After months of curating projects of all stripes (features, docs, series – you name it), while hosting a seemingly endless stream of Film Independent Presents screenings, and watching countless worthy, compelling titles, we’re ready to unveil the nominees. This morning, we announced the Film Independent Spirit Awards film nominees for the 38th annual awards ceremony, set to return in-person to the beach at Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, March 4, 2023. For the third year, the Spirit Awards will also be recognizing outstanding achievement in uniqueness of vision, innovation, and boldness in TV and streaming. As a reminder, television category nominees will be announced separately by Orange Is the New Black alum, Asia Kate Dillon, on Tuesday, December 13. Quickly, before we get to the film nominees, let’s revisit how these Spirit Awards will be different from years past…
What’s New This Year
As we’ve previously shared, here are some changes to this year’s Spirit Awards:
For the first time in Spirit Awards history, acting categories are gender neutral, with the former separate lead and supporting actor and actress categories being replaced by the ten-nominee Best Lead and Best Supporting Performance awards A new award category – Best Breakthrough Performance – will honor performers making themselves known to wider audiences through noteworthy character portrayals The budget cap for eligible films has increased to $30 million The cap for the John Cassavetes Award has increased (from $500,000) to $1,000,000
And Now… The Film Nominees
The film nominees for the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards were revealed this morning on our YouTube channel, with special guest presenters Raúl Castillo (2019 Spirit Awards nominee for We Are Animals) and Taylour Paige (2022 Spirit Awards winner for Zola).
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer) Bones and All Producers: Timothée Chalamet, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Luca Guadagnino, David Kajganich, Lorenzo Mieli, Marco Morabito, Gabriele Moratti, Theresa Park, Peter Spears Everything Everywhere All At Once Producers: Daniel Kwan, Mike Larocca, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang Our Father, the Devil Producers: Ellie Foumbi, Joseph Mastantuono Tár Producers: Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra Milchan Women Talking Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Frances McDormand BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer) Aftersun Director: Charlotte Wells Producers: Mark Ceryak, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski Emily the Criminal Director: John Patton Ford Producers: Tyler Davidson, Aubrey Plaza, Drew Sykes The Inspection Director: Elegance Bratton Producers: Effie T. Brown, Chester Algernal Gordon Murina Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović Producers: Danijel Pek, Rodrigo Teixeira Palm Trees and Power Lines Director/Producer: Jamie Dack Producer: Leah Chen Baker JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000; Award given to the writer, director, and producer) The African Desperate Writer/Director/Producer: Martine Syms Writer/Producer: Rocket Caleshu Producer: Vic Brooks The Cathedral Writer/Director: Ricky D’Ambrose Producer: Graham Swon Holy Emy Writer/Director: Araceli Lemos Writer/Producer: Giulia Caruso Producers: Mathieu Bompoint, Ki Jin Kim, Konstantinos Vassilaros A Love Song Writer/Director/Producer: Max Walker-Silverman Producers: Jesse Hope, Dan Janvey Something in the Dirt Writer/Director/Producer: Justin Benson Director/Producer: Aaron Moorhead Producer: David Lawson Jr. BEST DIRECTOR Todd Field Tár Kogonada After Yang Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert Everything Everywhere All At Once Sarah Polley Women Talking Halina Reijn Bodies Bodies Bodies BEST SCREENPLAY Lena Dunham Catherine Called Birdy Todd Field Tár Kogonada After Yang Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert Everything Everywhere All At Once Sarah Polley Women Talking BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Joel Kim Booster Fire Island Jamie Dack, Audrey Findlay; Story by Jamie Dack Palm Trees and Power Lines K.D. Dávila Emergency Sarah DeLappe, Story by Kristen Roupenian Bodies Bodies Bodies John Patton Ford Emily the Criminal BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE Cate Blanchett Tár Dale Dickey A Love Song Mia Goth Pearl Regina Hall Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. Paul Mescal Aftersun Aubrey Plaza Emily the Criminal Jeremy Pope The Inspection Andrea Riseborough To Leslie Taylor Russell Bones and All Michelle Yeoh Everything Everywhere All At Once BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE Jamie Lee Curtis Everything Everywhere All At Once Brian Tyree Henry Causeway Nina Hoss Tár Brian d’Arcy James The Cathedral Ke Huy Quan Everything Everywhere All At Once Trevante Rhodes Bruiser Theo Rossi Emily the Criminal Mark Rylance Bones and All Jonathan Tucker Palm Trees and Power Lines Gabrielle Union The Inspection BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (New Award) Frankie Corio Aftersun Gracija Filipović Murina Stephanie Hsu Everything Everywhere All At Once Lily McInerny Palm Trees and Power Lines Daniel Zolghadri Funny Pages BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Florian Hoffmeister Tár Hélène Louvart Murina Gregory Oke Aftersun Eliot Rockett Pearl Anisia Uzeyman Neptune Frost BEST EDITING Ricky D’Ambrose The Cathedral Dean Fleischer Camp, Nick Paley Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Blair McClendon Aftersun Paul Rogers Everything Everywhere All At Once Monika Willi Tár ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast) Women Talking Director: Sarah Polley Casting Directors: John Buchan, Jason Knight Ensemble Cast: Shayla Brown, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Kira Guloien, Kate Hallett, Judith Ivey, Rooney Mara, Sheila McCarthy, Frances McDormand, Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, Ben Whishaw, August Winter BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer) All That Breathes Director/Producer: Shaunak Sen Producers: Teddy Leifer, Aman Mann All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Director/Producer: Laura Poitras Producers: Howard Gertler, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, John Lyons A House Made of Splinters Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont Producers: Monica Hellström Midwives Director/Producer: Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing Producers: Mila Aung-Thwin, Ulla Lehmann, Bob Moore Riotsville, U.S.A. Director: Sierra Pettengill Producers: Sara Archambault, Jamila Wignot BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director) Corsage Austria/Luxembourg/France/Belgium/Italy/England Director: Marie Kreutzer Joyland Pakistan/USA Director: Saim Sadiq Leonor Will Never Die Philippines Director: Martika Ramirez Escobar Return to Seoul Cambodia Director: Davy Chou Saint Omer France Director: Alice Diop PRODUCERS AWARD presented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey – The Producers Award, now in its 26th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. Liz Cardenas Tory Lenosky David Grove Churchill Viste SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 29th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. Adamma Ebo Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. Nikyatu Jusu Nanny Araceli Lemos Holy Emy TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 28th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. Isabel Castro Mija Reid Davenport I Didn’t See You There Rebeca Huntt Beba The Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by the Official Spirit, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, and the Official Water, FIJI Water. Getty Images is the Official Photographer. Want to vote for the Spirit Awards? As always, the Spirit Awards winners are voted on exclusively by Film Independent Members. Members must be current as of December 20, 2022 to receive full voting benefits, including access to nominee screeners. To join Film Independent and vote on the Spirit Awards, please visit filmindependent.org/join to Join. Watch. Vote. The Spirit Awards is the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity and inclusion within the filmed entertainment industry. To learn more about attending and supporting Film Independent’s mission and programs, please click here. To support our work with a donation, please click here.
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[Header: Special guest presenters Raúl Castillo and Taylour Paige.]
