This morning, the Film Independent Spirit Awards did its part to make things exciting by announcing the nominees of its 37th annual awards ceremony, set to return in-person (!!!) to the beaches of Santa Monica on Sunday, March 6, 2022.
For the second year, the Spirit Awards are recognizing outstanding achievement in uniqueness of vision, innovation and boldness in TV and streaming as well as feature film. The nominees were revealed on Film Independent’s YouTube channel this morning, with special guest presenters Naomi Watts, Regina Hall and Beanie Feldstein:
Spirit Awards winners are voted on exclusively by Film Independent Members. Be sure to join by December 21 to receive awards screeners and full Spirit Awards Member benefits.
The Spirit Awards are Film Independent’s largest fundraiser of the year, helping us to continue our mission year-round. So here are this year’s nominees (the winners are in bold):
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
A CHIARA
Producers: Ryan Zacarias, Paolo Carpignano, Jonas Carpignano, Jon Coplon
C’MON C’MON
Producers: Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub
THE LOST DAUGHTER
Producers: Talia Kleinhendler, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Charles Dorfman
THE NOVICE
Producers: Zack Zucker, Steven Sims, Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend
ZOLA
Producers: Vince Jolivette, Kara Baker, Gia Walsh, Elizabeth Haggard, David Hinojosa, Dave Franco, Christine Vachon
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
7 DAYS
Director: Roshan Sethi
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn
HOLLER
Director: Nicole Riegel
Producers: Rachel Gould, Katie McNeill, Jamie Patricof, Christy Spitzer Thornton, Adam Cobb
QUEEN OF GLORY
Director: Nana Mensah
Producers: Kelley Robins Hicks, Jamund Washington, Baff Akoto, Anya Migdal
TEST PATTERN
Director/Producer: Shatara Michelle Ford
Producers: Yu-Hao Su, Pin-Chun Liu
WILD INDIAN
Director/Producer: Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Producers: Thomas Mahoney, Eric Tavitian
BEST DIRECTOR
Janicza Bravo, Zola
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Lauren Hadaway, The Novice
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon
Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure
BEST SCREENPLAY
Nikole Beckwith, Together Together
Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon
Todd Stephens, Swan Song (review)
Jeremy O. Harris, Janicza Bravo, Zola
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Sheldon D. Brown (story by), Matt Fifer, Cicada
Fran Kranz, Mass
Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block, Pig
Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern
Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr., Wild Indian
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; Award given to the writer, director and producer)
CRYPTOZOO
Writer/Director: Dash Shaw
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way
JOCKEY
Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley
Writer/Producer: Greg Kweder
Producer: Nancy Schafer
SHIVA BABY
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Lizzie Shapiro, Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller
SWEET THING
Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal
THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY
Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy
Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West
BEST MALE LEAD
Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey
Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian
Udo Kier, Swan Song
Simon Rex, Red Rocket
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice
Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern
Patti Harrison, Together Together
Taylour Paige, Zola
Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo, Zola
Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Will Patton, Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth, The Novice
Ruth Negga, Passing
Revika Reustle, Pleasure
Suzanna Son, Red Rocket
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tim Curtin, A Chiara
Matthew Chuang, Ante Cheng, Blue Bayou
Lol Crawley, The Humans
Eduard Grau, Passing
Ari Wegner, Zegner
BEST EDITING
Affonso Gonçalves, A Chiara
Enrico Natale, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Nathan Nugent, Lauren Hadaway, The Novice
Ali Greer, The Nowhere Inn
Joi McMillon, Zola
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
COMPARTMENT NO. 6 (Finland)
Director: Juho Kuosmanen
DRIVE MY CAR (Japan)
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
PARALLEL MOTHERS (Spain)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
PEBBLES (India)
Director: P S Vinothraj
PETITE MAMAN (France)
Director: Céline Sciamma
PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN (Mexico)
Director: Tatiana Huezo
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
ASCENSION
Director/Producer: Jessica Kingdon
Producers: Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell, Robert Greene
FLEE
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen
IN THE SAME BREATH
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
Producers: Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
PROCESSION
Director: Robert Greene
Producer: Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (review)
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
MASS
Director: Fran Kranz
Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin
Ensemble Cast: Reed Birney, Michelle Carter, Ann Dowd, Martha Plimpton, Kagen Albright, Jason Isaacs, Breeda Wool
PRODUCERS AWARD (The Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films)
Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
Lizzie Shapiro, Shiva Baby
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD (The Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition)
ALEX CAMILLERI, Director of Luzzu
GILLIAN WALLACE HORVAT, Director of I Blame Society
MICHAEL SARNOSKI, Director of Pig
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD (The 27th Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition)
JESSICA BESHIR, Director of Faya Dayi
DEBBIE LUM, Director of Try Harder!
ANGELO MADSEN MINAX, Director of North By Current
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
BLACK AND MISSING
Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien (series by), Geeta Gandbhir (series by), Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
THE CHOE SHOW
Executive Producers: David Choe (creator), Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson
THE LADY AND THE DALE
Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Mick Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
NUCLEAR FAMILY
Executive Producers: Ry Russo-Young (series by), Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer
PHILLY D.A.
Creator/Produced By: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin
Co-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
(Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
BLINDSPOTTING
Creator/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann
IT’S A SIN
Executive Producers: Russell T. Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler
RESERVATION DOGS
Creator/Executive Producer: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins
Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt
WE ARE LADY PARTS
Creator: Nida Manzoor
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Deborah Ayorinde, THEM: Covenant
Jasmine Cephas Jones, Blindspotting
Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad
Jana Schmieding, Rutherford Falls
Anjana Vasan, We Are Lady Parts
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls
Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
RESERVATION DOGS
Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClaron, Lil Mike, Funnybone
The Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by Premier Sponsor IFC and FIJI Water, the Official Water. To join Film Independent and vote on the Spirit Awards, please visit filmindependent.org/join
The Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity and inclusion in the film industry. To support their work with a donation, please click here.
