Ah, joyous confirmation that the Oscars are by no means the be all and end all of awards season. Film Independent held its annual Spirit Awards ceremony last night, and succeeded in picking non-Oscar nominees across almost all of its categories. Best Feature, Director, and Screenplay all went to The Lost Daughter and, specifically, Maggie Gyllenhaal, while Passing and Zola also picked up multiple prizes, including acting gongs for Ruth Negga in Supporting Actress for the former and Taylour Paige in Leading Actress for the latter. They did honour one big Oscar favourite in the top categories, though: CODA's Troy Kotsur in Supporting Actor. Check out the 2021 Spirit Award nominees here, and the winners below.
Best Feature
THE LOST DAUGHTER (Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Hendelsman Keren and Talia Kleinhendler)
Best Director
Maggie Gyllenhaal (THE LOST DAUGHTER)
Best Female Lead
Taylour Paige (ZOLA)
Best Male Lead
Simon Rex (RED ROCKET)
Best Supporting Female
Ruth Negga (PASSING)
Best Supporting Male
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Best Screenplay
Maggie Gyllenhaal (THE LOST DAUGHTER)
Best Cinematography
Eduard Grau (PASSING)
Best Editing
Joi McMillon (ZOLA)
Best Documentary
SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel and Questlove)
Best International Film
DRIVE MY CAR - Japan (Hamaguchi Ryusuke)
Best First Feature
7 DAYS (Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn and Roshan Sethi)
Best First Screenplay
Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block (PIG)
John Cassavetes Award
SHIVA BABY (Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Emma Seligman and Lizzie Shapiro)
Producers Award
Lizzie Shapiro
Robert Altman Award
MASS (Fran Kranz, Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin, Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton and Breeda Wool)
Someone to Watch Award
Alex Camilleri (LUZZU)
Truer Than Fiction Award
Jessica Beshir (FAYA DAYI)