Each year, the announcement of Film Independent's Spirit Award nominations tends to be met with equal parts praise and perplexity. Beloved indie faves from the year are joined by little-seen surprises, most en route to being forgotten by the more mainstream-focused award voting bodies later in the season. But this year, we already are later in the season, and the mainstream has opened out into the indie circuit in a year largely devoid of studio product. Whether the Spirit Awards were always going to follow the critical consensus so closely this year or their votes were skewed in favour of certain films due to the ongoing awards season, who knows, but one thing's for sure: this is a remarkably familiar slate from Film Independent. Oscar hopefuls like Minari and Nomadland rub shoulders with fellow critics' awards faves like First Cow and Never Rarely Sometimes Always in the Best Feature category - in a welcome change of circumstances, though, it's Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely leading all nominees with an impressive seven nods. No change to their ceremony plans, however: they're scheduled, as ever, for Oscar eve, which this year falls on the 22nd of April.
BEST FEATURE
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland
BEST FIRST FEATURE
I Carry You with Me
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Miss Juneteenth
Nine Days
Sound of Metal
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
The Killing of Two Lovers
La Leyenda Negra
Lingua Franca
Residue
Saint Frances
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung - Minari
Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt - First Cow
Chloé Zhao - Nomadland
BEST SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung - Minari
Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Mike Makowsky - Bad Education
Alice Wu - The Half of It
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Kitty Green - The Assistant
Noah Hutton - Lapsis
Channing Godfrey Peoples - Miss Juneteenth
Andy Siara - Palm Springs
James Sweeney - Straight Up
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jay Keitel - She Dies Tomorrow
Shabier Kirchner - Bull
Michael Latham - The Assistant
Hélène Louvart - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Joshua James Richards - Nomadland
BEST EDITING
Andy Canny - The Invisible Man
Scott Cummings - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Merawi Gerima - Residue
Enat Sidi - I Carry You with Me
Chloé Zhao - Nomadland
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Nicole Beharie - Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner - The Assistant
Frances McDormand - Nomadland
Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman
BEST MALE LEAD
Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Adarsh Gourav - The White Tiger
Rob Morgan - Bull
Steven Yeun - Minari
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Alexis Chikaeze - Miss Juneteenth
Han Ye Ri - Minari
Valerie Mahaffey - French Exit
Talia Ryder - Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Youn Yuh Jung - Minari
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Orion Lee - First Cow
Paul Raci - Sound of Metal
Glynn Turman - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Benedict Wong - Nine Days
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Kimberly Hardin, Aldis Hodge, Regina King and Leslie Odom Jr. - One Night in Miami
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Collective
Crip Camp
Dick Johnson Is Dead
The Mole Agent
Time
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Bacurau
The Disciple
Night of the Kings
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
Quo Vadis, Aida?
PRODUCERS AWARD
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
David Midell - The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Ekwa Msangi - Farewell Amor
Annie Silverstein - Bull
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Cecilia Aldarondo - Landfall
Elegance Bratton - Pier Kids
Elizabeth Lo - Stray
TV CATEGORIES
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
City So Real
Immigration Nation
Love Fraud
We’re Here
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I May Destroy You
Little America
Small Axe
A Teacher
Unorthodox
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Elle Fanning - The Great
Shira Haas - Unorthodox
Abby McEnany - Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan - Never Have I Ever
Jordan Kristine Seamón - We Are Who We Are
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Adam Ali - Little America
Nicco Annan - P-Valley
Conphidance - Little America
Amit Rahav - Unorthodox
Harold Torres - Zero, Zero, Zero
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia and Stephen Wight - I May Destroy You