The Indie Spirit Awards got back to their roots finally in the reveal of their 2019 nominations, choosing films that are actually independent and not just less-expensive studio flicks. And in so doing they’ve chosen some of my favorite movies of the year, so on a personal level this is shaping up to be an exciting show. Tops on that list was Paul Schrader’s amazing First Reformed, which earned four nominations including Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Male Lead for star Ethan Hawke.
Also earning four nominations was the middle school drama Eighth Grade, which featured a breakout performance by Best Female Lead nominee Elsie Fisher. Leading the way with five nominations was director Jeremiah Zagar’s stunning adaptation of We the Animals, including one for Best Feature.
There were tough categories all around, which led to some surprising snubs. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman didn’t get much love, other than a Best Supporting Male nomination for Adam Driver. Ironically, hes going against his BlacKkKlansman co-star John David Washington who is nominated for a different movie, Monsters and Men. The Best Male Lead field looks super competitive with Hawke joined by John Cho for Searching, Daveed Diggs for Blindspotting, Christian Malheiros for Sócrates and Joaquin Phoenix for You Were Never Really Here. I was thrilled to see Regina Hall recognized for her performance in Support the Girls, and Glenn Close for The Wife, which may be the prelude to an Oscar win for her. Boots Riley’s offbeat directorial debut Sorry to Bother You was perfect for the Indie Spirit crowd, and it managed to come away with two nominations for Best First Feature and Best Screenplay.
And I couldn’t begin to tell you who is the frontrunner in the International Film category, where every single entry is more than deserving. Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Cannes winner Shoplifters, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, and Lee Chang-dong’s Burning could all be considered frontrunners.
The rest of the nominations are below. The Independent Spirit Awards will take place on February 23rd.
Best Feature
EIGHTH GRADE
FIRST REFORMED
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
LEAVE NO TRACE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Best Director
Debra Granik, LEAVE NO TRACE
Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Lynne Ramsay, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED
Best First Feature
HEREDITARY
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
THE TALE
WE THE ANIMALS
WILDLIFE
Best Female Lead
Glenn Close, THE WIFE
Toni Collette, HEREDITARY
Elsie Fisher, EIGHTH GRADE
Regina Hall, SUPPORT THE GIRLS
Helena Howard, MADELINE’S MADELINE
Carey Mulligan, WILDLIFE
Best Male Lead
John Cho, SEARCHING
Daveed Diggs, BLINDSPOTTING
Ethan Hawke, FIRST REFORMED
Christian Malheiros, SÓCRATES
Joaquin Phoenix, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Best Supporting Female
Kayli Carter, PRIVATE LIFE
Tyne Daly, A BREAD FACTORY
Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE
J. Smith-Cameron, NANCY
Best Supporting Male
Raúl Castillo, WE THE ANIMALS
Adam Driver, BLACKKKLANSMAN
Richard E. Grant, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Josh Hamilton, EIGHTH GRADE
John David Washington, MONSTERS AND MEN
Best Screenplay
Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, COLETTE
Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Boots Riley, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Paul Schrader FIRST REFORMED
Best First Screenplay
Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE
Christina Choe, NANCY
Cory Finley, THOROUGHBREDS
Jennifer Fox, THE TALE
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), BLAME
Best Cinematography
Ashley Connor, MADELINE’S MADELINE
Diego Garcia, WILDLIFE
Benjamin Loeb, MANDY
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, SUSPIRIA
Zak Mulligan, WE THE ANIMALS
Best Editing
Joe Bini, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, AMERICAN ANIMALS
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall and Gary Levy, THE TALE
Nick Houy, MID90S
John Cassavetes Award
A BREAD FACTORY
EN EL SÉPTIMO DÍA
NEVER GOIN’ BACK
SÓCRATES
THUNDER ROAD
Robert Altman Award
SUSPIRIA
Best Documentary
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
MINDING THE GAP
OF FATHERS AND SONS
ON HER SHOULDERS
SHIRKERS
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
Best International Film
BURNING (South Korea)
THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)
HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)
ROMA (Mexico)
SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)
Piaget Producers Award
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
Someone to Watch Award
Alex Moratto, SÓCRATES
Ioana Uricaru, LEMONADE
Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS
Truer Than Fiction Award
Alexandria Bombach, ON HER SHOULDERS
Bing Liu, MINDING THE GAP
RaMell Ross, HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
Bonnie Award
Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama