2019 Indie Spirit Awards Nominations: ‘Eighth Grade’, ‘First Reformed’, ‘We The Animals’ Lead The Way

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