The Film Independent Spirit Awards (SPIRIT) have announced their nominations for the best in independent film for 2024. The winners will be announced on February 22nd, 2025. Here are this year’s nominees…
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 non-fiction 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
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