Awards season continues! Following the announcement of this year’s Gotham Award nominees, we now have the nominees for this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards.
For Best Feature, Chinonye Chukwu‘s Clemency starring Alfre Woodard is nominated. Clemency is also nominated for Best Screenplay, as is High Flying Bird, scripted by Tarell Alvin McCraney. For Best First Feature, See You Yesterday, directed by Stefon Bristol and produced by Spike Lee is nominated. Julius Onah is nominated for Best Director for Luce. Fredrica Bailey and Stefon Bristol have a Best First Screenplay nomination for See You Yesterday, which is also nominated for Best First Feature.
Alfre Woodard is nominated for Best Female Lead for Clemency and Kelvin Harrison Jr. is nominated for Best Male Lead for Luce. For Best Supporting Female, Taylor Russell is nominated for Waves, Lauren “LoLo” Spencer is nominated for Give Me Liberty and Octavia Spencer is nominated for Luce. For Best Supporting Male, Jonathan Majors is nominated for The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Wendell Pierce is nominated for Burning Cane.
The John Cassavetes Award, which is given to the best feature made for under $500,000, Burning Cane, directed and written by Phillip Youmans is nominated, as well as Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Premature. Green is also nominated for the Someone to Watch Award. Khalik Allah, the director of Black Mother, is nominated for the Truer Than Fiction Award.
Check out the full list of nominees below (Black talent or films with primarily Black talent are highlighted in bold):
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 FRANCISCO
THE MUSTANG
SEE YOU YESTERDAY
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
Adam Sandler – UNCUT GEMS
Matthias Schoenaerts – THE MUSTANG
BEST DIRECTOR
Robert Eggers – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Alma Har’el – HONEY BOY
Julius Onah – LUCE
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS
Lorene Scafaria – HUSTLERS
BEST DOCUMENTARY
AMERICAN FACTORY
APOLLO 11
FOR SAMA
HONEYLAND
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
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
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jennifer Lopez – HUSTLERS
Taylor Russell – WAVES
Zhao Shuzhen – THE FAREWELL
Lauren “Lolo” Spencer – GIVE ME LIBERTY
Octavia Spencer – LUCE
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 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 CINEMATOGRAPHY
Todd Banhazl – HUSTLERS
Jarin Blaschke – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Natasha Braier – HONEY BOY
Chananun Chotrungroj – THE THIRD WIFE
Pawel Pogorzelski – MIDSOMMAR
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
INVISIBLE LIFE, Brazil
LES MISERABLES, France
PARASITE, South Korea
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, France
RETABLO, Peru
THE SOUVENIR, United Kingdom
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 and Chase Whiteside, Director of América
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Photo: Neon, ARRAY, Netflix
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