Today, most awards watchers will be devoting most of their attention to the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. That said, the Independent Spirit nominations were still announced earlier today and Anora had a strong showing. Meanwhile, The Brutalist, which did so well with the New York Film Critics Circle, picked up a nomination for Best Director but not Best Picture.
Here are the Spirit Nominations. While looking at the nominations, keep in mind that a lot of potential Oscar nominees were not eligible for a nomination. As a result, the Spirit nominations aren’t exactly the strongest predictive tool when it comes to guessing what will eventually be nominated by the Academy.
Still, it never hurts to be mentioned!
Best Feature
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
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
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

Some really powerful cinema is included here…love to see independent film continuing to give us new and unique voices and perspectives…
LikeLike