Awards season has officially kicked off with the nominations announcement for the 34th Independent Spirit Awards, and some clear frontrunners are in sight. Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, a film so realistic that it may have caused junior-high PTSD, and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, which starred Ethan Hawke as an alcoholic clergyman, have both scored four nominations, including Best Feature. Ahead of those two films, at least as far as sheer quantity of noms is concerned, We The Animals, a visceral coming-of-age tale, brings in a total of five nominations.
Notably, Suspiria has snagged the Robert Altman award along with a Best Cinematography nod, although director Luca Guadagnino hasn’t been singled out in his respective category. Other perceived omissions include Spike Lee’s BLACKkKLANSMAN, which was left out of the major categories, although Adam Driver was nominated for his supporting performance. Whether these snubs stick can’t be predicted, but the Indie Spirit Awards have increasingly been viewed as sniffing out Oscar voting trends. If that’s still the case, then Eighth Grade‘s middle finger to the MPAA may have scored some points.
Here’s the full list of Independent Spirit Nominations.
Best Feature
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
You Were Never Really Here
Best First Feature
Hereditary
Sorry to Bother You
The Tale
We the Animals
Wildlife
John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
A Bread Factory
En el Séptimo Día
Never Goin’ Back
Sócrates
Thunder Road
Best Director
Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
Tamara Jenkins, Private Life
Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Best Screenplay
Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, Colette
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Tamara Jenkins, Private Life
Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Best First Screenplay
Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade
Christina Choe, Nancy
Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds
Jennifer Fox, The Tale
Quinn Shephard & Laurie Shephard, Blame
Best Cinematography
Ashley Connor, Madeline’s Madeline
Diego Garcia, Wildlife
Benjamin Loeb, Mandy
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria
Zak Mulligan, We the Animals
Best Editing
Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, American Animals
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall & Gary Levy, The Tale
Nick Houy, Mid90s
Best Female Lead
Glenn Close, The Wife
Toni Collette, Hereditary
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Regina Hall, Support the Girls
Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline
Carey Mulligan, Wildlife
Best Male Lead
John Cho, Searching
Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Christian Malheiros, Sócrates
Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
Best Supporting Female
Kayli Carter, Private Life
Tyne Daly, A Bread Factory
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace
J. Smith-Cameron, Nancy
Best Supporting Male
Raúl Castillo, We the Animals
Adam Driver, BLACKkKLANSMAN
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
John David Washington, Monsters and Men
Robert Altman Award
Suspiria
Best Documentary
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
On Her Shoulders
Shirkers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Best International Film
Burning
The Favourite
Happy as Lazzaro
Roma
Shoplifters
Bonnie Award
Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama
Piaget Producers Award
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
Someone To Watch
Alex Moratto, Sócrates
Ioana Uricaru, Lemonade
Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals
Truer Than Fiction
Alexandria Bombach, Director of On Her Shoulders
Bing Liu, Minding the Gap
RaMell Ross, Hale County This Morning, This Evening
(Via Spirit Awards)
