The 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, or as former SNL performer and host Aidy Bryant called it, “The Bixexual Oscars,” unfolded against the scenic backdrop of Santa Monica beach, spotlighting the cream of the crop in indie film and TV as the movie awards season reached its zenith.
The event featured a prestigious lineup of nominees, with the coveted Best Feature category including A24’s Past Lives, Netflix’s May December, Amazon MGM Studios’ American Fiction, Searchlight’s All of Us Strangers, Sony Pictures Classics’ We Grown Now, and Mubi’s Passages. Past Lives, the story of reconnecting, took home the honor for Best Feature.
Celine Song scooped the Best Director award for Past Lives, while American Fiction secured accolades for Jeffrey Wright’s Lead Performance and Cord Jefferson for Best Screenplay. Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik claimed the Best First Screenplay award for May December.
In addition, Da’Vine Joy Randolph of The Holdovers triumphed in the gender-neutral category of Best Supporting Performance, while Anatomy of a Fall seized the Best International Film award, and Four Daughters emerged victorious in the Best Documentary category.
The Holdovers further solidified its success with wins for Breakthrough Performance (Dominic Sessa) and Cinematography (Eigil Bryld).
Notable multi-winners included The Last of Us, honored for acting performances by Nick Offerman and Keivonn Montreal Woodard, and Beef, which scooped up Best New Scripted Series and awarded Ali Wong for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series, triumphing even over co-star Steven Yeun.
The ceremony, however, faced interruptions from a pro-Palestinian protester outside the event tent, whose chants echoed during several speeches via a loudspeaker.
Reflecting on past triumphs, last year’s standout Everything Everywhere All at Once garnered seven wins, including Best Picture, en route to its march toward the Oscar Best Picture crown. This year, Past Lives, May December, and American Fiction led the nominations with five nods each, positioning Song’s romantic drama and Jefferson’s satirical masterpiece in contention for the 2024 Oscars scheduled for March 10.
Despite a disruption outside of the tent, the Spirit Awards maintained their tradition of honoring excellence in indie filmmaking, underscoring the resilience and creativity of the industry amidst external challenges.
Full list of Spirit Awards Nominees and Winners below:
BEST FEATURE
“Past Lives”
Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
“All of Us Strangers”
Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
“American Fiction”
Producers: Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, Ben LeClair
“May December”
Producers: Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Christine Vachon
“Passages”
Producers: Michel Merkt, Saïd Ben Sa
“We Grown Now”
Producers: Minhal Baig, Joe Pirro
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
Jessica Chastain, “Memory”
Greta Lee, “Past Lives”
Trace Lysette, “Monica”
Natalie Portman, “May December”
Judy Reyes, “Birth/Rebirth”
Franz Rogowski, “Passages”
Andrew Scott, “All of Us Strangers”
Teyana Taylor, “A Thousand and One”
Teo Yoo, “Past Lives”
BEST DIRECTOR
Celine Song, “Past Lives”
Andrew Haigh, “All of Us Strangers”
Todd Haynes, “May December”
William Oldroyd, “Eileen”
Ira Sachs, “Passages”
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Monica Sorelle, Director of “Mountains”
Joanna Arnow, Director of “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed”
Laura Moss, Director of “Birth/Rebirth”
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Set Hernandez, Director of “unseen”
Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, Directors of “Lakota Nation vs. United States”
Sierra Urich, Director of “Joonam”
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
“A Thousand and One”
Director: A.V. Rockwell
Producers: Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Brad Weston
“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”
Director: Raven Jackson
Producers: Maria Altamirano, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
“Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”
Director: Tomás Gómez Bustillo
Producers: Gewan Brown, Amanda Freedman
“Earth Mama”
Director/Producer: Savanah Leaf
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Shirley O’Connor, Medb Riordan, Cody Ryder
“Upon Entry”
Directors: Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez
Producers: Sergio Adrià, Carlos Juárez, Alba Sotorra, Carles Torras, Xosé Zapat
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
“Showing Up”
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Casting Director: Gayle Keller
Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams
PRODUCERS AWARD
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Monique Walton
Rachael Fung
Graham Swon
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Dominic Sessa, “The Holdovers”
Marshawn Lynch, “Bottoms”
Atibon Nazaire, “Mountains”
Tia Nomore, “Earth Mama”
Anaita Wali Zada, “Fremont”
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1 million
“Fremont”
Director/Writer: Babak Jalali
Writer: Carolina Cavalli
Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner
“The Artifice Girl”
Director/Writer: Franklin Ritch
Producers: Aaron B. Koontz, Ashleigh Snead
“Cadejo Blanco”
Director/Writer/Producer: Justin Lerner
Producers: Mauricio Escobar, Ryan Friedkin, Jack Patrick Hurley
“Rotting in the Sun”
Director/Writer: Sebastián Silva
Writer: Pedro Peirano
Producer: Jacob Wasserman
“The Unknown Country”
Director/Writer/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer: Lily Gladstone
Writers/Producers: Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux, Vanara Taing
Producers: Katherine Harper, Laura Heberton, Tommy Heitkamp
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Eigil Bryld, “The Holdovers”
Katelin Arizmendi, “Monica”
Jomo Fray, “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”
Pablo Lozano, “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”
Pat Scola, “We Grown Now”
BEST EDITING
Daniel Garber, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”
Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz and Sofía Subercaseaux, “Rotting in the Sun”
Stephanie Filo, “We Grown Now”
Jon Philpot, “Theater Camp”
Emanuele Tiziani, “Upon Entry”
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Beef”
Creator/Executive Producer: Lee Sung Jin
Executive Producers: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Jake Schreier, Ravi Nandan, Alli Reich
Co-Executive Producers: Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper
“Dreaming Whilst Black”
Creator/Executive Producer: Adjani Salmon
Creators: Maximilian Evans, Natasha Jatania, Laura Seixas
Executive Producers: Tanya Qureshi, Dhanny Joshi, Bal Samra, Thomas Stogdon
“I’m a Virgo”
Creator/Executive Producer: Boots Riley
Executive Producers: Tze Chun, Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Jharrel Jerome, Rebecca Rivo
Co-Executive Producers: Marcus Gardley, Carver Karaszewski
“Jury Duty”
Creators/Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky
Executive Producers: David Bernad, Ruben Fleischer, Nicholas Hatton, Cody Heller, Todd Schulman, Jake Szymanski, Andrew Weinberg
“Slip”
Creator/Executive Producer: Zoe Lister-Jones
Executive Producers: Ro Donnelly, Dakota Johnson, Katie O’Connell Marsh, David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Ali Wong, “Beef”
Emma Corrin, “A Murder at the End of the World”
Dominique Fishback, “Swarm”
Betty Gilpin, “Mrs. Davis”
Jharrel Jerome, “I’m a Virgo”
Zoe Lister-Jones, “Slip”
Bel Powley, “A Small Light”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Ramón Rodríguez, “Will Trent”
Steven Yeun, “Beef”
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
“Dear Mama”
Executive Producers: Lasse Järvi, Quincy ‘QD3’ Jones III, Staci Robinson, Nelson George, Charles D. King, Peter Nelson, Adel ‘Future’ Nur, Jamal Joseph, Ted Skillman, Allen Hughes, Steve Berman, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, John Janick, Nicholas Ferrall, Nigel Sinclair
“Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court”
Executive Producers: Vinnie Malhotra, Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, Dawn Porter
“Murder in Big Horn”
Executive Producers: Matthew Galkin, Vinnie Malhotra
Co-Executive Producers: Lisa Kalikow, Joshua Levine
“Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence”
Executive Producers: Mindy Goldberg, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Zach Heinzerling, Krista Parris, Daniel Barban Levin, Felicia Rosario
Co-Executive Producer: Julie Gaither
“Wrestlers”
Executive Producers: Greg Whiteley, Ryan O’Dowd
Co-Executive Producers: Alejandro Melendez, Adam Leibowitz
REELated:
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Jury Duty”
Ensemble Cast: Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, Evan Williams
BEST SCREENPLAY
Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”
David Hemingson, “The Holdovers”
Laura Moss and Brendan J. O’Brien, “Birth/Rebirth”
Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott, “Bottoms”
Celine Song, “Past Lives”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik
“May December“
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt
“Theater Camp”
Tomás Gómez Bustillo
“Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”
Laurel Parmet
“The Starling Girl”
Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez
“Upon Entry”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Anatomy of a Fall
France
Director: Justine Triet
“Godland”
Denmark/Iceland
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
“Mami Wata”
Nigeria
Director: C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi
“Tótem”
Mexico
Director: Lila Avilés
“The Zone of Interest”
United Kingdom, Poland, USA
Director: Jonathan Glazer
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Keivonn Montreal Woodard, “The Last of Us”
Clark Backo, “The Changeling”
Aria Mia Loberti, “All the Light We Cannot See”
Adjani Salmon, “Dreaming Whilst Black”
Kara Young, “I’m a Virgo”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Four Daughters”
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Producer: Nadim Cheikhrouha
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
Director: Lina Soualem
Producer: Jean-Marie Nizan
“Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”
Directors/Producers: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
Producer: Tommy Oliver
“Kokomo City”
Director: D. Smith
Producers: Bill Butler, Harris Doran
“The Mother of All Lies”
Director/Producer: Asmae El Moudir
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Nick Offerman, “The Last of Us”
Murray Bartlett, “The Last of Us”
Billie Eilish, “Swarm”
Jack Farthing, “Rain Dogs”
Adina Porter, “The Changeling”
Lewis Pullman, “Lessons in Chemistry”
Benny Safdie, “The Curse”
Luke Tennie, “Shrinking”
Olivia Washington, “I’m a Virgo”
Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers“
Erika Alexander, “American Fiction”
Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”
Noah Galvin, “Theater Camp”
Anne Hathaway, “Eileen”
Glenn Howerton, “BlackBerry”
Marin Ireland, “Eileen”
Charles Melton, “May December”
Catalina Saavedra, “Rotting in the Sun”
Ben Whishaw, “Passages”
For more awards coverage, click here.
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