Best First Screenplay
Kris Avedisian, Story By: Kyle Espeleta, Jesse Wakeman, “Donald Cried”
Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, “The Big Sick”
Ingrid Jungermann, “Women Who Kill”
Kogonada, “Columbus”
David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer, “Ingrid Goes West”
Who will win: “The Big Sick”
Who should win: “Columbus” or “Ingrid Goes West”
Upset: “Ingrid Goes West”
Lowdown: I mean, a chance to reward one of the biggest, crowd-pleasing indie hits of the past year? Against this competition? Yeah, this should be quite a moment for Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani.
Best Cinematography
Thimios Bakatakis, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”
Elisha Christian, “Columbus”
Hélène Louvart, “Beach Rats”
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, “Call Me by Your Name”
Joshua James Richards, “The Rider”
Who will win: “Call Me By Your Name”
Who should win: “Call Me By Your Name”
Upset: “Columbus” or “The Rider”
Lowdown: A professional Director of Photography may argue that “The Rider” or “Columbus” deserve it more, but the Film Independent voting bloc will go for the pretty Italian countryside captured by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom in ‘Call Me.’
Best Editing
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, “Good Time”
Walter Fasano, “Call Me by Your Name”
Alex O’Flinn, “The Rider”
Gregory Plotkin, “Get Out”
Tatiana S. Riegel, “I, Tonya”
Who will win: “Get Out”
Who should win: “I, Tonya”
Upset: “Call Me By Your Name” or “I, Tonya”
Lowdown: In theory, Plotkin should win here, but don’t voters could surprise rewarding Riegel’s work on “I, Tonya” instead.
Best Female Lead
Salma Hayek, “Beatriz at Dinner”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Shinobu Terajima, “Oh Lucy!”
Regina Williams, “Life and nothing more”
Who will win: Saoirse Ronan
Who should win: Frances McDormand
Upset: Frances McDormand or Margot Robbie
Lowdown: It wouldn’t be a shocker if McDormand won, but, as we noted earlier, we’re convinced this voting group is partial to “Lady Bird” and will want to reward the always entertaining Ronan.
Best Male Lead
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Harris Dickinson, “Beach Rats”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Robert Pattinson, “Good Time”
Who will win: Timothée Chalamet
Who should win: Timothée Chalamet
Upset: Daniel Kaluuya, Robert Pattinson
Lowdown: This is Chalamet’s all the way. Unless so few members saw “Call Me By Your Name” and then you can expect Kaluuya to get his first big win of the season. We still think Chalamet’s gonna take it though.
Best Supporting Female
Holly Hunter, “The Big Sick”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Lois Smith, “Marjorie Prime”
Taliah Lennice Webster, “Good Time”
Who will win: Laurie Metcalf
Who should win: Laurie Metcalf
Upset: Allison Janney, Holly Hunter
Lowdown: This is another very close contest. Janney has the recognition of winning a number of key awards this season, but we’re going with the fact “Lady Bird” was substantially a bigger hit than “I, Tonya” and voters will be more inclined to vote for its nominees.
Best Supporting Male
Nnamdi Asomugha, “Crown Heights”
Armie Hammer, “Call Me by Your Name”
Barry Keoghan, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Benny Safdie, “Good Time”
Who will win: Sam Rockwell
Who should win: Sam Rockwell
Upset: Armie Hammer
Lowdown: Hammer could justifiably win here, but Rockwell is an indie film legend and, again, was in a much bigger hit.
Best Documentary (Award given to the director and producer)
“The Departure,” Director/Producer: Lana Wilson
“Faces Places,” Directors: Agnés Varda, JR, Producer: Rosalie Varda
“Last Men in Aleppo,” Director: Feras Fayyad, Producers: Kareem Abeed, Søeren Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos
“Motherland,” Director/Producer: Ramona S. Diaz, Producer: Rey Cuerdo
“Quest,” Director: Jonathan Olshefski, Producer: Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
Who will win: “Faces Places”
Who should win: “Last Men in Aleppo”
Upset: “Last Men in Aleppo”
Lowdown: This is actually the closest thing the Spirit’s have to a pick ’em this year. Our gut says “Faces Places” although it’s possible more members have seen “Last Men in Aleppo” which is available on Netflix.
Best International Film (Award given to the director)
“BPM (Beats Per Minute)” (France), Director: Robin Campillo
“A Fantastic Woman,” (Chile), Director: Sebastián Lelio
“I Am Not a Witch,” (Zambia), Director: Rungano Nyoni
“Lady Macbeth,” (U.K.), Director: William Oldroyd
“Loveless,” (Russia), Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Who will win: “A Fantastic Woman”
Who should win: “A Fantastic Woman”
Upset: “BPM” or “Lady Macbeth”
Lowdown: This category almost always goes with the movie you assume would win. Among this year’s crop of nominees, that’s absolutely Sebastian Lelio‘s “Fantastic Woman.”
Note: The following awards were handed out at the Spirit Awards Brunch in January.
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 inaugural Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant.
So Yong Kim
Lynn Shelton
Chloé Zhao – WINNER
Truer Than Fiction – The 23rd 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.
Shevaun Mizrahi, Director of “Distant Constellation”
Jonathan Olshefski, Director of “Quest” – WINNER
Jeff Unay, Director of “The Cage Fighter”
Someone to Watch – The 24th 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.
Amman Abbasi, Director of “Dayveon”
Justin Chon, Director of “Gook”- WINNER
Kevin Phillips, Director of “Super Dark Times”
Producers Award – The 21st 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.
Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim
Ben LeClair
Summer Shelton – WINNER
These “should win” picks are cringeworthy
Forever proud of the gents behind Donald Cried.