slated for a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 27 - before dropping on Netflix on December 11. The film opens in the last days of the soprano's life and looks back on all the triumphs and tragedies along the way.Callas died of a heart attack at her Paris home on September 16, 1977. She was 53.To portray the opera singer, she spent seven months learning six of the late singer's most famous arias. During a recent interview with Vogue Mexico, the actress discussed how she used her upcoming role as opera singer Maria to deal with her 'private pain'. Speaking about her role, she explained how opera made her visit the 'deeper parts of myself' and life as she learned to 'access a new part of herself' to sing. 'I had to take a deep breath and let it all out, and in between that, I also had to let out my real voice… which I also didn’t really have, because it’s where I carried my private pain, my gentleness, and a lot of things that I felt I didn’t own, that I didn’t feel safe letting out, it also involved owning something that I didn’t want to deal with,' she said.

source : Daily mail