Ma Rainey , Nomadland score big Film Independent Spirit Award nominations
David Lee/Netflix; Joshua Richardson/Searchlight Pictures; Focus Features
The Film Independent Spirit Awards are keeping the essence of indie cinema alive throughout the most chaotic awards calendars in history.
Laverne Cox, Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins, and actress-director Olivia Wilde announced this year’s nominees in a virtual livestream presentation, continuing the momentum for key contenders in the race amid a crowded week for Oscar precursors.
Though films with major stars picked up signifiant attention at the Indie Spirits, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always picked up the most overall nods with seven total, including Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Leading Female for breakout actress Sidney Flanigan’s performance. Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari is next with six nominations (including Best Director and Best Leading Male for Steven Yeun), followed by major Oscar contenders Nomadland and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with five each, and Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth with four.
Among this year’s nominees, 57 percent of the above-the-line contenders are women, and 48 percent are people of color.
In the months ahead, for the first time in the awards show’s 36-year history, the 2021 Indie Spirits broadcast will take place in primetime, having exited its traditionally held date of the Saturday before the Oscars.
Across the last four decades, the Indie Spirits have honored achievements in movies made for roughly $20 million, though standards have fluctuated in recent years. The awards are voted on by members of Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the profile of independent cinema and diversity in the industry.
While Film Independent’s taste often aligns with the Academy’s, its voting base is made up of anyone who chooses to pay to join, regardless of standing in or proximity to the filmmaking industry. It’s not uncommon for the Indie Spirits’ Best Feature winner to cross over into Oscar territory, like 2017’s Moonlight, 2016’s Spotlight, 2015’s Birdman, and 2014’s 12 Years A Slave, but it’s not out of the question for a Best Feature prize holder to completely miss out on a Best Picture nomination, as Lulu Wang’s The Farewell did last year. On the acting side, only Renée Zellweger won both the Indie Spirit and the Oscar, and competed at the Indie Spirits as the only acting contender with a corresponding nomination from the Academy.
This year, several high-profile contenders were not eligible for Indie Spirit nominations, including many Netflix titles such as likely multi-category Oscar contenders The Trial of the Chicago 7, Da 5 Bloods, and Mank, while Glenn Close‘s supporting performance in Hillbilly Elegy is also ineligible, as is Sophia Loren‘s work in The Life Ahead, as that title is competing as an international work.
See the full list of 2020-2021 Indie Spirit nominations below, and tune in to the ceremony on Thursday, April 22 at 10:00 p.m. ET on IFC.
FILM AWARDS:
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
First Cow
Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany Wolf
Minari
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Producers: Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski
Nomadland
Producers: Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
I Carry You With Me
Director/Producer: Heidi Ewing
Producers: Edher Campos, Mynette Louie, Gabriela Maire
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Director/Producer: Radha Blank
Producers: Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Jordan Fudge, Rishi Rajani, Jennifer Semler, Lena Waithe
Miss Juneteenth
Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples
Producers: Toby Halbrooks, Tim Headington, Jeanie Igoe, James M. Johnston, Theresa Steele Page, Neil Creque Williams
Nine Days
Director: Edson Oda
Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Matthew Linder, Laura Tunstall, Datari Turner
Sound of Metal
Director: Darius Marder
Producers: Bill Benz, Kathy Benz, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
The Killing of Two Lovers
Writer/Director/Producer: Robert Machoian
Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford
La Leyenda Negra
Writer/Director: Patricia Vidal Delgado
Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez
Lingua Franca
Writer/Director/Producer: Isabel Sandoval
Producers: Darlene Catly Malimas, Jhett Tolentino, Carlo Velayo
Residue
Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima
Saint Frances
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Writer: Kelly O’Sullivan
Producers: James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Raphael Nash, Roger Welp
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
Chlo̩ Zhao РNomadland
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 – Juneteenth
Andy Siara – Palm Springs
James Sweeney – Straight Up
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jay Keitel – She Dies Tomorrow
Shabier Kirchner – Bull
Michael Latham – The Assistant
H̩l̬ne Louvart РNever 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
Chlo̩ Zhao РNomadland
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
Yeri Han – Minari
Valerie Mahaffey – French Exit
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Yuh-jung Youn – 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 – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
One Night in Miami…
Director: Regina King
Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin
Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
Collective
Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
Producers: Hanka Kastelicová, Bernard Michaux, Bianca Oana
Crip Camp
Directors/Producers: Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
Producer: Sara Bolder
Dick Johnson is Dead
Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness
The Mole Agent
Director: Maite Alberdi
Producer: Marcela Santibáñez
Time
Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Bacurau
Brazil
Directors: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
The Disciple
India
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane
Night of the Kings
Ivory Coast
Director: Philippe Lacôte
Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
Hungary
Director: Lili Horvát
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Jasmila Žbanić
PRODUCERS AWARD – The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
David Midell – Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Ekwa Msangi – Director of Farewell Amor
Annie Silverstein – Director of Bull
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Cecilia Aldarondo – Director of Landfall
Elegance Bratton – Director of Pier Kids
Elizabeth Lo – Director of Stray
TV AWARDS:
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
Executive Producers: Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius
City So Real
Produced by: Zak Piper, Steve James
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder
Immigration Nation
Executive Producers: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson
Co-Executive Producers: Andrey Alistratov, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Lauren Haber
Love Fraud
Executive Producers: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Amy Goodman Kass, Vinnie Malhotra, Jihan Robinson, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman
We’re Here
Creators/Executive Producers: Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram
Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Peter LoGreco
Co-Executive Producers: Erin Haglund, Sabrina Mar
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
I May Destroy You
Creator/Executive Producer: Michaela Coel
Executive Producers: Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni
Little America
Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Alan Yang, Siân Heder, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon
Small Axe
Executive Producers: Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen
A Teacher
Creator/Executive Producer: Hanna Fidell
Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Kate Mara, Louise Shore, Jason Bateman, Danny Brocklehurst
Co-Executive Producer: Daniel Pipski
Unorthodox
Creator/Executive Producer: Anna Winger
Creator: Alexa Karolinski
Executive Producer: Henning Kamm
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
Conphidance – Little America
Adam Ali – Little America
Nicco Annan – P-Valley
Amit Rahav – Unorthodox
Harold Torres – Zero, Zero, Zero
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I May Destroy You
Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia, Stephen Wight
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