It might well be the "indiest" Independent Spirit Awards in years. Past editions seemed too focused in major independent Oscar contenders, but 2019's nominees shortlist really pays tribute to some of the most unique works in indendependent filmmaking. Shocked about Suspiria to receive the Robert Altman Award (given to great ensemble pieces), since I don't think it really is an ensemble movie (like last year's Mudbound). Nice to see Thomasin McKenzie getting some award love for Leave No Trace, but it seems the producers really opted for category fraud for her campaign (like I predicted in my Best Supporting Actress predictions, 2nd ROUND)... no matter what, it is a great performance... a leading one, but a great performance! Finally, I'm really happy to see We The Animals getting recognize all over the board - what a brilliant movie it is and I was afraid it could end overlooked.
So, let's have a look at the nominees shortlist. I marked my predicted winners with a " * ":
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
- 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
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