LOS ANGELES, Dec 5 (ZIZ): Film Independent, the organization committed to nurturing independence and diversity in visual storytelling, unveiled this year’s nominations for the esteemed 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards. President Josh Welsh introduced the nominations via a prerecorded video featuring Joel Kim Booster and Natalie Morales, known for their impactful contributions in independent cinema.
Leading the film nominations were American Fiction, May December, and Past Lives, each receiving five nominations. Meanwhile, I’m a Virgo and The Last of Us stood out in the television categories, securing the highest nominations.
The 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards, slated for Sunday, February 25, 2024, will be hosted by former Saturday Night Live member Aidy Bryant. The event, held at Santa Monica Beach, will be streamed live across various platforms, including IMDb and Film Independent’s YouTube channels. Notably, the Spirit Awards serve as Film Independent’s primary fundraiser, backing their year-round programs supporting emerging filmmakers and celebrating the creative independence and diversity in independent cinema and television.
This year’s celebration will include a special tribute to the 30th anniversary of Film Independent’s influential Artist Development program. The program has been instrumental in empowering diverse voices in film and television, nurturing talents such as Elegance Bratton, Siân Heder, Justin Simien, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao, all of whom have greatly impacted the industry.
President Josh Welsh expressed enthusiasm about the nominated artists, highlighting their profound impact on contemporary film culture. He emphasized the joy in recognizing those who have benefited from the Artist Development program and expressed eagerness to celebrate their remarkable work and future endeavors.
The nominations span various categories, showcasing a diverse selection of talent from over 27 countries. The selection process focused on criteria like visionary storytelling, originality, and resourcefulness. Notably, 40% of the nominated writers, directors, producers, and technical artists are women, while 32% represent BIPOC communities. Additionally, among the performers, 49% are women and 40% represent BIPOC backgrounds, reflecting the Spirit Awards’ commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees, composed of industry professionals and experts, demonstrate a similar commitment to diversity, with 56% female representation, 3% Nonbinary, 3% Transgender, and 49% BIPOC. The committees also feature 29% identifying as LGBTQ+ and 3% as people with disabilities.
Supported by Principal Sponsor IMDb and Official Sponsors Bulleit Frontier Whiskey and FIJI Water, the Spirit Awards are committed to accessibility, partnering with Easterseals Disability Services. Hotel Casa del Mar serves as the Official Hotel, while Getty Images is the Official Photographer, and Vision Media as the exclusive screening partner.
The 2024 Spirit Award nominations encompass a wide array of categories recognizing excellence in both film and television, celebrating the outstanding achievements of artists pushing the boundaries of creative storytelling.
2024 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
- 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 Saïd - Past Lives
Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon - We Grown Now
Producers: Minhal Baig, Joe Pirro
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
- 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 - A Thousand and One
Director: A.V. Rockwell
Producers: Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Brad Weston - Upon Entry
Directors: Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez
Producers: Sergio Adrià, Carlos Juárez, Alba Sotorra, Carles Torras, Xosé Zapata - JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer)
- 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 - Fremont
Director/Writer: Babak Jalali
Writer: Carolina Cavalli
Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner - 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 DIRECTOR
- Andrew Haigh
All of Us Strangers - Todd Haynes
May December - William Oldroyd
Eileen - Ira Sachs
Passages - Celine Song
Past Lives
BEST SCREENPLAY
- David Hemingson
The Holdovers - Cord Jefferson
American Fiction - Laura Moss, Brendan J. O’Brien
Birth/Rebirth - Emma Seligman, 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 LEAD PERFORMANCE
- 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 - Jeffrey Wright
American Fiction - Teo Yoo
Past Lives
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
- 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 - Da’Vine Joy Randolph
The Holdovers - Catalina Saavedra
Rotting in the Sun - Ben Whishaw
Passages
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
- Marshawn Lynch
Bottoms - Atibon Nazaire
Mountains - Tia Nomore
Earth Mama - Dominic Sessa
The Holdovers - Anaita Wali Zada
Fremont
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Katelin Arizmendi
Monica - Eigil Bryld
The Holdovers - Jomo Fray
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt - Pablo Lozano
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint - Pat Scola
We Grown Now
BEST EDITING
- Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz, Sofía Subercaseaux
Rotting in the Sun - Stephanie Filo
We Grown Now - Daniel Garber
How to Blow Up a Pipeline - Jon Philpot
Theater Camp - Emanuele Tiziani
Upon Entry
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
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
- Bye Bye Tiberias
Director: Lina Soualem
Producer: Jean-Marie Nizan - Four Daughters
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Producer: Nadim Cheikhrouha - 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 INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
- 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
PRODUCERS AWARD presented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey
The Producers Award, now in its 27th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
- Rachael Fung
- Graham Swon
- Monique Walton
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 30th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
- Joanna Arnow
Director of The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed - Laura Moss
Director of Birth/Rebirth - Monica Sorelle
Director of Mountains
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 29th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
- Set Hernandez
Director of unseen - Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli
Director of Lakota Nation vs. United States - Sierra Urich
Director of Joonam
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
- Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Executive Producers: Vinnie Malhotra, Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, Dawn Porter - 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 - 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
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
- 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
- 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 - Ali Wong
Beef - Steven Yeun
Beef
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
- Murray Bartlett
The Last of Us - Billie Eilish
Swarm - Jack Farthing
Rain Dogs - Nick Offerman
The Last of Us - 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 BREAKTRHOUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
- Clark Backo
The Changeling - Aria Mia Loberti
All the Light We Cannot See - Adjani Salmon
Dreaming Whilst Black - Keivonn Montreal Woodard
The Last of Us - Kara Young
I’m a Virgo
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
The nominations reflect a vibrant landscape of cinematic excellence and inclusivity, acknowledging the outstanding contributions of artists who continue to shape the future of independent storytelling. The 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards promise an inspiring celebration of creativity, innovation, and diverse perspectives in the world of cinema and television.
