Of the many precursors that were announced today, perhaps the most interesting were the Spirit Award nominations.  As opposed to some other groups (*cough* Critics Choice *cough*), the Spirit Awards are less concerned with trying to influence the Oscar race and more concerned with honoring the best independent films of 2021!

Here are the nominations.  The winners will be announced on March 6th, so you’ve got plenty of time to see all of the nominees!

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
A Chiara 
Producers: Jonas Carpignano, Paolo Carpignano, Jon Coplon, Ryan Zacarias
C’mon C’mon
Producers: Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub
The Lost Daughter
Producers: Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler
The Novice
Producers: Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker
Zola
Producers: Kara Baker, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Haggard, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Christine Vachon, Gia Walsh

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
7 Days
Director: Roshan Sethi
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn
Holler
Director: Nicole Riegel
Producers: Adam Cobb, Rachel Gould, Katie Mcneill, Jamie Patricof, Christy Spitzer Thornton
Queen of Glory
Director: Nana Mensah
Producers: Baff Akoto, Anya Migdal, Kelley Robins Hicks, Jamund Washington
Test Pattern 
Director/Producer: Shatara Michelle Ford
Producers: Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su
Wild Indian
Director/Producer: Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Producers: Thomas Mahoney, Eric Tavitian

JOHN 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.)
Cryptozoo
Writer/Director: Dash Shaw
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way
Jockey
Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley
Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar
Producer: Nancy Schafer
Shiva Baby
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro
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 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
Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris – Zola
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Todd Stephens – Swan Song

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr. – Wild Indian
Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown – Cicada
Shatara Michelle Ford – Test Pattern
Fran Kranz – Mass
Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski – Pig

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang – Blue Bayou
Lol Crawley – The Humans
Tim Curtin – A Chiara
Edu Grau – Passing
Ari Wegner – Zola

BEST EDITING
Affonso Gonçalves – A Chiara
Ali Greer – The Nowhere Inn
Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent – The Novice
Joi McMillon – Zola
Enrico Natale – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

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 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 SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth – The Novice
Ruth Negga – Passing
Revika Reustle – Pleasure
Suzanna Son – Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo – Zola
Meeko Gattuso – Queen of Glory
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Will Patton – Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer – Wild Indian

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: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
Ascension 
Director/Producer: Jessica Kingdon
Producers: Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell
Flee 
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen
In the Same Breath
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
Producers: Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Jialing Zhang
Procession 
Director: Robert Greene
Producers: Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Compartment No. 6
Finland/Russia
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

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.)

Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
Lizzie Shapiro

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.)

Alex Camilleri – Luzzu
Michael Sarnoski – Pig
Gillian Wallace Horvat – I Blame Society

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.)

Angelo Madsen Minax – North By Current
Jessica Beshir – Faya Dayi
Debbie Lum – Try Harder!

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Black and Missing
Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir
Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
The Choe Show 
Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe
Executive Producers: 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, Nick  Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
Nuclear Family 
Series By: Ry Russo-Young
Executive Producers: 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.
Creators: 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
Creators/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
Creators/Executive Producers: 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
Thuso Mbedu – The Underground Railroad
Anjana Vasan – We Are Lady Parts
Jana Schmieding – Rutherford Falls
Jasmine Cephus Jones – Blindspotting
Deborah Ayorinde – THEM: Covenant

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game
Olly Alexander – It’s a Sin
Michael Greyeyes – Rutherford Falls
Murray Bartlett – The White Lotus
Ashley Thomas – THEM: Covenant

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Reservation Dogs
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone