Independent Spirit Awards -- Discussion Thread

[Koby]

The nominations for the 34th Independent Spirit Awards were announced live this afternoon, setting the stage for the awards season with a decidedly indie bent. Over the last several years, the Indie Spirits have become both a champion of underdog indies (like last year’s Best First Feature winner, “Ingrid Goes West”) and a key indicator in which films and performances could end up with the Oscar (Frances McDormand, Allison Janney, and Sam Rockwell from last year, and that’s just the acting categories).

 

Some of the year’s biggest titles are, however, not eligible for this year’s Indie Spirits per their rules, including “Vice,” “The Sisters Brothers,” and “Mary Queen of Scots,” while Alfonso Cuarón’s lauded “Roma” only qualifies for Best International Film.

 

Favorites like “Eighth Grade” and “First Reformed” dominated the big categories, with each film earning four nominations, including Best Feature for both, Best Actress for “Eighth Grade” lead Elsie Fisher, and Best Actor for “First Reformed” star Ethan Hawke. “We the Animals” led the entire field with five total noms. A number of other films also pulled out multiple nods, including “Leave No Trace,” “You Were Never Really Here,” “The Tale,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and “Private Life.”

 

This year’s nominations ceremony were hosted by “Crazy Rich Asians” breakout Gemma Chan and Indie Spirit alum Molly Shannon. The 2019 Spirit Awards are set to return to their usual home inside the big white tent just north of the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, February 23, and will be broadcast live on IFC.

 

The full nominations list is below.

 

Best Feature

• EIGHTH GRADE
• FIRST REFORMED
• IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
• LEAVE NO TRACE
• YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Best Director

• Debra Granik, LEAVE NO TRACE
• Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
• Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
• Lynne Ramsay, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
• Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED

Best First Feature

• HEREDITARY
• SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
• THE TALE
• WE THE ANIMALS
• WILDLIFE

Best Female Lead

• Glenn Close, THE WIFE
• Toni Collette, HEREDITARY
• Elsie Fisher, EIGHTH GRADE
• Regina Hall, SUPPORT THE GIRLS
• Helena Howard, MADELINE’S MADELINE
• Carey Mulligan, WILDLIFE

Best Male Lead

• John Cho, SEARCHING
• Daveed Diggs, BLINDSPOTTING
• Ethan Hawke, FIRST REFORMED
• Christian Malheiros, SÓCRATES
• Joaquin Phoenix, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Best Supporting Female

• Kayli Carter, PRIVATE LIFE
• Tyne Daly, A BREAD FACTORY
• Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
• Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE
• J. Smith-Cameron, NANCY

Best Supporting Male

• Raúl Castillo, WE THE ANIMALS
• Adam Driver, BLACKKKLANSMAN
• Richard E. Grant, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
• Josh Hamilton, EIGHTH GRADE
• John David Washington, MONSTERS AND MEN

Best Screenplay

• Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, COLETTE
• Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
• Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
• Boots Riley, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
• Paul Schrader FIRST REFORMED

Best First Screenplay

• Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE
• Christina Choe, NANCY
• Cory Finley, THOROUGHBREDS
• Jennifer Fox, THE TALE
• Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), BLAME

Best Cinematography

• Ashley Connor, MADELINE’S MADELINE
• Diego Garcia, WILDLIFE
• Benjamin Loeb, MANDY
• Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, SUSPIRIA
• Zak Mulligan, WE THE ANIMALS

Best Editing

• Joe Bini, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
• Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS
• Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, AMERICAN ANIMALS
• Anne Fabini, Alex Hall and Gary Levy, THE TALE
• Nick Houy, MID90S

John Cassavetes Award

• A BREAD FACTORY
• EN EL SÉPTIMO DÍA
• NEVER GOIN’ BACK
• SÓCRATES
• THUNDER ROAD

Robert Altman Award

• SUSPIRIA

Best Documentary

• HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
• MINDING THE GAP
• OF FATHERS AND SONS
• ON HER SHOULDERS
• SHIRKERS
• WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

Best International Film

• BURNING (South Korea)
• THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)
• HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)
• ROMA (Mexico)
• SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)

Piaget Producers Award

• Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
• Gabrielle Nadig
• Shrihari Sathe

Someone to Watch Award

• Alex Moratto, SÓCRATES
• Ioana Uricaru, LEMONADE
• Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS

Truer Than Fiction Award

• Alexandria Bombach, ON HER SHOULDERS
• Bing Liu, MINDING THE GAP
• RaMell Ross, HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING

Annual Bonnie Award

• Debra Granik
• Tamara Jenkins
• Karyn Kusama