40th Annual Spirit Nominations - "Anora" and "I Saw the TV Glow" Lead

by Nathaniel R

Oscar hopeful Anora and probable future cult-classic  I Saw the TV Glow led the nominations for the 40th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. As is the organization's tradition, there's a long time before the show. The awards aren't until February 22nd, 2025... significantly after or just around the time of awards shows that have not yet announced their nominations like the Golden Globes (Jan 5), Critics Choice Awards (Jan 12), SAG Awards (Feb 23), and the Oscars (March 2). 

The complete spirit nominations in tv and film categories and several comments and questions after the jump... 

MOVIE AWARDS

Best Feature

• Anora
• I Saw the TV Glow
• Nickel Boys
• Sing Sing
• The Substance

Anora also led the Gotham Award nominations though it won no actual prizes. That's unlikely to happen again at the Spirits since there's a wide voting body rather than individual juries. Nickel Boys was banking on critical enthusiasm, given its release strategy, and it received it. 

Has I Saw the TV Glow derailed The Substance's hopes of winning 100% of the cult-enthusiasts vote this awards season or does the Demi Moore of it all keep The Substance firmly in the more mainstream awards bodies conversation? 

Best First Feature

• Dìdi
• In the Summers
• Janet Planet
• The Piano Lesson
• Problemista

I guess I need to find this In the Summers; It's in good company.

John Cassavetes Award (for the best feature made for under $1,000,000)

• Big boys
• Ghostlight
• Girls Will Be Girls
• Jazzy
• The People’s Joker

Remember when this was for films under $500,000? That was true until 2023 but, you know, inflation. Two of these are LGBTQ+ movies (Big boys, The People's Joker) 

Best Director

• Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice
• Sean Baker, Anora
• Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
• Alonso Ruizpalacios, La Cocina
• Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow

A major divide from Best Feature with only Anora and I Saw the TV Glow in both categories. Wonder how close these other films were to landing a Best Feature nomination. 

I was hoping not to have to see The Apprentice given the early critical shrugs it received combined with the state of the world and the deep deep depression erupting from the knowledge that the Orange Oligarch will be in our faces and lives for many more years to come. 

Best Screenplay

• A Different Man - Aaron Schimberg
• Heretic - Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
• I Saw the TV Glow - Jane Schoenbrun
• My Old Ass - Megan Park
• A Real Pain - Jesse Eisenberg

It's fun when films like Heretic and I Saw the TV Glow, which obviously couldn't have been conceived with big expectations of awards, actually do end up in the awards race.

Best First Screenplay

• Didi - Sean Wang
• The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed - Joanna Arnow
• Good One - India Donaldson
• Janet Planet - Annie Baker
• Problemista - Julio Torres

Finally some love for Problemista (in a few places here). It's such a  singular picture that it's already shockingly undervalued just nine months after release. I hope Julio Torres showers us with more feature films. 

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

Some interesting disagreements with the Gotham list . They're not exactly parallel awards bodies, of course, but they're closer to each other than any other prizes. Only half of the nominees also made the previous list: Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Keith Kupferer (Ghostlight), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), and Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow).

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

Same divide here (almost). The six performers who made it to both the Gothams and the Spirits: Borisov, Culkin, Deadwyler, Lundy-Paine, Maclin, and Pearson.

Awards always end up feeling so arbitrary when you feel passionately about someone who doesn't place. Like, for instance, how do you watch The Brutalist as the nominators did, and NOT think the Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce are deserving or at least more deserving than a few of the others that were chosen in both the lead and  supporting categories? How ??? 

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

Allow me to grumble that Izaac Wang is not here. What a performance he gave in Didi. 

Robert Altman Award

• His Three Daughters, Director: Azazel Jacobs; Casting Director: Nicole Arbuston; Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr, and Jay O. Sanders

Best Cinematography

• La Cocina - Juan Pablo Ramirez
• The Fire Inside - Rina Yang
• Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell - Dinh Duy Hung
• Janet Planet - Maria von Hausswolff
• Nickel Boys - Jomo Fray

Very surprised to see I Saw the TV Glow excluded given that they loved it and its Cinematography by Eric Yue (who also did amazing work on A Thousand and One the year prior) is one of its key achievements. 

Best Editing

• The Apprentice - Olivier Bugge Coutte Olivia Neergaard-Holm
• Didi - Arielle Zakowski
• Jazzy - Laura Colwell, Vanara Taing
• Nightbitch - Anne McCabe
• September 5 - Hansjorg Weissbrich

Best Documentary

• Gaucho Gaucho
• Hummingbirds
• No Other Land
• Patrice: The Movie
• Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

Best International Film

• All We Imagine as Light (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg)
• Black Dog (China)
• Flow (Latvia, France, Belgium)
• Green Border (Poland, France, Czech Repubic, Belgium)
• Hard Truths (United Kingdom)

Producers Award
This award is for emerging producers who demonstrate creativity, tenacity, and vision - the nominations are not for specific films

• Alex Coco
  His first credit traces back to 2013 and his most high profile outings thus far are  Red Rocket, Anora, and The Sweet East.
• Sarah Winshall
  Her first credit traces back to 2018 and her most high profile outings thus far are I Saw the TV Glow, Strawberry Mansion, and We're All Going to the World's Fair.
• Zoë Worth
  Her first several credits were for acting and her first producing credit came in 2012. Her most high profile outing thus far is Thelma.

Someone To Watch Award
An award for talented filmmakers who have not yet received appropriate recognition.

• Nicholas Colia, Griffin in Summer
• Sarah Friedland, Familiar Touch
• Pham Thien An, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

True Than Fiction Award
Presented to a emerging documentarians who have not yet received significant recognition

• Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emiliy Kassie - Sugarcane
• Carla Gutierrez - Frida
• Rachel Elizabeth Seed - A Photographic Memory

SERIES AWARDS

Best New Scripted Series

• Baby Reindeer
• Diarra From Detroit
• English Teacher
• Fantasmas
• Shōgun

What a fine list! (Disclaimer: I have not seen Diarra from Detroit so I'm hoping it's as good as these others) 

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Brian Jordan Alvarez, English Teacher
• Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
• Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge
• Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along
• Cristin Milioti, The Penguin
• Julianne Moore, Mary & George
• Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun
• Anna Sawai, Shōgun
• Andrew Scott, Ripley
• Julio Torres, Fantasmas

So happy for Brian Jordan Alvarez who has been shilling his quite hilarious and gay series with funny shirtless conviction on social media. Nice to see some applause for Julianne Moore, too. I think Mary & George is easily her best performance since her Oscar win but awards bodies haven't rallied around that series much.

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Tadanobu Asano, Shōgun
• Enrico Colantoni, English Teacher
• Betty Gilpin, Three Women
• Chloe Guidry, Under the Bridge
• Moeka Hoshi, Shōgun
• Stephanie Koenig, English Teacher
• Patti LuPone, Agatha All Along
• Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer
• Ruth Negga, Presumed Innocent
• Brian Tee, Expats

Applause to the nominaters for the inclusion of Chloe Guidry who is disturbing and memorable in Under the Bridge but the kind of performance most awards bodies would undervalue for a number of reasons: she's young, there's an even more sociopathic teen role in the same ensemble, there are multiple more sympathetic and not unshowy teen roles in the same ensemble, and there are two celebrity actresses in the leading roles. Despite all that Guidry is best-in-show. 

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
• Diarra Kilpatrick, Diarra From Detroit
• Joe Locke, Agatha All Along
• Megan Stott, Penelope
• Hoa Xuande, The Sympathizer

This is nothing new but I've always been confused about what awards bodies mean by "breakthrough". For example, Jessica Gunning has been acting fairly consistently in film and television since 2007 and has had at least one high profile credit before Baby Reindeer (in the joyous Pride which was up for Best Picture at the Golden Globes ten years back), so shouldn't her co-star Nava Mau be nominated in this category instead of in Supporting, thereby swapping places with her. Mau has only been working since 2019 and made only 4 shorts and one series before Baby Reindeer. No objection to them both being nominated --wonderful wonderful performances across the board in that limited series---but the split in categorization doesn't make much sense.

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

• How to Die Alone, Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims

I tried watching this since I love both lead actors, Rothwell & Ricamora, but found the pilot so sitcomy forced that I didn't press play on the second episode. Does it get better? 

Best New Non-Scripted or Doc Series

• Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color
• Hollywood Black
• Photographer
• Ren Faire
• Social Studies

WHICH OF THESE NOMINATIONS ARE YOU MOST INTO? Care to answer any of the questions posed in these comments? 

Comments

[dtsf]

I'm so glad to see someone has recognized "Big Boys." It's just a beautifully done gay coming of age story -- funny and sweet. Next time you're in a bad mood, seek it out and enjoy.

[charlea]

I love the Spirit nominations and getting to start to dig into all these smaller films that either I’ve never heard of or had previously dismissed temporarily until the Spirits tell me I should see them.

Happiest nomination: Karren Karagulian, Anora
Look, the entire ensemble is fantastic (honestly it probably should have won the Robert Altman ensemble prize). But I have been slightly annoyed that I’d only heard only praise for Yura because Karren enters the film as the living embodiment of exasperation and maintains it for full comedic effect. He had me howling with laughter a couple days after the election which was a huge feat.

Runner up happiest nomination: Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice
Again, coming back to the election, but I was so impressed with this film. It’s been a disappointing year in many ways, including film for me, and this will definitely be in the Top 10. The filmmaking really wowed me. Great editing. And the direction is assured; for all the horrible people in it, Abbasi handles the tone really well.

Most frustrating nomination: I am truly disappointed that Kieran Culkin is going to be this year’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph, winning everything in sight…for some reason. And nobody else will be allowed to win anything. From here until the Oscar. It’s truly a bummer. Apologies to other contenders that were deserving of notice. It’s so unfair to them.

[Mr Ripley79]

How do people like Brody not get in cos they choose to have 10 in each category with no gender defiinite categorys.

[charlea]

Sometimes the Spirits have inconsistent “snubs”. Like a couple years ago when The Lost Daughter swept the show with Olivia Colman not even nominated!

[Tony L]

Agree with dtsf. It put a huge smile on my face to see Big Boys here - such a wonderfully cute smaller film that was just so great and moving and wonderful.

[Cláudio Alves]

While I'm very happy for the GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS nominations - Kani Kusruti is phenomenal in it - it is not an LGBTQ+ story. It's about a straight girl's sexual coming of age in the conservative context of contemporary India. The film depicts her relationship with a boy at school and how the lead's own desires, her choices, mayhap mistakes, can reflect those of her mother. The dynamic between two generations of Indian women is as complex as it is thorny, mostly unresolved as happens in real life but beautifully performed by the cast. Would make a great double feature with ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, with which it shares Kusruti as a main cast member.

[Frank Zappa]

Like, for instance, how do you watch The Brutalist as the nominators did, and NOT think the Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce are deserving or at least more deserving than a few of the others that were chosen in both the lead and supporting categories? How ???

And how do you single out the director as the only nomination-worthy aspect of the film? How???

[Gallavich]

Where is the prize for the nerve to produce something called Janet Planet, My old ass or Inside the yellow cocoon shell?

Anyway I’m very happy for the amount of nominations for I saw the TV glow. A movie that I didn’t loved at all but for which I have a lot of respect

[jules]

I'm glad to see June Squibb getting nominations for Thelma. She is wonderful in it.

I'm also happy that Keith Kupferer is getting noticed for Ghostlight, such a lived-in performance.

Maybe they thought The Brutalist would get recognition elsewhere and deicded to nominate performances that were less likely to be Oscar-embraced?

[charlea]

Interesting that Anora got so much love. It’s well deserved don’t get me wrong; but I expected it to be missing here and there based on his last 2 films. Both got great reviews but Florida Project only got Feature & Director, and Red Rocket only got Actor & Supp Actress. So weird to underperform at the Spirits. I hope Anora sweeps! It really deserves to.

[Robert G]

I keep going back and forth between I Saw the TV Glow, Love Lies Bleeding, and The Substance as my best picture winner this year. I'm happy to see them be embraced in the different indie awards and especially love seeing Brigette Lundy-Paine and Katy O'Brian get recognized for phenomenal performances that act as lynchpins for their respective films.