Independent Spirit Awards nominees have just been announced! It seems it is a great day for Marriage Story, which keeps building strong Oscar buzz - this time, the Noah Baumbach's latest is competing for Best Feature and Best Original Screenplay, but it will also receive the Robert Altman Award, which honors the director and the ensemble cast (and that's why Marriage Story is absent from Best Director and the acting categories). Another movie that got a strong indie boost is Uncut Gems: the Safdie brothers crime thriller got nominated in 5 categories, including Best Feature, Best Director and even Best Male Lead - so, is Adam Sandler a stronger contender than I thought initially? Plus, good news for Clemency, which got Best Female Lead and Best Screenplay nods, which only makes for Woodard as a stronger awards contender. As for The Farewell... a strange response I would say, but I love having Shuzhen Zhao in the run for Best Supporting Female. Waves scored one sole nomination - the young Taylor Russell for Best Supporting Female - and Hustlers did better than I expected! I loved The Mustang, but it is unlikely the love will go beyond the Indie Spirit Awards. Sad for not seeing The Peanut Butter Falcon getting some love here: one of my favs of the year and I was counting it would get some love here.
A fun fact: Renée Zellweger got nominated for Best Female Lead for Judy, which means she was eligible for Gotham Independent Film Awards, right?! I know the committee for acting is composed for 5 critics only, but it's kinda curious they passed what some call the greatest performance of the year, right? People were freakin' out about Johansson missing a Gotham nod for Marriage Story that nobody imagined Zellweger could be eligible too.
So, have a look at the complete list of nominees (predicted winner in yellow):
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
A fun fact: Renée Zellweger got nominated for Best Female Lead for Judy, which means she was eligible for Gotham Independent Film Awards, right?! I know the committee for acting is composed for 5 critics only, but it's kinda curious they passed what some call the greatest performance of the year, right? People were freakin' out about Johansson missing a Gotham nod for Marriage Story that nobody imagined Zellweger could be eligible too.
So, have a look at the complete list of nominees (predicted winner in yellow):
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
- A Hidden Life - Producers: Elisabeth Bentley, Dario Bergesio, Grant Hill, Josh Jeter
- Clemency - Producers: Timur Bekbosunov, Julian Cautherley, Bronwyn Cornelius, Peter Wong
- The Farewell - Producers: Anita Gou, Daniele Melia, Andrew Miano, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Lulu Wang, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng
- Marriage Story - Producers: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman
- Uncut Gems - Producers: Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Scott Rudin
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
- Booksmart - Director: Olivia Wilde; Producers: Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Jessica Elbaum, Megan Ellison, Katie Silberman
- The Climb - Director/Producer: Michael Angelo Covino; Producers: Noah Lang, Kyle Marvin
- Diane - Director: Kent Jones; Producers: Luca Borghese, Ben Howe, Caroline Kaplan, Oren Moverman
- The Last Black Man in San Francisco - Director/Producer: Joe Talbot; Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Khaliah Neal, Christina Oh
- The Mustang - Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre; Producer: Ilan Goldman
- See You Yesterday - Director: Stefon Bristol; Producer: Spike Lee
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
- Burning Cane - Writer/Director/Producer: Phillip Youmans; Producers: Ojo Akinlana, Jakob Johnson, Karen Kaia Livers, Mose Mayer, Wendell Pierce, Isaac Webb, Cassandra Youmans
- Colewell - Writer/Director: Tom Quinn; Producers: Joshua Blum, Alexandra Byer, Craig Shilowich, Matthew Thurm
- Give Me Liberty - Writer/Director/Producer: Kirill Mikhanovsky; Writer/Producer: Alice Austen; Producers: Val Abel, Wally Hall, Michael Manasseri, George Rush, Sergey Shtern
- Premature - Writer/Director/Producer: Rashaad Ernesto Green; Writer: Zora Howard; Producer: Darren Dean, Joy Ganes
- Wild Nights With Emily - Writer/Director/Producer: Madeleine Olnek; Producers: Anna Margarita Albelo, Casper Andreas, Max Rifkind-Barron
BEST DIRECTOR
- Alma Har’el, Honey Boy
- Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
- Julius Onah, Luce
- Robert Eggers, The Lighthouse
- Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie, Uncut Gems
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
- Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder, To Dust
- Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie, Uncut Gems
- Chinonye Chukwu, Clemency
- Tarell Alvin McCraney, High Flying Bird
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
- Fredrica Bailey & Stefon Bristol, See You Yesterday
- Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen, Driveways
- Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy, Blow the Man Down
- Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe, Greener Grass
- James Montague & Craig W. Sanger, The Vast of Night
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Todd Banhazl, Hustlers
- Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
- Natasha Braier, Honey Boy
- Chananun Chotrungroj, The Third Wife
- Pawel Pogorzelski, Midsommar
BEST EDITING
- Julie Béziau, The Third Wife
- Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems
- Tyler L. Cook, Sword of Trust
- Louise Ford, The Lighthouse
- Kirill Mikhanovsky, Give Me Liberty
BEST FEMALE LEAD
- Karen Allen, Colewell
- Hong Chau, Driveways
- Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
- Mary Kay Place, Diane
- Alfre Woodard, Clemency
- Renée Zellweger, Judy
BEST MALE LEAD
- Chris Galust, Give Me Liberty
- Kelvin Harrison Jr., Luce
- Robert Pattinson, The Lighthouse
- Matthias Schoenaerts, The Mustang
- Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
- Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
- Taylor Russell, Waves
- Lauren “LoLo” Spencer, Give Me Liberty
- Octavia Spencer, Luce
- Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
- Noah Jupe, Honey Boy
- Shia LaBeouf, Honey Boy
- Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
- Wendell Pierce, Burning Cane
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
- Marriage Story
Director: Noah BaumbachCasting Directors: Douglas Aibel, Francine MaislerEnsemble Cast: Alan Alda, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Scarlett Johansson, Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson & Merritt Wever
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
- American Factory - Director/Producer: Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert; Producers: Julie Parker Benello, Jeff Reichert
- Apollo 11 - Director/Producer: Todd Douglas Miller; Producers: Evan Krauss, Thomas Baxley Petersen
- For Sama - Director: Edward Watts; Director/Producer: Waad al-Kateab
- Honeyland - Director: Tamara Kotevska; Director/Producer: Ljubo Stefanov; Producer: Atanas Georgiev
- Island of the Hungry Ghosts - Director/Producer: Gabrielle Brady; Producers: Gizem Acarla, Samm Haillay, Alex Kelly, Alexander Wadouh
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
- Invisible Life (Brazil) - Director: Karim Aïnouz
- Les Misérables (France) - Director: Ladj Ly
- Parasite (South Korea) - Director: Bong Joon-Ho
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) - Director: Céline Sciamma
- Retablo (Peru) - Director: Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L.
- The Souvenir (United Kingdom) - Director: Joanna Hogg
BONNIE AWARD – Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the third Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.
- Marielle Heller
- Kelly Reichardt
- Lulu Wang
PRODUCERS AWARD – The 23rd annual Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
- Mollye Asher
- Krista Parris
- Ryan Zacarias
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 26th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
- Rashaad Ernesto Green - Director of Premature
- Ash Mayfair - Director of The Third Wife
- Joe Talbot - Director of The Last Black Man in San Francisco
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 25th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
- Khalik Allah - Director of Black Mother
- Davy Rothbart - Director of 17 Blocks
- Nadia Shihab - Director of Jaddoland
- Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside - Director of América
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