Last night, the winners of the Independent Spirit Film Awards were announced and given their trophies during a broadcast that was hosted by Molly Shannon and Gemma Chan. For those in the unaware, these awards are doled out to the Independent Filmmakers who often operate on a much smaller budget than the big mainstream films. Let’s see who won shall we?
Best Feature:
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
Winner: If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
You Were Never Really Here
Gut Doctor “I Beg Americans To Throw Out This Vegetable Now”
Best Director:
Debra Granik, “Leave No Trace”
Winner: Barry Jenkins, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Tamara Jenkins, “Private Life”
Lynne Ramsay, “You Were Never Really Here”
Paul Schrader, “First Reformed”
Best First Feature:
Hereditary
Winner: Sorry To Bother You
The Tale
We The Animals
Wildlife
Best Male Lead:
John Cho, “Searching”
Daveed Diggs, “Blindspotting”
Winner: Ethan Hawke, “First Reformed”
Christian Malheiros, “Socrates”
Joaquin Phoenix, “You Were Never Really Here”
Best Female Lead:
Winner: 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 Supporting Male:
Raúl Castillo, “We The Animals”
Adam Driver, “Blackkklansman”
Winner: Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Josh Hamilton, “Eighth Grade”
John David Washington, “Monsters And Men”
Best Supporting Female:
Kayli Carter, “Private Life”
Tyne Daly, “A Bread Factory”
Winner: Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Thomasin Harcourt Mckenzie, “Leave No Trace”
J. Smith-Cameron, “Nancy”
John Cassavetes Award:
A Bread Factory
Winner: En El Séptimo Día
Never Goin’ Back
Socrates
Thunder Road
Robert Altman Award (Given To One Film’s Director, Casting Directors And Ensemble Cast)
Suspiria
Best Documentary:
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding The Gap
Of Fathers And Sons
On Her Shoulders
Shirkers
Winner: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Best International Film:
Burning (South Korea)
The Favourite (United Kingdom)
Happy As Lazzaro (Italy)
Winner: Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Best Editing:
Winner: 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 And Gary Levy, “The Tale”
Nick Houy, “Mid90s”
Best Cinematography:
Ashley Connor, “Madeline’s Madeline”
Diego Garcia, “Wildlife”
Benjamin Loeb, “Mandy”
Winner: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, “Suspiria”
Zak Mulligan, “We The Animals”
Best First Screenplay:
Winner: Bo Burnham, “Eighth Grade”
Christina Choe, “Nancy”
Cory Finley, “Thoroughbreds”
Jennifer Fox, “The Tale”
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) And Laurie Shephard (Story By), “Blame”
Best Screenplay:
Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, “Colette”
Winner: Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Tamara Jenkins, “Private Life”
Boots Riley, “Sorry To Bother You”
Paul Schrader “First Reformed”
Truer Than Fiction Award:
Alexandria Bombach, “On Her Shoulders”
Winner: Bing Liu, “Minding The Gap”
Ramell Ross, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
Someone To Watch Award:
Winner: Alex Moratto, “Socrates”
Ioana Uricaru, “Lemonade”
Jeremiah Zagar, “We The Animals”
Producers Award:
Jonathan Duffy And Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Winner: Shrihari Sathe
Bonnie Award:
Winner: Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama
*** end of list ***
Piercing Ken Thoughts: Congratulations to all of these winners. Truth be told, I’ve not seen any of the films that were awarded or their other nominations and its more based on the time that I have in seeing the big action flicks, reporting on live music and all the conventions. There are times when I wish that I had a clone to deploy to some events and assign a world of tasks so I could do more but alas that is only science fiction. What did you readers think about the winners of this years awards if you are fans of independent film. Did your favorites win out or were they cheated of the honor? Please chime in down below as I’d love to hear from you. Tonight are The Oscars and that means I will be on point to share the winners for that mega media event as well. See you soon.
Official Website: https://www.filmindependent.org/spirit-awards/