“Leave No Trace” director Debra Granik was given a $50,000 Film Independent Spirit Awards grant designed to recognize a mid-career female director at the Spirit Awards’ nominees brunch on Saturday.
Granik won the second annual Bonnie Award, named for Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo, who joined American Airlines in 1973 and became the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. The category’s other nominees were directors Tamara Jenkins (“Private Life”) and Karyn Kusama (“Destroyer”).
Granik was one of the winners in four grant categories whose nominees were announced on Nov. 16 along with the rest of the Spirit Awards categories. But rather than waiting for the Feb. 23 Spirit Awards show to reveal the winners, the grant categories are handed out at the nominees brunch, which is held at the BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood.
The grants, which total $125,000 in cash prizes, were announced by Brian Tyree Henry and Lena Waithe.
In addition to Granik, grant winners included Shrihari Sathe in the Producers Award category, Alex Moratto, the director of “Socrates,” in the Someone to Watch category, and Bing Liu, director of the Hulu documentary “Minding the Gap,” in the Truer Than Fiction category.
The winners and nominees:
BONNIE AWARD
(Recognizes a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.)
Winner: Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama
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.)
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Winner: Shrihari Sathe
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.)
Winner: Alex Moratto, director of “Sócrates”
Ioana Uricaru, director of “Lemonade”
Jeremiah Zagar, director of “We the Animals”
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant._
Alexandria Bombach, director of “On Her Shoulders”
Winner: Bing Liu, director of “Minding the Gap”
RaMell Ross, director of “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”