The Film Independent Spirit Awards announced the nominations today for the 32nd edition of the awards, which honor indie cinema with particular emphasis on low-budget moviemaking.
This year, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey leading the pack with six nominations each (the former takes home the Robert Altman Award, while the latter got nods in three out of four acting categories). Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea follows with five nominations. Three hundred and eighty-two submissions were considered this year, and 44 ended up with nominations. A press release noted that the criteria for selection were “uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means (with particular attention paid to total production cost and individual compensation) and percentage of financing from independent sources.”
Film Independent—is the nonprofit behind the LA Film Festival, Film Independent Forum and Film Independent at LACMA—hands out $75,000 in grants to filmmakers, funded by sponsors Kiehl’s and Piaget. The Spirit Awards are traditionally held the day before the Oscars in Los Angeles: In 2017, this will be February 25, 2017 (The ceremony is televised on IFC). Check out the full list of nominees below (click the links to go to previous MovieMaker coverage of that film or filmmaker).
Best Feature
Producers: Thomas Benski, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Lucas Ochoa, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg
Chronic
Producers: Michel Franco, Gina Kwon, Gabriel Ripstein, Moisés Zonana
Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel, Juan de Dios Larraín, Mickey Liddell
Manchester by the Sea
Producers: Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski
Best First Feature
Director: Brady Corbet
Producers: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Chris Coen, Ron Curtis, Helena Danielsson, Mona Fastvold, István Major
Director/Producer: Anna Rose Holmer
Producer: Lisa Kjerulff
Director: Chris Kelly
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Adam Scott, Naomi Scott
Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, Lauren Mann, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon, Jonathan Wang
Director: Robert Eggers
Producers: Daniel Bekerman, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Rodrigo Teixeira
John Cassavetes Award
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Free In Deed
Writer/Director: Jake Mahaffy
Producers: Mike Bowes, Mike S. Ryan, Brent Stiefel
Hunter Gatherer
Writer/Director: Josh Locy
Producers: Michael Covino, April Lamb, Sara Murphy, Isaiah Smallman
Lovesong
Writer/Director: So Yong Kim
Writer/Producer: Bradley Rust Gray
Producers: David Hansen, Alex Lipschultz, Johnny Mac
Nakom
Writer/Director/Producer: TW Pittman
Director/Producer: Kelly Daniela Norris
Writer/Producer: Isaac Adakudugu
Producer: Giovanni Ximénez
Spa Night
Writer/Director: Andrew Ahn
Producers: David Ariniello, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Kelly Thomas
Best Director
Andrea Arnold
American Honey
Barry Jenkins
Moonlight
Pablo Larraín
Jackie
Loving
Certain Women
Best Screenplay
Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan
Manchester by the Sea
Mike Mills
20th Century Women
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias
Little Men
Taylor Sheridan
Hell or High Water
Best First Screenplay
The Witch
Other People
Adam Mansbach
Barry
Stella Meghie
Jean of the Joneses
Craig Shilowich
Best Cinematography
Ava Berkofsky
Free In Deed
Lol Crawley
The Childhood of a Leader
Zach Kuperstein
The Eyes of My Mother
Moonlight
Robbie Ryan
American Honey
Best Editing
Matthew Hannam
Swiss Army Man
Jennifer Lame
Manchester by the Sea
Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders
Moonlight
Jake Roberts
Hell or High Water
Sebastián Sepúlveda
Jackie
Best Female Lead
Annette Bening
20th Century Women
Elle
American Honey
Ruth Negga
Loving
Jackie
Best Male Lead
Casey Affleck
Manchester by the Sea
David Harewood
Free In Deed
Captain Fantastic
Jesse Plemons
Other People
Tim Roth
Chronic
Best Supporting Female
Edwina Findley
Free In Deed
Paulina Garcia
Little Men
Lily Gladstone
Certain Women
Riley Keough
American Honey
Molly Shannon
Other People
Best Supporting Male
Ralph Fiennes
Ben Foster
Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges
Manchester by the Sea
Shia LaBeouf
American Honey
Craig Robinson
Morris from America
Robert Altman Award
(Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Moonlight
Director: Barry Jenkins
Casting Director: Yesi Ramirez
Ensemble Cast: Mahershala Ali, Patrick Decile, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders
Best Documentary
13th
Director/Producer: Ava DuVernay
Producers: Spencer Averick, Howard Barish
Cameraperson
Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
Producer: Marilyn Ness
I Am Not Your Negro
Director/Producer: Raoul Peck
Producers: Rémi Grellety, Hérbert Peck
Director/Producer: Ezra Edelman
Producers: Nina Krstic, Tamara Rosenberg, Caroline Waterlow
Sonita
Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
Producer: Gerd Haag
Under the Sun
Director: Vitaly Mansky
Producer: Natalya Manskaya
Best International Film
Aquarius
(Brazil)
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
(Greece)
Director: Athina Tsangari
My Golden Days
(France)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Toni Erdmann
(Germany and Romania)
Director: Maren Ade
Under the Shadow
(Iran and U.K.)
Director: Babak Anvari
20th Annual Piaget Producers Award
“The 20th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, 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 funded by Piaget.”
Lisa Kjerulff
Jordana Mollick
Melody C. Roscher and Craig Shilowich
23rd Annual Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award
“The 23rd annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.”
Andrew Ahn
Director of Spa Night
Claire Carré
Director of Embers
Director of The Fits
Ingrid Jungermann
Director of Women Who Kill
22nd Truer Than Fiction Award
“The 22nd 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.”
Kristi Jacobson
Director of Solitary
Sara Jordenö
Director of Kiki
Nanfu Wang
Director of Hooligan Sparrow MM
For more information on the Film Independent Spirit Awards, visit the website here.