The 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced this morning celebrating the best of the year in independent cinema. This year’s press conference was streamed live from THE LINE LA and presented by actors Zazie Beetz and Natasha Lyonne as they announced the nominees in 19 categories.
The Lighthouse and Uncut Gems became the most nominated films of the year with five nominations each. Honey Boy also did well with four nominations including Best Director although the film missed out on a Best Feature nomination. Some of the very welcome surprises include A Hidden Life for Best Featute, a strong showing for Luce, and a nomination for Renée Zellweger. Some of the biggest omissions included a near shut out of Waves, Awkwafina in Lead Actress, and zero nominations for The Peanut Butter Falcon.
It will be interesting to see what films receive a momentum boost from the first major list of nominations. Will this help keep Honey Boy, Hustlers, Uncut Gems, and The Lighthouse in the minds of voters?
The 2020 Spirit Awards will be broadcast live on Saturday, February 8th exclusively on IFC.
BEST FEATURE
- A Hidden Life
- Clemency
- The Farewell
- Marriage Story
- Uncut Gems
BEST FIRST FEATURE
- Booksmart
- The Climb
- Diane
- The Last Black Man in San Francicso
- The Mustang
- See You Yesterday
BEST DIRECTOR
- Robert Eggers, The Lighthouse
- Alma Har’el, Honey Boy
- Julius Onah, Luce
- Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Uncut Gems
- Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
BEST FEMALE LEAD
- Karen Allen, Colewell
- Hong Chau, Driveways
- Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
- Mary Kay Place, Diane
- Alfre Woodard, Clemency
- Renee Zellwegger, Judy
BEST MALE LEAD
- Chris Galust, Give Me Liberty
- Kelvin Harrison Jr, Luce
- Robert Pattinson, The Lighthouse
- Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
- Matthias Schoenaerts, The Mustang
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
- Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
- Taylor Russell, Waves
- Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
- Lauren “Lolo” Spencer, Give Me Liberty
- Octavia Spencer, Luce
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
- Noah Jupe, Honey Boy
- Shaif LaBeouf, Honey Boy
- Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
- Wendell Pierce, Burning Cane
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Marriage Story
- To Dust
- Uncut Gems
- Clemency
- High Flying Bird
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
- Yesterday
- Driveways
- Blow the Man Down
- Greener Grass
- The Vast of Night
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Hustlers
- The Lighthouse
- Honey Boy
- The Third Wife
- Midsommar
BEST EDITING
- The Third Wife
- Uncut Gems
- Sword of Trust
- The Lighthouse
- Give Me Liberty
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
- Burning Cane
- Colewell
- Give Me Liberty
- Premature
- Wild Nights with Emily
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
- Marriage Story
BEST DOCUMENTARY
- American Factory
- Apollo 11
- For Sama
- Honeyland
- Island of the Hungry Ghosts
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
- Invisible Life
- Les Miserables
- Parasite
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Retablo
- The Souvenir
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
- Mollye Asher
- Krista Parris
- Ryan Zacarias
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
- Rashaad Ernesto Green, Premature
- Ash Mayfair, The Third Wife
- Joe Talbot, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
- Khalik Allah, Black Mother
- Davy Rothbart, 17 Blocks
- Nadia Shihab, Jaddoland
- Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside, America
ANNUAL BONNIE AWARD
- Marielle Heller
- Kelly Reichhardt
- LuLu Wang
No Awkwafina or Lulu, even here?! 🙁 I guess I was right to be pessimistic…
There better thing to come. It still got two big nominations. it should get those plus Awkwafina and screenplay at the Oscars. It might even get BD to save us from another all white male line up.
I’m really not feeling it… Even before this I wasn’t feeling it. 🙁 Feels like another Big Sick situation, unfortunately. (I hope it at least gets as much attention from critics as that one got – or more.)
Glad to see Portrait of a lady on fire here
That is all
Happy with the lighthouse noms. As well as uncut gems, the Adam Sandler safdie brothers film which I really want to see. Booksmart was an okay teen drama, should’ve had bigger box office domestically
Incredibly happy for the love towards The Lighthouse and for Elisabeth Moss’ and Matthias Schoenaets’ nominations in two of the most astonishing performances of the year.
No Florence Pugh for Midsommar though? Really? Not even a nomination at The Spirit Awards? I knew she would never make it to The Oscars for her unforgettable lead turn in Aster’s extraordinary film but Jesus Christ, snubbed even from The Spirit Awards? What a joke.
Also I have no idea what’s happening with Marriage Story, it should be almost in every category. Awkwafina’s snub here hurts too, she should have earned at least a nomination.
It’s not a joke. Midsommar fans should let it go. Many didn’t like the movie including Aster fans (it has much worse rating than Hereditary which was actually seen by more than just his fans) and Pugh reviews weren’t on Collette level since she didn’t have as showy/meaty role. Collette was nominated for Spirit so they could compare and not nominate inferior performance and movie. It’s just the way it is.
She was fantastic and deserves recognition. Great, nuanced performance. She was just stuck in kind of a turd movie.
While I’m ecstatic for Dafoe … do we all feel okay with his Supporting campaign?
Sure, he’s in the film a liiiiiiiiiiittle less than Pattinson. A couple of minutes? But that’s a two-person film.
What say we???
While it is a 2 person, a mermaid and one bird film it is told from the point of view of Pattinson’s character and Dafoe is definitely in it less based not only on screen time but also camera point of view. It is more of a supporting role than it at first seems, though like Olivia Colman last year it is such a strong performance it can read either way. Happy for The Lighthouse love overall.
It’s Pattinson’s point of view but they’re pretty obviously co-leads in my opinion
Sorry, I don’t remember Dafoe naked and pecked by birds. Supporting.
Willem Dafoe – one of the best performances of the year.
Sad for no Julianne Moore.
Nice to see the nominations for The Mustang and Luce too.
Forgot to mention my happiness for Mustang and Schoenaerts, as well.
JUSTICE FOR AWKWAFINA! What a joke! How is Netflix able to put titles into the Indie’s category when it’s a behemoth studio?
Kool.
Parasite didn’t slide into any of the other categories outside of International Film… what’s going on?
This group generally awards American independent cinema, and doesn’t nominate International films in other categories I believe.
Yes, only American productions are eligible. International Film and Documentary are the only exceptions.
This could’ve been a good show had they bothered to nominate The Lighthouse, especially since they had it down for acting and directing. And if they hadn’t rigged the acting categories for the Marriage Story cast
Rigging is embarassing. Iif you, for example, want to vote for Lopez, then vote for Lopez with Dern in the line-up instead of eliminating Dern by giving her Ensemble that renders her ineligible for individual award.
Happy for:
-The Lighthouse, Pattinson and Dafoe!
-Alfre Woodard!
-Luce love, Harrison Jr., Spencer!!!
-Midsommar for Cinematography
Otherwise:
-WOW, no Awkwafina. That said, I personally only thought she was ‘good’ in the role. Her not making it here could mean something down the road. Who knows.
-No Pugh, that stings.
-No Peanut Butter Falcon.
-Little love for Booksmart. I thought that movie was slightly overrated, so.
-Very little love for Waves. Not good, at all. The movie needed this.
Octavia Spencer! #amen
I find it very suspect that Marriage Story got the Altman. If it is the perceived juggernaut for acting nominations why award it the Altman essentially disqualifying it from contention. Looking back over the last 10 years they have never done that to a movie that stood to garner so many nominations, I think everyone may be over estimating that movies chances.
They did that because Marriage Story would SWEEP at acting categories.
then let them sweep. Like, seriously, excuse to make actors ineligieble because of presumed sweep is crap on their part. It’s borderline rigging.
awards nowadays like to spread the wealth
Agree it’s just weird and especially bad for Dern and Driver if they’re perceived frontrunners.
They might prefer to win individually, but they are awarded collective here. They did great work as a team, and they should be proud of that.
I love this picture line up!!. So many movies that directed themselves….
We have May Kay Place and Alfre Woodward, but on the other hand we got Adam Sandler and Jennifer Lopez, so mixed bag I guess.
Sooooo happy for Elizabeth Moss. Her work in “HER SMELL” is extraordinary. Kinda sad for MARRIAGE STORY. I was hoping that it sweeps at the Spirits.
Predictions:
Film:
Marriage Story (though winning best picture without a directing nomination has happened only once in the previous 20 years)
First Film:
Booksmart
Director:
Robert Eggers
Actress:
Zellweger
Actor:
Sandler
Supporting Actress:
Lopez
Supporting Actor:
Dafoe
Screenplay:
Marriage Story
First Screenplay:
See You Yesterday
Editing:
Uncut Gems
Cinematography:
The Lighthouse
Documentary:
Apollo 11
International Film:
Parasite
I disagree with supporting actress. I think that will go to Zhao. And lead actress could go to Zellweger or Woodard. Director could to the Safdie bros. but I’ll stick with Eggers. Dafoe winning supporting is so great. If he gets a third Oscar nomination in a row, how could he lose? It must be his year, finally.
I feel like even when the “cool choice” of the year is nominated here, they go for the likeliest Oscar winner no matter what (for example when McDormand, Rockwell and Janney won over Ronan, Hammer and Metcalfe even though the latter were much more clearly what the Spirit nomination committee pushed for in terms of the films and the internet awards people were much more excited about those performances than the ones that won), and thus while Zhao might be more “respected”, Lopez has Oscar buzz and people talking about her as the strongest contender out of these nominees. Thus I think she’ll probably eventually win
She is the bigger name and more likely to be nominated at the Oscars, I suppose. However, Lopez doesn’t have the respect as the others you mentioned and she is unlikely to win the Oscar. That’s this group to say no to her, too. I think Zhao will take it instead, especially if she is nominated at the Oscars.
Btw Harriet was eligible here, right ? Because if it were then Erivo’s snub is telling. And at the same time Zellweger continues to quietly march toward that Oscar podium.
budget is 17M according to BO Mojo. is that within the bracket?
Yes
So it’s a snub. Woodard needs Globes to scure nomination. She’s definitely in conversation.
So happy that Woodard is getting some wind in her sails.
same. I think she’ll get through.
Sometimes plans to win an Oscar backfire
You are all sleeping on Woodard. She is looking for the win, not just the nomination. Look her go this season. She looks to be the critics pick for lead female actress.
Shianaissance Rises. SAG, it’s all on you, now.
TWO from France and no Spain in International Film. Is there a reason for this or should I just say ”screw them” for excluding Almodóvar?
The lineup looks pretty impressive. “Les Miserable” might be questionable, but especially “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is a great choice – and should win.
They nominated three of the very best movies of the year (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Parasite, The Souvenir), which is pretty great
Indeed, and since I pretty much expect “Parasite” to win many of the Critics Circle awards that are about to come in the next weeks I´m crossing my fingers for “Portrait” to succeed here.
I kind of expected them to not nominate Pain and Glory as Almodovar has his own production company that could be considered one of Spain’s studios.
At least they nominated only one English-language movie here. Some years it could be UK, UK, UK.
Although I don’t think that a lot of non-Spanish cinephiles know about stuff like that
Ridiculous. Other Almodovar films have been nominated in the Spirits. If Pain and Glory has not been nominated its because other are better
Marriage Story should have been nominated for best director, best actor, best actress ,best supporting actress, best film editing and best cinematography.
marriage Story won Ensemble and that means actors were not eligible for individual awards. Robert Altman Award. see posts below that explain it. I didn’t know either til today.
YES invisible life for best international film! I hope it makes the cut at the Oscars.
Good news for Marriage Story and Alfre Woodard
IMO, best news for Lopez. Shows she’s taken seriously. Big win for her.
She is a lock for supp actress nod at the oscars
Nod yes but she could go higher. And lets not forget that there are still people (coughGDForumscough) who think she’s a joke nominee.
Considering her a joke nominee is unkind because she did deliver a good performance so if she gets her first nod after decades in the entertainment business, so be it.
My personal take simply is that there are definitely 5 more worthy contenders than her but at the same time, it is all subjective. For what it’s worth if there was a precursor that could have easily turned up its nose at her performance than it was the Indies and if these voters didn’t consider her turn or her film (BD nod) a joke, then I don’t think anyone else will going forward.
Alfre Woodard, Jennifer Lopez, Shia LaBeouf are definitely the ones who got the most out of this while Awkwafina and Baumbach (BD) are the ones who really should have made the cut here because now that they didn’t, all sorts of questions will be asked about their actual Oscar chances much sooner than they should have been asked.
is Shia crashing Supporting? :please:
His narrative is strong af so I wouldn’t be one bit surprised. For now he remains a solid top7 contender in my book. We’ll see if he can crack top5 in the end.
wait, didn’t he have another mini-hit this year, Peanut Butter Something? So banner year for him Shianaissance.
Yep, that was a surprise hit. Solid reviews, solid Box Office. Between that performance and his Honey Boy script and turn, he is definitely having a creative comeback (or arrival ?) this year.
Dafoe? He and his film are popular with critics. He is the one I expect to get critics support, and he has hit both here and Gothams. I think Sandler hit both too, but he is less likely to get critics and much less popular than Dafoe. Three nominations in a row for Dafoe must mean he finally win, surely? This has to be Dafoe’s year. Finger’s crossed.
Bizarre that The Lighthouse missed the top category despite 2 acting noms and a director nom.
This is a bad showing for Waves with a group that really should have embraced it. A24 seems like they are in an off year in terms of campaigns. Only Taylor Russell broke through here.
And I’m personally sad that Booksmart didn’t pop up with more nominations, especially for its two phenomenal leads
Waves wasn’t going anywhere. It was pretty much done outside of that one festival that went for it more than the rest of them.
“And I’m personally sad that Booksmart didn’t pop up with more nominations, especially for its two phenomenal leads”
Same…
I thought Jo Jo rabbit was eligible… am I wrong?
At least the budget is within the limitations
yes, and they held a screening for members…
That doesn’t mean much, they’ve held member screenings for films that definitely exceed the budget limitations
but as far as I know the budget is 14million
Jojo Rabbit was probably eligible and I agree with aroncido that it’s not surprising with this group that it missed but my point simply was that its eligibility has nothing to do with whether it has had member screenings
With 14 million budget, Jojo Rabbit WAS eligible. Hmm…
22.5 is the eligibility line
Yes. I remember when it was 5 million. Soon it will be 45 million to be ”relevant” in the award circuit (read: circus).
If it was, I still wouldn’t say it’s particularly surprising that this specific group didn’t go for it.
yeha, they don’t go for cutsey movies.
The Lopez / Scafaria BD nominations bode well for former. If the high-brow Indies recognised the performance, probably everyone else will.
The Clemency BP / Best Actress nominations are also a good sign for Alfre Woodard and at the same time the Awkwafina snub is troubling, if there was one place she should have definitely showed up at, it’s the Indies.
Noah Baumbach’s absence in BD could be a thing going forward. I still think he is the frontrunner to win Original Screenplay but they may opt to give him that one win instead of two nominations.
I think / hope Shia LaBeouf may continue to surprise in Best Supporting Actor this season.
I think I disagree about Lopez. After all, the highbrow critics were the ones who raised her to the conversation and are the only ones we’ve heard from so far whereas the industry and other more safe groups might not be as interested in that performance
I meant that if the high-brow Indies nominated her then the arguably low-brow key precursors like Golden Globe and Critics Choice who will want her at their respective parties, definitely will and that will help with perception. I don’t think the performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination but I do think she will get it regardless. Don’t get me wrong, she was very good in the role. I’ve just seen a lot of proper great turns from supporting actress contenders this year, the reason why she wouldn’t make my ballot.
You said the same thing. I agree, but only in terms of nominations. I think she will be nominated but I have in fourth behind Dern, Robbie and Zhao.
For some Oprah in The Butler comes to my mind from Lopez this year. From what I recall she was considered to be one of the big contenders in supporting actress as the only nominee from her movie which didn’t really create buzz anywhere else and whose performance feels like it’s at least partly defined by how it works with/against the image of the person who’s playing the part (particularly stars who are best-known for something else than films even though early on films were a notable element of their careers stating themselves as both talented actors and movie stars through these movies). Thus I’m not sure if she’s going to get nominated eventually, and along with the Academy at least BAFTA might not be that passionate about that performance either
Favourite nomination : Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
And love that there’s only 1 director/best feature overlap. Nice.
Yes, I think Zhao is in. I think she AND Awkwafina will be nominated at the Oscars. I think Zhao will win here. She might even at the Oscars, but beating both Dern AND Robbie is a difficult task.
Lopez is winning this. Queen.
Nice showing for Renee and Alfre.
The farewell is a mess. Zhao in, Awkwa out, the flip on Gothams. I know neither has impact on AMPAS but keeps your name in conversation for a little longer.
Midsommar shutout! YES! THANK YOU! Go Lighthouse and Farewell aka superior A24!
How strange is it that Dern missed for supporting actress here?
can someone explain to me why Robert Altman Award disqualifies acting nominations? Someone said on twitter that Marriage Story got no acting noms because it was given RAA. I knew something was off when Dern didn’t pop up. EDIT: it’s an Ensemble award.
This is going to be big Lighthouse fest.
The award is given to the actors, the director and the casting director and I think its meaning is to some level praise the film’s acting and actor-director collaboration in general and thus giving performances from that film nominations in the normal categories would probably feel like awarding things twice when they could instead focus on other films
makes sense. TBH, I do like they gave chance to actors and directors who are unlikely to appear at the oscars, Renee and Jen nothwithstanding.
Did they announce the director nominees at any point?
Also, A Hidden Life!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES THE DREAM IS REAL
Apparently, it’s the first Malick film to be ever nominated for a Spirit. Which might be irrelevant, but I choose to believe that it is a sign of something great.
I did not hear it. Although they were going incredibly fast.
At least no more TWC “indie” films here, right?
Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a civilization gone with the wind…
Awards season is officially underway!
overreactions to A24 dominance in T minus 5…4…3…2..1