Anyone looking for clarity regarding this year’s particularly diffuse and opaque awards season will likely not find it in the nominations for the 40th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, announced Wednesday morning.
Rather, the nominating committees chose to recognize a broad array of films, from splashy awards-season favorites to little-known titles from the festival circuit. The nominees, with budgets ranging from $112,000 to $28 million, come from 17 different countries.
Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a melancholy comedy of self-discovery about a stripper in Brighton Beach, earned six nominations, including feature, director and lead performance. Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw The TV Glow,” a trippy tale of identity and fandom as two outcasts bond over their love of a television show, also took in six nominations, including feature, director, lead performance and screenplay.
Sean Wang’s coming-of-age story “Didi” earned four nominations. “Sing Sing,” “Janet Planet” and “The Apprentice” each brought in three noms, while “Big Boys,” “La Cocina,” “A Different Man,” “The Fire Inside,” “Ghostlight,” “In the Summers,” “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.” “Jazzy,” “My Old Ass,” “Nightbitch,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Piano Lesson,” “Problemista,” “A Real Pain,” “The Substance” and “Thelma” all earned two nominations.
Azazel Jacobs’ “His Three Daughters,” starring Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen, earned the ensemble-targeted Robert Altman Award, given to one film’s director, casting director and cast.
On the TV side, “Shōgun” led with five nominations, while “Baby Reindeer and “English Teacher” both earned four noms and “Agatha All Along” brought in three.
At the 39th Spirit Awards earlier this year (an event disrupted by protesters), Celine Song’s “Past Lives” won for feature and director, “American Fiction” won for Cord Jefferson’s screenplay and Jeffrey Wright’s lead performance, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won for supporting performance for “The Holdovers.”
The Spirit Awards will take place on Feb 22, 2025, with Aidy Bryant returning as host. The complete list of nominations follows.
BEST FEATURE (award given to the producer)
“Anora”
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
“I Saw the TV Glow”
Producers: Ali Herting, Sam Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Sarah Winshall
“Nickel Boys”
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine
“Sing Sing”
Producers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Monique Walton
“The Substance”
Producers: Tim Bevan, Coralie Fargeat, Eric Fellner
BEST FIRST FEATURE (award given to director and producer)
“Dìdi”
Director/Producer: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters
“In the Summers”
Director: Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio
Producers: Janek Ambros, Lynette Coll, Alexander Dinelaris, Cynthia Fernandez De La Cruz, Cristóbal Güell, Sergio Alberto Lira, Rob Quadrino, Jan Suter, Daniel Tantalean, Nando Vila, Slava Vladimirov, Stephanie Yankwitt
“Janet Planet”
Director/Producer: Annie Baker
Producers: Andrew Goldman, Dan Janvey, Derrick Tseng
“The Piano Lesson”
Director: Malcolm Washington
Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington
“Problemista”
Director/Producer: Julio Torres
Producers: Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Emma Stone
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD — Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. (Award given to the writer, director and producer)
“Big Boys”
Writer/Director/Producer: Corey Sherman
Producer: Allison Tate
“Ghostlight”
Writer/Director: Kelly O’Sullivan
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Producers: Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Chelsea Krant, Eddie Linker, Alex Wilson
“Girls Will Be Girls”
Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne
“Jazzy”
Writer/Director/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer/Producer: Lainey Shangreaux
Writers: Andrew Hajek, Vanara Taing
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Tommy Heitkamp, John Way, Natalie Whalen, Elliott Whitton
“The People’s Joker”
Writer/Director: Vera Drew
Writer: Bri LeRose
Producer: Joey Lyons
BEST DIRECTOR
Ali Abbasi
“The Apprentice”
Sean Baker
“Anora”
Brady Corbet
“The Brutalist”
Alonso Ruizpalacios
“La Cocina”
Jane Schoenbrun
“I Saw the TV Glow”
BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
“Heretic”
Jesse Eisenberg
“A Real Pain”
Megan Park
“My Old Ass”
Aaron Schimberg
“A Different Man”
Jane Schoenbrun
“I Saw the TV Glow”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Joanna Arnow
“The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed”
Annie Baker
“Janet Planet”
India Donaldson
“Good One”
Julio Torres
“Problemista
Sean Wang
“Dìdi”
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Amy Adams
“Nightbitch”
Ryan Destiny
“The Fire Inside”
Colman Domingo
“Sing Sing”
Keith Kupferer
“Ghostlight”
Mikey Madison
“Anora”
Demi Moore
“The Substance”
Hunter Schafer
“Cuckoo”
Justice Smith
“I Saw the TV Glow”
June Squibb
“Thelma”
Sebastian Stan
“The Apprentice”
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Yura Borisov
“Anora”
Joan Chen
“Dìdi”
Kieran Culkin
“A Real Pain”
Danielle Deadwyler
“The Piano Lesson”
Carol Kane
“Between the Temples”
Karren Karagulian
“Anora”
Kani Kusruti
“Girls Will Be Girls”
Brigette Lundy-Paine
“I Saw the TV Glow”
Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin
“Sing Sing”
Adam Pearson
“A Different Man”
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Isaac Krasner
“Big Boys”
Katy O’Brian
“Love Lies Bleeding”
Mason Alexander Park
“National Anthem”
René Pérez Joglar
“In the Summers”
Maisy Stella
“My Old Ass”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dinh Duy Hung
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”
Jomo Fray
“Nickel Boys”
Maria von Hausswolff
“Janet Planet”
Juan Pablo Ramírez
“La Cocina”
Rina Yang
“The Fire Inside”
BEST EDITING
Laura Colwell, Vanara Taing
“Jazzy”
Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm
“The Apprentice”
Anne McCabe
“Nightbitch”
Hansjörg Weissbrich
“September 5”
Arielle Zakowski
“Dìdi”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
“His Three Daughters”
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders
BEST DOCUMENTARY (award given to the director and producer)
“Gaucho Gaucho”
Directors/Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Producers: Christos Konstantakopoulos, Cameron O’Reilly, Matthew Perniciaro
“Hummingbirds”
Directors: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
Co-Directors/Producers: Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger
Producers: Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow
“No Other Land”
Directors/Producers: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producers: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
“Patrice: The Movie”
Director: Ted Passon
Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Producers: Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (award given to the director)
“All We Imagine as Light”
France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
Director: Payal Kapadia
“Black Dog”
China
Director: Guan Hu
“Flow”
Latvia, France, Belgium
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
“Green Border”
Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium
Director: Agnieszka Holland
“Hard Truths”
United Kingdom
Director: Mike Leigh
PRODUCERS AWARD presented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey — the Producers Award, now in its 28th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Alex Coco
Sarah Winshall
Zoë Worth
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD — the Someone to Watch Award, now in its 31st year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
Nicholas Colia
Director of “Griffin in Summer”
Sarah Friedland
Director of “Familiar Touch”
Pham Thien An
Director of “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD — the Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 30th year, is presented to an emerging director of nonfiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Directors of “Sugarcane”
Carla Gutiérrez
Director of “Frida”
Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Director of “A Photographic Memory”
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (award given to the creator, executive producer, co-executive producer)
“Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color”
Executive producers: Idris Elba, Johanna Woolford Gibbon, Jamilla Dumbuya, Jos Cushing, Khaled Gad, Matt Robins, Chris Muckle, Sean David Johnson, Simon Raikes
Co-executive producer: Annabel Hobley
“Hollywood Black”
Executive producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhart
Co-executive producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant
“Photographer”
Executive producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan
Co-executive producers: Anna Barnes, Brent Kunkle
“Ren Faire”
Executive producers: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Dani Bernfeld, Lance Oppenheim, David Gauvey Herbert, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
Co-executive producers: Abigail Rowe, Christian Vasquez, Max Allman
“Social Studies”
Creator/executive producer: Lauren Greenfield
Executive producers: Wallis Annenberg, Regina K. Scully, Andrea van Beuren, Frank Evers, Caryn Capotosto
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (award given to the creator, executive producer, co-executive producer)
“Baby Reindeer”
Creator/executive producer: Richard Gadd
Executive producers: Wim De Greef, Petra Fried, Matt Jarvis, Ed Macdonald
“Diarra From Detroit”
Creator/executive producer: Diarra Kilpatrick
Executive producers: Kenya Barris, Miles Orion Feldsott, Darren Goldberg
Co-executive producers: Ester Lou, Mark Ganek
“English Teacher”
Creator/executive producer: Brian Jordan Alvarez
Executive producers: Paul Simms, Jonathan Krisel, Dave King
Co-executive producers: Kathryn Dean, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn
“Fantasmas”
Creator/executive producer: Julio Torres
Executive producers: Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Olivia Gerke, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell
Co-executive producer: Ali Herting
“Shōgun”
Creators/executive producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michaela Clavell
Co-executive producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Brian Jordan Alvarez
“English Teacher”
Richard Gadd
“Baby Reindeer”
Lily Gladstone
“Under the Bridge”
Kathryn Hahn
“Agatha All Along”
Cristin Milioti
“The Penguin”
Julianne Moore
“Mary & George”
Hiroyuki Sanada
“Shōgun”
Anna Sawai
“Shōgun”
Andrew Scott
“Ripley”
Julio Torres
“Fantasmas”
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Tadanobu Asano
“Shōgun”
Enrico Colantoni
“English Teacher”
Betty Gilpin
“Three Women”
Chloe Guidry
“Under the Bridge”
Moeka Hoshi
“Shōgun”
Stephanie Koenig
“English Teacher”
Patti LuPone
“Agatha All Along”
Nava Mau
“Baby Reindeer”
Ruth Negga
“Presumed Innocent”
Brian Tee
“Expats”
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Jessica Gunning
“Baby Reindeer”
Diarra Kilpatrick
“Diarra From Detroit”
Joe Locke
“Agatha All Along”
Megan Stott
“Penelope”
Hoa Xuande
“The Sympathizer”
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“How to Die Alone”
Ensemble cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims
