John Boyega and Elizabeth Olsen announced the nominees for Film Independent's 31st annual Spirit Awards this morning at a press conference at the W Hotel in Hollywood.
BEST FEATURE
Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.
- Anomalisa
Producers: Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman, Dino Stamatopoulos, Rosa Tran - Beasts of No Nation
Producers: Daniel Crown, Idris Elba, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Amy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Riva Marker - Carol
Producers: Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley - Spotlight
Producers: Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Michael Sugar - Tangerine
Producers: Sean Baker, Karrie Cox, Marcus Cox, Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou
Award given to the director and producer.
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Director: Marielle Heller
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit - James White
Director: Josh Mond
Producers: Max Born, Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Melody Roscher, Eric Schultz - Manos Sucias
Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Producers: Elena Greenlee, Márcia Nunes - Mediterranea
Director: Jonas Carpignano
Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Chris Columbus, Jon Coplon, Christoph Daniel, Andrew Kortschak, John Lesher, Ryan Lough, Justin Nappi, Alain Peyrollaz, Gwyn Sannia, Marc Schmidheiny, Victor Shapiro, Ryan Zacarias - Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Director/Producer: Chloé Zhao
Producers: Mollye Asher, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Angela C. Lee, Forest Whitaker
Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.
- Advantageous
Writer/Director/Producer: Jennifer Phang
Writer/Producer: Jacqueline Kim
Producers: Robert Chang, Ken Jeong, Moon Molson, Theresa Navarro - Christmas, Again
Writer/Director/Producer: Charles Poekel - Heaven Knows What
Directors: Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
Writers: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
Producers: Oscar Boyson, Sebastian Bear McClard - Krisha
Writer/Director/Producer: Trey Edward Shults
Producers: Justin R. Chan, Chase Joliet, Wilson Smith - Out of My Hand
Writer/Director: Takeshi Fukunaga
Writer/Producer: Donari Braxton
Producer: Mike Fox
- Sean Baker, Tangerine
- Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
- Todd Haynes, Carol
- Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
- Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
- David Robert Mitchell, It Follows
- Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
- Donald Margulies, The End of the Tour
- Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight
- Phyllis Nagy, Carol
- S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk
- Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
- Jonas Carpignano, Mediterranea
- Emma Donoghue, Room
- Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- John Magary, story by Russell Harbaugh and Myna Joseph, The Mend
- Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
- Michael Gioulakis, It Follows
- Ed Lachman, Carol
- Reed Morano, Meadowland
- Joshua James Richards, Songs My Brothers Taught Me
- Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie, Heaven Knows What
- Tom McArdle, Spotlight
- Nathan Nugent, Room
- Julio C. Perez IV, It Follows
- Kristan Sprague, Manos Sucias
- Cate Blanchett, Carol
- Brie Larson, Room
- Rooney Mara, Carol
- Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine
- Christopher Abbott, James White
- Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation
- Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind
- Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
- Koudous Seihon, Mediterranea
- Robin Bartlett, H.
- Marin Ireland, Glass Chin
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
- Cynthia Nixon, James White
- Mya Taylor, Tangerine
- Kevin Corrigan, Results
- Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
- Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
- Richard Jenkins, Bone Tomahawk
- Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
- Spotlight
Director: Tom McCarthy
Casting Directors: Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee
Ensemble Cast: Michael Cyril Creighton, Billy Crudup, Paul Guilfoyle, Neal Huff, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Jamey Sheridan, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci
Award given to the director and producer.
- (T)ERROR
Directors/Producers: Lyric R. Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe
Producer: Christopher St. John - Best of Enemies
Directors/Producers: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville - Heart of a Dog
Director/Producer: Laurie Anderson
Producer: Dan Janvey - The Look of Silence
Director:Joshua Oppenheimer
Producer: Signe Byrge Sørensen - Meru
Directors/Producers: Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Producer: Shannon Ethridge - The Russian Woodpecker
Director/Producer: Chad Gracia
Producers: Ram Devineni, Mike Lerner
Award given to the director.
- Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
Director: Ciro Guerra - Girlhood (France)
Director: Céline Sciamma - Mustang (France, Turkey)
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven - A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Sweden)
Director: Roy Andersson - Son of Saul (Hungary)
Director: László Nemes
The 19th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
- Darren Dean
- Mel Eslyn
- Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith
The 22nd annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.
- God Bless the Child
Directors: Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck - King Jack
Director: Felix Thompson - Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Director: Chloé Zhao
The 21st annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
- Among the Believers
Directors: Mohammed Ali Naqvi and Hemal Trivedi - Incorruptible
Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi - A Woman Like Me
Directors: Elizabeth Giamatti and Alex Sichel
(Special thanks to Film Independent and Ginsberg-Libby)
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