The nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards have been unveiled and Minari, Nomadland, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, & First Cow are among the films that lead the nominees. Laverne Cox, Barry Jenkins, and Olivia Wilde announced this year's nominees via video this morning.
This year's ceremony is going to be a bit different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 36th annual award show had to be rescheduled a couple of times due to the ongoing global health crisis and now it will air in a primetime ceremony on Thursday, April 22 at 10:00 PM ET, which is three days before the Oscars. While the event has long been held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, it will now air on IFC and stream simultaneously on AMC+.
The Independent Spirit Awards is also adding a TV category that includes best new scripted series, best new nonscripted or documentary series, best male performance in a scripted series, best female performance in a scripted series, and best ensemble cast in a scripted series. Among the shows vying for best new scripted series are I May Destroy You, Little America, Small Axe, A Teacher, and Unorthodox.
Surprisingly missing from the Best Feature category was the critical favorite, Promising Young Woman. The film scored a nomination for Best Female Lead for Carey Mulligan, Best Director for Emerald Fennell, and Best Screenplay. The latter two seem like categories that would guarantee its place in the best feature slot but I'm going to call that a significant snub for the film, which is still very much a part of the Oscar conversation.
Last year's winners featured a lot of talent that did not go on to receive Oscar love, other than Renee Zellweger for her Best Female Lead win for Judy. Best Feature went to A24's The Farewell while Benny and Josh Sadie took home Best Director for A24's Uncut Gems. Adam Sandler also got the love he deserved in the Best Male Lead category with his win for Uncut Gems.
Check out the full list of nominations below:
BEST FEATURE
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland
BEST FIRST FEATURE
I Carry You With Me
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Miss Juneteenth
Nine Days
Sound of Metal
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner, The Assistant
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
BEST MALE LEAD
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger
Rob Morgan, Bull
Steven Yeun, Minari
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt, First Cow
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Collective
Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
Producers: Hanka Kastelicová, Bernard Michaux, Bianca Oana
Crip Camp
Directors/Producers: Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
Producer: Sara Bolder
Dick Johnson is Dead
Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness
The Mole Agent
Director: Maite Alberdi
Producer: Marcela Santibáñez
Time
Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Orion Lee, First Cow
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Benedict Wong, Nine Days
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Alexis Chikaeze, Miss Juneteenth
Yeri Han, Minari
Valerie Mahaffey,French Exit
Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Yuh-jung Youn, Minari
BEST SCREENPLAY
Bad Education
Minari
The Half Of It
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Promising Young Woman
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Kitty Green, The Assistant
Noah Hutton, Lapsis
Channing Godfrey Peoples, Miss Juneteenth
Andy Siara, Palm Springs
James Sweeney, Straight Up
BEST EDITING:
Andy Canny, The Invisible Man
Scott Cummings, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Merawi Gerima, Residue
Enat Sidi, I Carry You With Me
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jay Keitel, She Dies Tomorrow
Shabier Kirchner, Bull
Michael Latham, The Assistant
Hélène Louvart, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Bacurau
Brazil
Directors: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
The Disciple
India
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane
Night of the Kings
Ivory Coast
Director: Philippe Lacôte
Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
Hungary
Director: Lili Horvát
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Jasmila Žbani?
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
One Night in Miami…
Director: Regina King
Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin
Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.
OHN 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.)
The Killing of Two Lovers
Writer/Director/Producer: Robert Machoian
Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford
La Leyenda Negra
Writer/Director: Patricia Vidal Delgado
Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez
Lingua Franca
Writer/Director/Producer: Isabel Sandoval
Producers: Darlene Catly Malimas, Jhett Tolentino, Carlo Velayo
Residue
Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima
Saint Frances
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Writer: Kelly O’Sullivan
Producers: James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Raphael Nash, Roger Welp
PRODUCERS AWARD
The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
David Midell
Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Ekwa Msangi
Director of Farewell Amor
Annie Silverstein
Director of Bull
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Cecilia Aldarondo
TV CATEGORIES
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
Executive Producers: Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius
City So Real
Produced by: Zak Piper, Steve James
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder
Immigration Nation
Executive Producers: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson
Co-Executive Producers: Andrey Alistratov, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Lauren Haber
Love Fraud
Executive Producers: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Amy Goodman Kass, Vinnie Malhotra, Jihan Robinson, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman
We’re Here
Creators/Executive Producers: Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram
Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Peter LoGreco
Co-Executive Producers: Erin Haglund, Sabrina Mar
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
I May Destroy You
Creator/Executive Producer: Michaela Coel
Executive Producers: Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni
Little America
Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Alan Yang, Siân Heder, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon
Small Axe
Executive Producers: Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen
A Teacher
Creator/Executive Producer: Hanna Fidell
Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Kate Mara, Louise Shore, Jason Bateman, Danny Brocklehurst
Co-Executive Producer: Daniel Pipski
Unorthodox
Creator/Executive Producer: Anna Winger
Creator: Alexa Karolinski
Executive Producer: Henning Kamm
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Elle Fanning, The Great
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Abby McEnany, Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever
Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Conphidance
Little America
Adam Ali
Little America
Nicco Annan
P-Valley
Amit Rahav
Unorthodox
Harold Torres
Zero, Zero, Zero
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I May Destroy You
Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia,
Stephen Wight