The 2019 Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced this morning and Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” was the standout with four nominations including Best Feature, Best Director (Schrader), Best Male Lead (Ethan Hawke) and Screenplay. “We The Animals” earned five mostly below-the-line nods including Best First Feature and Cinematography. “Eighth Grade” also earned four nods including Best Feature, Best Female Lead, and Best Supporting Male.
It was a huge day for distributor A24 which saw 12 nominations overall and two Best Feature nominations in “First Reformed” and “Eighth Grade.” Amazon Studios took six nods including four for Best Feature nominee “You Were Never Really Here,” The Orchard earned also took six nods and Annapurna earned five including three for Best Feature nominee “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
This was perhaps the most “independent” the Spirit Awards nominations have been in over a decade. A number of films did not qualify due to their budget being over $20 million including “Vice,” “Beautiful Boy,” “The Sisters Brothers” and “Mary, Queen of Scots.” Oscar favorites such as “The Favourite” and “Roma” only qualified for International Film due to their overseas financing. “The Rider” was released in the 2018 calendar year but earned four nominations at last year Spirits because it screened at festivals during that period.
That being said, the Spirit Award committees snubbed some of the most critically acclaimed films of the year including “BlacKkKlansman,” “Hereditary,” “Cold War,” “Destroyer” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” in major categories. This has to be somewhat disconcerting to the hierarchy of Film Independent.
The 2019 Independent Spirit Awards will be handed out Saturday, Feb. 23 and broadcast live on IFC at 2 PM PT, 5 PM ET.
Here is a complete list of all of this year’s nominees.
2019 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
Eighth Grade
Producers: Eli Bush, Scott Rudin, Christopher Storer, Lila Yacoub
First Reformed
Producers: Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon
If Beale Street Could Talk
Producers: Dede Gardner, Barry Jenkins, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski
Leave No Trace
Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini
You Were Never Really Here
Producers: Rosa Attab, Pascal Caucheteux, Rebecca O’Brien, Lynne Ramsay, James Wilson
BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)
Hereditary
Director: Ari Aster
Producers: Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen, Buddy Patrick
Sorry to Bother You
Director: Boots Riley
Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, Forest Whitaker, Kelly Williams
The Tale
Director/Producer: Jennifer Fox
Producers: Sol Bondy, Lawrence Inglee, Mynette Louie, Oren Moverman, Simone Pero, Reka Posta, Laura Rister, Regina K. Scully, Lynda Weinman
We the Animals
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Producers: Andrew Goldman, Christina D. King, Paul Mezey, Jeremy Yaches
Wildlife
Director/Producer: Paul Dano
Producers: Andrew Duncan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Oren Moverman, Ann Ruark, Alex Saks
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
A Bread Factory
Writer/Director/Producer: Patrick Wang
Producers: Daryl Freimark, Matt Miller
En el Séptimo Día
Writer/Director/Producer: Jim McKay
Producers: Alex Bach, Lindsey Cordero, Caroline Kaplan, Michael Stipe
Never Goin’ Back
Writer/Director: Augustine Frizzell
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston
Sócrates
Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Moratto
Writer: Thayná Mantesso
Producers: Ramin Bahrani, Jefferson Paulino, Tammy Weiss
Thunder Road
Writer/Director: Jim Cummings
Producers: Natalie Metzger, Zack Parker, Benjamin Weissner
BEST DIRECTOR
Debra Granik
Leave No Trace
Barry Jenkins
If Beale Street Could Talk
Tamara Jenkins
Private Life
Lynne Ramsay
You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader
First Reformed
BEST SCREENPLAY
Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland
Colette
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Tamara Jenkins
Private Life
Boots Riley
Sorry to Bother You
Paul Schrader
First Reformed
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Bo Burnham
Eighth Grade
Christina Choe
Nancy
Cory Finley
Thoroughbreds
Jennifer Fox
The Tale
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By), Laurie Shephard (Story By)
Blame
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ashley Connor
Madeline’s Madeline
Diego Garcia
Wildlife
Benjamin Loeb
Mandy
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Suspiria
Zak Mulligan
We the Animals
BEST EDITING
Joe Bini
You Were Never Really Here
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, Jeremiah Zagar
We the Animals
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, Julian Hart
American Animals
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, Gary Levy
The Tale
Nick Houy
Mid90s
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Glenn Close
The Wife
Toni Collette
Hereditary
Elsie Fisher
Eighth Grade
Regina Hall
Support the Girls
Helena Howard
Madeline’s Madeline
Carey Mulligan
Wildlife
BEST MALE LEAD
John Cho
Searching
Daveed Diggs
Blindspotting
Ethan Hawke
First Reformed
Christian Malheiros
Sócrates
Joaquin Phoenix
You Were Never Really Here
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Kayli Carter
Private Life
Tyne Daly
A Bread Factory
Regina King
If Beale Street Could Talk
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie
Leave No Trace
J. Smith-Cameron
Nancy
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Raúl Castillo
We the Animals
Adam Driver
BLACKkKLANSMAN
Richard E. Grant
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Josh Hamilton
Eighth Grade
John David Washington
Monsters and Men
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
Suspiria
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Casting Directors: Avy Kaufman, Stella Savino
Ensemble Cast: Malgosia Bela, Ingrid Caven, Lutz Ebersdorf, Elena Fokina, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Dakota Johnson, Gala Moody, Chloë Grace Moretz, Renée Soutendijk, Tilda Swinton, Sylvie Testud, Angela Winkler
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Director/Producer: RaMell Ross
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim
Minding the Gap
Director/Producer: Bing Liu
Producer: Diane Quon
Of Fathers and Sons
Director: Talal Derki
Producers: Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert
On Her Shoulders
Director: Alexandria Bombach
Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams
Shirkers
Director/Producer: Sandi Tan
Producers: Jessica Levin, Maya Rudolph
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Director/Producer: Morgan Neville
Producers: Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Burning
South Korea
Director: Lee Chang-Dong
The Favourite
United Kingdom
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Happy as Lazzaro
Italy
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Roma
Mexico
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Shoplifters
Japan
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu
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 second Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.
Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama
PRODUCERS AWARD – The 22nd 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.
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 25th 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.
Alex Moratto
Director of Sócrates
Ioana Uricaru
Director of Lemonade
Jeremiah Zagar
Director of We the Animals
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 24th 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.
Alexandria Bombach
Director of On Her Shoulders
Bing Liu
Director of Minding the Gap
RaMell Ross
Director of Hale County This Morning, This Evening
