So today we’re honored to announce the nominees for the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards, revealed at a press conference this morning at the W Hotel in Hollywood by presenters Edgar Ramirez (Zero Dark Thirty, Joy) and Jenny Slate (Obvious Child, The Secret Life of Pets). This year’s Spirit Award nominees are yet another esteemed group of diverse, outspoken and boundary-pushing performers and filmmakers, representing the very best and most vital independent movies of the past 12 months. So without further adieu, let’s meet them: BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer) American Honey PRODUCERS: Thomas Benski, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Lucas Ochoa, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg Chronic PRODUCERS: Michel Franco, Gina Kwon, Gabriel Ripstein, Moisés Zonana Jackie PRODUCERS: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel, Juan de Dios Larraín, Mickey Liddell Manchester by the Sea PRODUCERS: Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Stewart, Kevin J. Walsh Moonlight PRODUCERS: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the producer and director) The Childhood of a Leader DIRECTOR: Brady Corbet PRODUCERS: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Chris Coen, Ron Curtis, Helena Danielsson, Mona Fastvold, István Major The Fits DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Anna Rose Holmer PRODUCER: Lisa Kjerulff Other People DIRECTOR: Chris Kelly PRODUCERS: Sam Bisbee, Adam Scott, Naomi Scott Swiss Army Man DIRECTORS: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert PRODUCERS: Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, Lauren Mann, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon, Jonathan Wang The Witch DIRECTOR: Robert Eggers PRODUCERS: Daniel Bekerman, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Rodrigo Teixeira BEST DIRECTOR Andrea Arnold, American Honey Barry Jenkins, Moonlight Pablo Larraín, Jackie Jeff Nichols, Loving Kelly Reichardt, Certain Women BEST SCREENPLAY Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney (story by), Moonlight Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea Mike Mills, 20th Century Women Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias, Little Men Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Robert Eggers, The Witch Chris Kelly, Other People Adam Mansbach, Barry Stella Meghie, Jean of the Joneses Craig Shilowich, Christine JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000, given to the writer, director and producer) Free In Deed WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jake Mahaffy PRODUCERS: Mike Bowes, Mike S. Ryan, Brent Stiefel Hunter Gatherer WRITER/DIRECTOR: Josh Locy PRODUCERS: Michael Covino, April Lamb, Sara Murphy, Isaiah Smallman Lovesong WRITER/DIRECTOR: So Yong Kim WRITER/PRODUCER: Bradley Rust Gray PRODUCERS: David Hansen, Alex Lipschultz, Johnny Mac Nakom WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: T.W. Pittman DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Kelly Daniela Norris WRITER/PRODUCER: Isaac Adakudugu PRODUCER: Giovanni Ximėnez Spa Night WRITER/DIRECTOR: Andrew Ahn PRODUCERS: David Ariniello, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Kelly Thomas BEST MALE LEAD Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea David Harewood, Free In Deed Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic Jesse Plemons, Other People Tim Roth, Chronic BEST FEMALE LEAD Annette Bening, 20th Century Women Isabelle Huppert, Elle Sasha Lane, American Honey Ruth Negga, Loving Natalie Portman, Jackie BEST SUPPORTING MALE Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash Ben Foster, Hell or High Water Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea Shia LaBeouf, American Honey Craig Robinson, Morris From America BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE Edwina Findley, Free In Deed Paulina Garcia, Little Men Lily Gladstone, Certain Women Riley Keough, American Honey Molly Shannon, Other People BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Ava Berkofsky, Free In Deed Lol Crawley, The Childhood of a Leader Zach Kuperstein, The Eyes of My Mother James Laxton, Moonlight Robbie Ryan, American Honey BEST EDITING Matthew Hannam, Swiss Army Man Jennifer Lame, Manchester by the Sea Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders, Moonlight Jake Roberts, Hell or High Water Sebastián Sepúlveda, Jackie BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM Aquarius (Brazil) DIRECTOR: Kleber Mendonça Filho Chevalier (Greece) DIRECTOR: Athina Tsangari My Golden Days (France) DIRECTOR: Arnaud Desplechin Toni Erdmann (Germany/Romania) DIRECTOR: Maren Ade Under the Shadow (Iran/United Kingdom) DIRECTOR: Babak Anvari BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer) 13th DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ava DuVernay PRODUCERS: Spencer Averick, Howard Barish Cameraperson DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Kirsten Johnson PRODUCER: Marilyn Ness I am Not Your Negro DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Raoul Peck PRODUCERs: Rémi Grellety, Hébert Peck O.J.: Made in America DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ezra Edelman PRODUCERS: Nina Krstic, Tamara Rosenberg, Caroline Waterlow Sonita DIRECTOR: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami PRODUCERS: Gerd Haag Under the Sun DIRECTOR: Vitaly Mansky PRODUCER: Natalya Manskaya ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Award given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast) Moonlight DIRECTOR: Barry Jenkins CASTING DIRECTOR: Yesi Ramirez ENSEMBLE CAST: Mahershala Ali, Patrick Decile, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Thodes, Ashton Sanders And for all of you visual learners out there, here’s the press conference in its entirety:
Want more? Here are some additional highlights from this morning, featuring Slate, Ramirez and Film Independent President Josh Welsh:
So! Now that we know who’ll be visiting us inside the big beach tent on February 25, it’s time for you to get involved and help vote to determine our winners. Members of Film Independent who join by December 6 can help themselves to all that our awards-season Membership privileges have to offer, including screeners of select films and access to free theatrical screenings of all nominated films in New York and LA (and don’t worry if you miss the December deadline—screenings and voting are open to all new Members joining before January 13). Click here for more info. And for information on how to actually attend the festival, click here. The 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards happen February 25 on the beach in Santa Monica and will be broadcast live on IFC at 2p/5e. Don’t miss them! Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest and greatest Spirit Awards news. Now: pull out the whiteboard and dry erase markers—it’s time to start contemplating that Spirit Awards ballot!
