Nominations for the 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced Tuesday by Beanie Feldstein, Regina Hall, and Naomi Watts. The awards, which are returning in-person in 2022 after going virtual due to COVID in 2021, highlight and celebrate movies that are, for the most part, produced and conceived outside of the Hollywood mainstream. In order to qualify, eligible films have to have budgets of less than $22.5 million. That prevents other awards contenders such as “Nightmare Alley” or “King Richard” from competing for Indie Spirits.
In recent years, the Spirits have expanded and now recognizes television productions.
In 2021, the Spirits awarded its best feature prize to “Nomadland,” which went on to score the Best Picture honor at the Oscars. But the choices between the Indie Spirits and the Academy often deviate. The Spirits have honored Oscar winners such as “Moonlight” with its top honors, but they have also handed best feature to “The Farewell” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” both of which failed to land best picture nominations at the Academy Awards.
Winners are selected by members of Film Independent. The Spirit Awards will air on IFC on Sunday, Mar. 6, 2022.
Here is the list of Spirit nominees (Updating Live).
Best Feature
A Chiara
C’mon C’mon
Lost Daughter
The Novice
Zola
Best Male Lead
Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey”
Frankie Faison, “Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
Michael Greyeyes, “Wild Indian”
Udo Kier, “Swan Song”
Simon Rex, “Red Rocket”
Best Female Lead
Isabelle Fuhrman, “The Novice”
Brittany S. Hall, “Test Pattern”
Patti Harrison, “Together Together”
Taylour Paige, “Zola”
Kali Reis, “Catch the Fair One”
Best Director
Janicza Bravo, “Zola”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
Lauren Hadaway, “The Novice”
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon”
Ninja Thyberg, “Pleasure”
Best Screenplay
C’mon, C’mon
The Lost Daughter
Swan Song
Together
Zola
Best Cinematography
Chiara
Blue Bayou
The Humans
Passing
Zola
Best Documentary
Ascension
Flee
In The Same Breath
Procession
Summer of Soul