Award season is officially underway with the announcement of the Independent Spirit Awards nominations today. The last three Best Feature winners for the awards – Spotlight, Birdman, and 12 Years Slave – all went on the receive the same title at the Oscars. This year, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey lead the pack with six nominations each. Not far behind is Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea with five nominations. Pablo Larrain’s Jackie and Michel Franco’s Chronic round out the five Best Feature nominations.
Some notable additions to the nominations this year is Jake Mahaffy’s Free in Deed, which picked up four including Best Male Lead (David Harewood) and Best Supporting Female Edwina Findley. Two women, Andrea Arnold and Kelly Reichardt, are both up for Best Director — a woman has not won the award since Sofia Coppola in 2003 for Lost in Translation. A noticeable absence from the Supporting Female category is Michelle Williams for her brief, yet impactful, performance in Manchester by the Sea. Lonergan is also missing from the Director category, although he did pick up a nomination for Best Screenplay. And although Moonlight did not receive individual acting awards (for Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali), they will be taking home the Robert Altman award for Best Ensemble.
A24, who came away triumphantly last year with Room, leads the pack for distributors with their films American Honey, Swiss Army Man, Morris from America, Moonlight, and 20th Century Women all receiving recognition.
The Independent Spirit Awards air on February 25. The full list of nominations is below.
Best Feature
American Honey
Chronic
Jackie
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Best Director
Andrea Arnold (American Honey)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Pablo Larrain (Jackie)
Jeff Nichols (Loving)
Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women)
Best First Feature
The Childhood of a Leader
The Fits
Other People
Swiss Army Man
The Witch
Best Male Lead
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
David Harewood (Free in Deed)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Jesse Plemons (Other People)
Tim Roth (Chronic)
Best Female Lead
Annette Bening (20th Century Women)
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Sasha Lane (American Honey)
Ruth Negga (Loving)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Best Supporting Male
Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash)
Ben Foster (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Shia LaBeouf (American Honey)
Craig Robinson (Morris from America)
Best Supporting Female
Edwina Findley (Free in Deed)
Paulina Garcia (Little Men)
Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)
Riley Keough (American Honey)
Molly Shannon (Other People)
Best Screenplay
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias, Little Men
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Mike Mills, 20th Century Women
Best First Screenplay
Adam Mansbach, Barry
Craig Shilowich, Christine
Stella Meghie, Jean of the Joneses
Chris Kelly, Other People
Robert Eggers, The Witch
Best International Film
Aquarius (Brazil)
Chevalier (Greece)
My Golden Days (France)
Toni Erdmann (Germany/Romania)
Under the Shadow (Iran/United Kingdom)
Best Documentary Feature
13th
Cameraperson
I Am Not Your Negro
O.J.: Made in America
Sonita
Under the Sun
Best Cinematography
Robbie Ryan, American Honey
Lol Crawley, The Childhood of a Leader
Ava Berkofsky, Free in Deed
Zach Kuperstein, Eyes of My Mother
James Laxton, Moonlight
Best Editing
Jake Roberts, Hell or High Water
Sebastian Sepulveda, Jackie
Jennifer Lame, Manchester by the Sea
Joi McMillon, Moonlight
Matthew Hannam, Swiss Army Man
John Cassavetes Award (Features under $500,000)
Free in Deed
Hunter Gatherer
Lovesong
Nakom
Spa Night
Robert Altman Award (Ensemble)
Moonlight
Piaget Producers Award
Lisa Kjerulff
Jordana Mollick
Melody C. Roscher
Craig Shilowich
Truer Than Fiction Award
Kristi Jacobson (Solitary)
Sara Jordeno (Kiki)
Nanfu Wang (Holligan Sparrow)
Someone to Watch Award
Andrew Ahn (Spa Night)
Claire Carre (Embers)
Anna Rose Holmer (The Fits)
Ingrid Jungermann (Women Who Kill)
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