Spirit Award nominations spread the wealth for 2019.

by Nathaniel R

Nominations for the 35th annual Independent Spirit Awards have been announced with the wealth really being spread. For example the 5 nominees for the top prize “Feature” only crossover with “Best Director” on a single film, the Safdie brothers Uncut Gem which co-led the nominations with 5 prizes though it’s yet to open in theaters. Tying that films lead for most nominations was The Lighthouse even though that black and white oddity did not score a nomination for Best Feature!

Interestingly enough, the just-opened indie Waves was (almost) entirely shut out even though it’s a Best Feature nominee at the often quite parallel Gotham Awards. On a similar note the acting nominations aren’t heavily dependent on Best Feature love, either. 

A complete list of nominations plus commentary after the jump...

BEST FEATURE Films can’t have a budget exceeding $22 million to compete at the Spirits

• A Hidden Life 

• Clemency

• The Farewell

• Marriage Story

• Uncut Gems

This is a huge get for Neon’s Clemency which has struggled to build much of a  profile. How much this will help is a big question mark because that release date is still a huge problem. 

BEST DIRECTOR

• Alma Har'el Honey Boy

• Lorene Scafaria Hustlers

• Julius Onah Luce

• Robert Eggers The Lighthouse

• Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie Uncut Gems

Fascinating that 80% of this category’s nominees are not included in Best Feature. They must have had a separate nominating jury. Either that or the Film Independent committees *really* wanted to spread the wealth this year. That said it’s hard not to love these choices, especially the two female nominees Har’el and Scafaria who both completely elevated the screenplays they began with.

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• Booksmart

• The Climb

• Diane

• The Last Black Man in San Francisco

• The Mustang

• See You Yesterday

What a lovely line up!

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Films made for under half a million

• Burning Cane

• Colewell

• Give Me Liberty

• Premature

• Wild Nights With Emily

Shocked but happy to see Colewell show up here. We screened it at the Bentonville Film Festival earlier this year. 

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Noah Baumbach Marriage Story

• Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder To Dust

• Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie Uncut Gems

• Chinonye Chukwu Clemency

• Tarell Alvin McCraney High Flying Bird

Our own Jason will be pleased with the showing from To Dust in this category given its very low profile otherwise. 

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Fredrica Bailey & Stefon Bristol See You Yesterday

• Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen Driveways

• Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy Blow the Man Down

• Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe Greener Grass

• James Montague & Craig W. Sanger The Vast of Night

We love it when the Spirit Awards go *really* indie. That’s what they were designed for. It’s lovely to see a list of movies and not be familiar with all of them and instead be spurred to curiousity about them. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Todd Banhazl Hustlers

• Jarin Blaschke The Lighthouse

• Natasha Braier Honey Boy

• Chananun Chotrungroj The Third Wife

• Pawel Pogorzelski Midsommar

Interesting line up and great-looking films so we’re not complaining. 

BEST EDITING

• Julie Béziau The Third Wife

• Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie Uncut Gems

• Tyler L. Cook Sword of Trust

• Louise Ford The Lighthouse

• Kirill Mikhanovsky Give Me Liberty

Again radically different than the Best Feature lineup.

 

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Karen Allen Colewell

• Hong Chau Driveways

• Elisabeth Moss Her Smell

• Mary Kay Place Diane

• Alfre Woodard Clemency

• Renée Zellweger Judy

For some reason there’s six nominees here though the other categories have five. So much talent jam-packed into this category. Especially happy for Karen Allen and Hong Chau two lower profile actresses. Despite six fine choices, they didn't have room for Awkwafina or Florence Pugh (both in indies that scored elsewhere at the Spirits)... which just goes to show you that Best Actress is never "weak"... it's just "which performances are people willing to look at?"

BEST MALE LEAD

• Chris Galust Give Me Liberty

• Kelvin Harrison Jr. Luce

• Robert Pattinson The Lighthouse

• Matthias Schoenaerts The Mustang

• Adam Sandler Uncut Gems

Sandler aside this is a seriously sexy lineup. Kelvin Harrison Jr finally gets some honors for Luce… even if the Spirits weren’t crazy about his other big 2019 feature, Waves

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Jennifer Lopez Hustlers

• Taylor Russell Waves

• Lauren "LoLo" Spencer Give Me Liberty

• Octavia Spencer Luce

• Zhao Shuzhen The Farewell

There’s not a single white woman in this category which is quite unusual for an acting lineup come awards time. Nice to see Spencer and Russell in particular here since they are such extreme longshots for more mainstream honors. 

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Willem Dafoe The Lighthouse

• Noah Jupe Honey Boy

• Shia LaBeouf Honey Boy

• Jonathan Majors The Last Black Man in San Francisco

• Wendell Pierce Burning Cane

We’re REALLY stretching the definition of “supporting” in this supporting category since all five of these men are arguably leads. We've really reached the point where no one but a select few people (raises hands) seem to care about actual supporting players!

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

Marriage Story

Director: Noah Baumbach

Casting Directors: Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler

Ensemble Cast: Alan Alda, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Scarlett Johansson,

Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Merritt Wever

Excellent choice though they don’t need it to move on to SAG, Globe, and Oscar glory.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• American Factory 

• Apollo 11

• For Sama

• Honeyland

• Island of the Hungry Ghosts

The Best Documentary category at every awards show this season has  become the same four movies and then a rotating fifth spot of something you haven’t heard of yet. This time it’s Island of the Hungry Ghosts. Love the title. 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Invisible Life Brazil Director: Karim Aïnouz

• Les Misérables France Director: Ladj Ly

• Parasite South Korea Director: Bong Joon-Ho

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire France Director: Céline Sciamma

• Retablo Peru Director: Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L.

• The Souvenir United Kingdom Director: Joanna Hogg

Four submissions for Oscar’s Best International Feature category plus The Souvenir and Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Delicious list in any language.

BONNIE AWARD – This prize recognizes a midcareer female director with a $ grant

• Marielle Heller

• Kelly Reichardt

• Lulu Wang

PRODUCERS AWARD – Another prize with grant $ as the reward

• Mollye Asher

• Krista Parris

• Ryan Zacarias

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – Another grant $ prize this one to directors that still haven’t really broken through.

• Rashaad Ernesto Green Director of Premature

• Ash Mayfair Director of The Third Wife

• Joe Talbot Director of The Last Black Man in San Francisco

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – Grant $ for an emerging documentarian 

• Khalik Allah Director of Black Mother

• Davy Rothbart Director of 17 Blocks

• Nadia Shihab Director of Jaddoland

• Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside Director of América

What were you most surprised about seeing these nominees?

Comments

[ScottC]

I'd never heard of Driveways and now I really want to see it.

[Mareko]

Can anyone explain the particulars of the Robert Altman Award? Like, does a film's winning it automatically make said film's actors (and director) ineligible in their respective categories?

Really glad to see Lorene Scafaria (and Alma Har'el) get nominated, though it would've been great to see Olivia Wilde get in, too.

[Raul]

This might be a year where the Indie Spirit winners don't align well with Oscar. Even the nominees might be quite different. However, it could be good news for Jennifer Lopez and Willem Dafoe. Dafoe is probably considered overdue now.

[markgordonuk]

I thought we may see Sienna Miller and Amy Madigan for American Woman here.

[DAVID]

Did we ever think we'd see the day where Jennifer Lopez is an Indy Spirit Nominee?

[Volvagia]

Mareko: That would explain why no one made it from Marriage Story in acting.
Nat: I mean, Pierce is probably even less arguable than Dafoe. It's just no one's questioning it because even less people saw Burning Cane than did The Lighthouse.

[James]

The ISA nomination probably aids Dafoe. However, I doubt Oscar frontrunner Brad Pitt is losing any sleep over this.

[Peggy Sue]

Mary Kay Place is nominated and everything's right in the world. I'm happy.

[Ed]

Funny thing having Renée Zellweger getting nominated here, when almost no one was expecting her to be eligible. Which means she was eligible for Gotham Awards? Which means she missed a Gotham Award nomination...?! People were freakin' out about Johansson missing a Gotham nod for Best Actress, but our front-runner missed it too.
.
Love this year's Indie Spirit Awards nominees shortlist! Just like you said, I was "I haven't seen this movie" a lot of times while I was checking the nominees. I would say it is the indiest ISA in a long time. Just kinda sad for not seeing THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON anywhere.

[Travis C]

Another day pops up where I regret not watching ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS at various festivals in 2018! (I am sure I had good reasons, but it keeps popping up for awards.) The crab scenes are supposed to be awe-strikingly beautiful.

[Nic]

Well DAVID....Jennifer Lopez has been an ISA nominee since 1996.

[BVR]

Love the spreading of the wealth, but it does hurt not to see Sienna Miller recognized for her stellar work in AMERICAN WOMAN.

[Peggy Sue]

Nathaniel, do you consider López supporting? You're the only one I listen when it comes to category fraud.

[Abe]

I had forgotten all about Driveways but liked it a lot at Tribeca. Also I'm thrilled for both performers in Honey Boy, but to argue that neither of them is a lead just makes no sense.

[NATHANIEL R]

Peggy Sue --i think it's a borderline case. I dont have strong feelings about it.

[JF]

The Marriage Story acting snubs are weird given the Altman Award and picture/screenplay nominations. It's not like they didn't see or enjoy the movie.

Moonlight won the Altman Award and also didn't get any acting nominations. Ditto Spotlight.

But Blanchett got an individual nod/win for I'm Not There the year it won the Altman Award. Did they change the rules at some point?

[Brad]

Weirdly enough I’m okay with Dafoe in supporting for The Lighthouse because the film is seen completely from Pattison’s perspective but Jonathan Majors is 100% a lead in his movie.

The Farewell not being recognized for its screenplay is rather baffling/upsetting.

[Suzanne]

JF - I think everyone believed the rules were changed sometime before the Moonlight year. Ali seemed like such a strong contender that he would have been nominated otherwise. And Driver, at a minimum, would have been nominated this year. I wish they would be more explicit about these things though.

I don't think these affect the Oscars much, if it all, but I'm really happy to see the love for Hustlers and The Lighthouse.

[Jorge]

So happy to see Retablo nominated. I've heard it will have a release in NY. Hope you could make a review Nathaniel.

[eurocheese]

Love all the attention for Marriage Story, The Farewell, Last Black Man in San Francisco and Clemency. A little bummed for Awkwafina and Aldis Hodge, but overall, good stuff.

[Manuel]

The nominees are spectacular! I am over the moon over:

- Matthias Schoenaerts The Mustang
- Jennifer Lopez
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- A Hidden Life
- Robert Pattinson

[Tony]

The mustang is fantastic! So glad for Mathias

[cb]

I agree with Peggy Sue; a nomination for Mary Kay was all I needed to get from this. I’m a happy camper!

[Evan]

Lol, so who is supposed to be the lead in Honey Boy? Lucas Hedges?! That's a ridiculous assertion.

[Manos]

Cynthia Erivo and "Harriet" in general didn't;t show up anywhere although it was eligible. That hurts!!!

[César Gaytán]

For me, the nominees for this awards (and the film BITCH awards, of course) are more interesting than the Oscars.

What is a little boring is that in the acting categories they frequently opt for an actor who is already nominated to the Oscar for the win.

[Claran]

Heard they hav a diff nom commitee for each catergory, tt explained the eclectic selections across the board, which is actually not bad.

Much as I'm hapi for Renee, but isn't Judy a British production?? Isn't it iconic tt the Asian who crack the Female Lead is Hong Chau, n not the much predicted Awkafina?? 😉

I thot both Jupe n Shia r the co-leads in Honey Boy, so they get into best supp bcos they supported ea other in the film?? 😂

If four o the five nominees in this category r co-leads, then Indie Spirits has a higher or on par tolerance for catergory fraud than Oscars n other award shows.

Last tink to unpack, is Kay Place or Woodard getting the last slot over Awkafina or Erivo??

[thefilmjunkie]

I love how unexpected these nominations are, it makes for such a surprising Awards Season! Very happy for Alfre Woodard, though I wish Naomi Watts could've gotten in for Luce.

[Arkaan]

Just to clarify, if you win the Altman award, you aren't eligible for other acting nominations. This wasn't always the case (see I'm Not There), but the rule has been in place for some time now.

[MJ]

Poor Aldis Hodge... This was the one place he had a chance to shine. Still, thrilled for Alfre!

[Joan Castleman]

Alfre all the way!

[Me]

Lopez is a lead, I think, and Dafoe is supporting. As someone said above and I've been saying, the perspective is Pattinson's and Dafoe is his antagonist. Dafoe is a piece on the screen when Pattinson is off, whereas it's about what happens with Pattinson.

With Hustlers, it's really a two person movie. When Wu is offscreen, we still see Lopez and she puts it away at the end. Now, I don't think it's a travesty, but in comparison one is definitely more supporting than the other. The fact that there are two people in The Lighthouse are diverting attention away from the dyanmics of the relationship between the two actors.

Well done on The Mustang tho. Exceptional performance. But agree on Miller in American Woman (she's just about the whole movie), and was hoping for lots of love for Woman At War.

[Glenn Dunks]

Island of the Hungry Ghosts is incredible and my favourite of the nominees here, even over American Factory. So happy for it’s nomination here among a list that is really exciting if just for the fact that it feels genuinely indie!

[Chris K]

I watched Andrew Ahn's Driveways at SIFF as I loved Spa Night a few years ago. I'm glad to see it showed up here, though Brian Dennehy would have been an ideal supporting actor. Missed both Burning Cane and The Third Wife at the festival, but I will have to watch them on Netflix and Kanopy soon.

[Shmeebs]

To me, Lopez is a clear lead.

She’s certainly more of a lead than Viola was in Fences, and that caused quite a bit of uproar around here.

[Claran]

Maybe Lopez will b nom in the Comedy/Musical category in Golden Globes, alongside co-star Wu n wins over the presumed frontrunner, Awkafina!! 😂

She can still be nom as supp at Oscars. It had happened numerous times before for bordeline Leads, like Zeta-Jones in Chicago, n Dame Maggie in California Suite.

[ben1283]

Seconding Glenn Dunks on Island of the Hungry Ghosts, which is such a compelling, unusual and yet fiercely passionate and timely documentary. It received a blink-and-you'll-miss-it release in the UK earlier this year before being released onto MUBI's streaming service. I probably preferred For Sama overall from this doc line-up, but Island was one of the most singular docs this year so I'm glad it's not been completely lost in the shuffle of awards season.

[NATHANIEL R]

Shmeebs -- how do you figure? I think Lopez has one scene of her own in HUSTLERS, right?

[MJ]

Lopez has several scenes by herself, though they’re shorter than Wu’s solo scenes:

1) the one where she asks her boss for time off
2) the one where she’s uninterested in her clients, then comforts Lili Reinhart in the dressing room
2.5) that exquisite Juicy / “Royals” tracking shot
3) the coda with Julia Stiles

Also, I’m still baffled that commenters here gave Viola such a hard time for Fences. I don’t care if she won a Leading Actress Tony for it; Mary Alice winning a Featured Actress Tony for it makes it, at the very least, worthy of debate. But nobody kept this same energy for much clearer cases of category fraud. Y’all better drag Alicia Vikander, Willem Dafoe, Brad Pitt, et al. for years to come the way you did here. Keep the same energy or else it looks suspect is all I’m saying.

[Owl]

Wow, so many indies in the Indie Spirit Awards.

Would have loved to see some love for Kelly Reichardt's First Cow but happy she was cited for the Bonnie Award along with Lulu Wang and Marielle Heller.

I am here for Kelly Reichardt, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Alfre Woodard, The Lighthouse, Mary Kay Place, Portrait of a lady on Fire, Zhao Shuzhen, Parasite, A Hidden Life and Invisible Life.

Am I the only one who likes Synonymes, Beanpole and The Whistlers?

[Me]

Agreed on Fences. There's no way Davis is a clear lead. Just as when we were reading the play in high school, Troy is main character.

Davis is arguable 2nd lead.

Wu a little bit more a lead, but her character's perspective gives the film it's empathy and sympathy.

[Jorge]

This year we have Ankwafina, Hong Chau, Constance Wu and Zhao Shuzhen. I'll be so pissed of the Academy doesn't nominate any asian actor.

[NATHANIEL R]

Jorge -- Hong Chau won't be eligible. Her film was never released.

Me & MJ -- y'all watched a different movie than me. FENCES is a clear two lead movie. It's like saying Scarlett is supporting in Marriage Story. And I also find it hilarious when people try to suggest that i'm a hypocrite about category fraud. I've been fighting this fight for 20 years now. I even gave up my beloved Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (no nomination here at TFE) because that was a disgusting suggesting that he was supporting in a romantic drama (which in all but the weirdest circumstances always have two leads)

also suggesting that we drag Alicia Vikander? Uhhhh. i guess you weren't reading TFE that year. That was one of the worst cases of fraud ever.

[Andrew Carden]

I really like these but wish Estelle Parsons could've grabbed one of the Supporting slots for DIANE.

[NATHANIEL R]

Owl -- i dont think so but i dont think BEANPOLE and WHISTLERS are getting releases until 2020. eligibility for the Spirits is always so tough tto suss out. and I dont think they allow international titles to compete in the regular categories (which is why Parasite only has one nod i'm sure)

[JF]

It's nice and a bit surprising to see Renee's nomination—not an obvious fit for this crowd, but it speaks to her momentum. The movie doesn't have the mentality of an indie (whatever that means) but it's quite a success story on all fronts.

[Me]

Nathaniel;

To be clear I'm not dragging you down haha. In fact you're sometimes over the top with putting people in the lead category (which you've addressed).

But for sure Troy is the main piece of Fences. I do understand she gets some of her own time at the end, and I suppose the whole point in her big scene is to ask for some recognition, but I still feel it's his film first, and enough to push her supporting. But I recognize someone going the kther way.

I still understand, tho much less so, calling Dafoe a lead because there are literally two people and a body in the film, but no question that Pattinson is person #1. Very different than, say, Leave No Trace, or Lost In Translation. Training Day or, even if you don't like it, Scent Of A Woman (to be clear, with latter two, the ones who were pushed supporting are each lead #1 in their respective films) are films that always come to mind (add Collateral) when it comes to absolute two-lead films where one is more the focal point...and I think those films are a lot clearer with their characters being leads.

[Richter Scale]

Nathaniel: Yes, you did see a different movie than many of us did when it comes to Fences. You apparently saw a portrait of a marriage, while many of us saw a story about a man who couldn't go as far as he wanted to go in life and therefore made everything in his life revolve around him. Saying Viola Davis is Lead in Fences to me seems like saying Kate Winslet should be Lead in Steve Jobs, because in a way, both stories have similar structures. They are both about one man and the people that surround his life, and most of the story is built up of confrontations between our main character and everyone else around him. Yes, in the case of Fences there is the epilogue, but the epilogue still revolves around Troy Maxson and how the people in his orbit related to him. While I do feel Denzel had a fascination with the Rose character and focused more on her (beyond what I feel even the play provided), her part is still a supporting one.

[Jaragon]

Defoe is not a supporting role in " The Lighthouse"

[MJ]

NATHANIEL - To be clear, my comments weren’t directed at you (apart from answering your query about Lopez). I was referring to *commenters* who came out of the woodwork c. 2016, echoing your misgivings about Davis’s placement without seeming as vocal about other examples of questionable categorization. I don’t begrudge you your opinion; healthy discourse is why I frequent this site. What I take issue with is folks co-opting opinions as launching pads for their own thinly-veiled hatred of a performer for whatever reason (“stealing” an award from their preferred nominee, racism, etc.) I’m aware they don’t speak for you, and I’m also aware of your consistency on such issues over the years (Vikander included). I tend to agree with your placements more often than not (though we’ll likely never see eye-to-eye on Rose Maxson). That being said, I *did* note that her placement is “worthy of debate.” I welcome discussion; I just hate the animosity on these boards sometimes.