The 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, with comedy power couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally serving as hosts.
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “CODA,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!” she said proudly at the end of the night. (Mullally noted at the top of the show that of the five Best Director nominees, four of them were women.)
Among the other wins were “Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” for Best Documentary and “Drive My Car” for Best International Film. That category was actually announced during a commercial break, along with Cinematography (Edu Grau, “Passing”) and Editing (Joi McMillon, “Zola”). The acceptance speeches were then edited into the live telecast.
As for the television categories, “Reservation Dogs” won Best New Scripted Series and Ensemble Cast, while Lee Jung-jae of the breakout Netflix hit “Squid Game” and Thuso Mbedu from “The Underground Railroad” took home acting awards.
The 37th show was in keeping with the Spirit Awards’ history of celebrating films and (more recently) television series that embody the independent spirit through a combination of financing, creativity and subject matter. It’s a much more laid-back affair than the Oscars (plenty of guests forgo formalwear for jeans and sneakers) and since it’s on cable, the f-bombs and raunchy jokes fly.
Before this year’s ceremony, Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, announced that this year’s writers and directors nominated for the awards were 44% women and 38% BIPOC, while the overall crop of nominees for 2022 was 46% women and 32% BIPOC. The Indie Spirits are voted on by Film Independent members, a collection of film lovers and professionals, and this year’s nominating committees were 63% women, 5% Non-binary and 56% BIPOC.
Here’s the full list of nominees and winners, with links to TheWrap’s reviews:
BEST FEATURE
(Award is given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
“A Chiara” (Jonas Carpignano, Paolo Carpignano, Jon Coplon, Ryan Zacarias)
“C’mon C’mon” (Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub)
**WINNER “The Lost Daughter” (Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler)
“The Novice” (Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker)
“Zola” (Kara Baker, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Haggard, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Christine Vachon, Gia Walsh)
BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to director and producer)
**WINNER “7 Days” (Director: Roshan Sethi; Producers: Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn)
“Holler” (Director: Nicole Riegel; Producers: Adam Cobb, Rachel Gould, Katie Mcneill, Jamie Patricof, Christy Spitzer Thornton)
“Queen of Glory” (Director: Nana Mensah; Producers: Baff Akoto, Anya Migdal, Kelley Robins Hicks, Jamund Washington)
“Test Pattern” (Director/Producer: Shatara Michelle Ford; Producers: Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su)
“Wild Indian” (Director/Producer: Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.; Producers: Thomas Mahoney, Eric Tavitian)
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Award given to the writer, director and producer of the best feature made for under $500,000. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
“Cryptozoo” (Writer/Director: Dash Shaw; Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way)
“Jockey” (Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley; Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar; Producer: Nancy Schafer)
**WINNER “Shiva Baby” (Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman; Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro)
“Sweet Thing” (Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell; Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal)
“This Is Not a War Story” (Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy; Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West)
BEST DIRECTOR
Janicza Bravo, “Zola”
**WINNER Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
Lauren Hadaway, “The Novice”
Mike Mills, “C’mon C’mon”
Ninja Thyberg, “Pleasure“
BEST SCREENPLAY
Nikole Beckwith, “Together Together“
Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris, “Zola”
**WINNER Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
Mike Mills, “C’mon C’mon”
Todd Stephens, “Swan Song“
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., “Wild Indian”
Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown, “Cicada”
Shatara Michelle Ford, “Test Pattern”
Fran Kranz, “Mass”
**WINNER Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski, “Pig“
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang, “Blue Bayou”
Lol Crawley, “The Humans“
Tim Curtin, “A Chiara”
**WINNER Edu Grau, “Passing”
Ari Wegner, “Zola”
BEST EDITING
Affonso Gonçalves, “A Chiara”
Ali Greer, “The Nowhere Inn“
Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent, “The Novice”
**WINNER Joi McMillon, “Zola”
Enrico Natale, “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Isabelle Fuhrman, “The Novice”
Brittany S. Hall, “Test Pattern”
Patti Harrison, “Together Together”
**WINNER Taylour Paige, “Zola”
Kali Reis, “Catch the Fair One“
BEST MALE LEAD
Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey”
Frankie Faison, “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
Michael Greyeyes, “Wild Indian”
Udo Kier, “Swan Song”
**WINNER Simon Rex, “Red Rocket“
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
Amy Forsyth, “The Novice”
**WINNER Ruth Negga, “Passing”
Revika Reustle, “Pleasure”
Suzanna Son, “Red Rocket”
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo, “Zola”
Meeko Gattuso, “Queen of Glory”
**WINNER Troy Kotsur, “CODA“
Will Patton, “Sweet Thing”
Chaske Spencer, “Wild Indian”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
**WINNER “Mass”
Director: Fran Kranz
Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin
Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool
BEST DOCUMENTARY
(Award given to the director and producer)
“Ascension” (Director/Producer: Jessica Kingdon; Producers: Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell)
“Flee” (Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen; Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen)
“In the Same Breath” (Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang; Producers: Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Jialing Zhang)
“Procession” (Director: Robert Greene; Producers: Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola)
**WINNER “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson; Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
(Award given to the director)
“Compartment No. 6,” Finland/Russia, Director: Juho Kuosmanen
**WINNER “Drive My Car,” Japan, Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Parallel Mothers,” Spain, Director: Pedro Almodóvar
“Pebbles,” India, Director: P S Vinothraj
“Petite Maman,” France, Director: Céline Sciamma
“Prayers for the Stolen,” Mexico, Director: Tatiana Huezo
PRODUCERS AWARD
(The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.)
Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
**WINNER Lizzie Shapiro
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)
**WINNER Alex Camilleri, “Luzzu”
Michael Sarnoski, “Pig”
Gillian Wallace Horvat, “I Blame Society”
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.)
Angelo Madsen Minax, “North by Current”
**WINNER Jessica Beshir, “Faya Dayi”
Debbie Lum, “Try Harder!”
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
(Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
** WINNER “Black and Missing”
Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir
Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
“The Choe Show”
Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe
Executive Producers: Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson
“The Lady and The Dale”
Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Nick Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
“Nuclear Family”
Series By: Ry Russo-Young
Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer
“Philly D.A.”
Creators: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin
Co-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
(Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
“Blindspotting”
Creators/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann
“It’s a Sin”
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler
** WINNER “Reservation Dogs”
Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch
“The Underground Railroad”
Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins
Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt
“We Are Lady Parts”
Creator: Nida Manzoor
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
** WINNER Thuso Mbedu, “The Underground Railroad“
Anjana Vasan, “We Are Lady Parts”
Jana Schmieding, “Rutherford Falls”
Jasmine Cephus Jones, “Blindspotting”
Deborah Ayorinde, “THEM: Covenant”
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
** WINNER Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin
Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
** WINNER “Reservation Dogs”
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone
