Happy Thanksgiving! We have our second award domino to fall (after the Gotham Award nominations), and this one is also similarly unconnected to the actual industry. The Spirit Awards are given by Film Independent, a nonprofit arts organization supporting independent films and filmmakers, for “independent” movies made for under $25 million. Prestige arms of big studios still get in here, like Fox Searchlight, Paramount Vintage, and Sony Pictures Classics. But also, big prestige films that win Oscars get celebrated here too – Best Picture winners like The Artist (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Birdman (2014), Spotlight (2015) and Moonlight (2016).
The nominees are shown below – along with the number of Academy Award nominees from the previous year in the respective categories, as well as how many Oscar nominees the Spirits tend to nominate since 2009 (the year of the increase in Best Picture).
Best Feature (Zero Oscar nominees last year):
Statistics: Average 2.1 nominees in Best Picture per year
A HIDDEN LIFE
CLEMENCY
THE FAREWELL
MARRIAGE STORY
UNCUT GEMS
Best Director (Zero nominees last year)
Statistics: Average 1.3 nominees for Director per year
THE LIGHTHOUSE (Robert Eggers)
HONEY BOY (Alma Har’el)
LUCE (Julius Onah)
UNCUT GEMS (Benny & Josh Safdie)
HUSTLERS (Lorene Scafaria)
Best First Feature (Zero nominees last year)
BOOKSMART
THE CLIMB
DIANE
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE MUSTANG
SEE YOU YESTERDAY
Best Female Lead (1 Nominee last year)
Statistics: Average 2.2 nominees in Lead Actress per year
COLEWELL (Karen Allen)
DRIVEWAYS (Hong Chau)
HER SMELL (Elisabeth Moss)
DIANE (Mary Kay Place)
CLEMENCY (Alfre Woodard)
JUDY (Renee Zellweger)
Best Male Lead (Zero nominees last year)
Statistics: Average 1.4 nominees in Lead Actor per year
GIVE ME LIBERTY (Chris Galust)
LUCE (Kelvin Harrison Jr.)
THE LIGHTHOUSE (Robert Pattinson)
UNCUT GEMS (Adam Sandler)
THE MUSTANG (Matthias Schoenaerts)
Best Supporting Female (1 nominee and winner last year)
Statistics: Average 1.1 nominees in Supporting Actress per year
HUSTLERS (Jennifer Lopez)
WAVES (Taylor Russell)
THE FAREWELL (Zhao Shuzhen)
GIVE ME LIBERTY (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer)
LUCE (Octavia Spencer)
Best Supporting Male (2 nominees last year)
Statistics: Average 1.4 nominees in Supporting Actor per year
THE LIGHTHOUSE (Willem Dafoe)
HONEY BOY (Noah Jupe)
HONEY BOY (Shia Labeouf)
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (Jonathan Majors)
BURNING CANE (Wendell Pierce)
Best Screenplay (2 nominees last year)
MARRIAGE STORY (Noah Baumbach)
TO DUST (Jason Begue & Shawn Snyder)
UNCUT GEMS (Ronald Bronstein, Benny & Josh Safdie)
CLEMENCY (Chinonye Chukwu)
HIGH FLYING BIRD (Tarell Alvin McCraney)
Best First Screenplay (Zero nominees last year)
SEE YOU YESTERDAY (Fredrica Baily & Stefon Bristol)
DRIVEWAYS (Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen)
BLOW THE MAN DOWN (Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy)
GREENER GRASS (Jocelyn Deboer & Dawn Luebbe)
THE VAST OF NIGHT (James Montague & Craig W. Sanger)
Best Cinematography (Zero nominees last year)
HUSTLERS
THE LIGHTHOUSE
HONEY BOY
THE THIRD WIFE
MIDSOMMAR
Best Editing (Zero nominees last year)
THE THIRD WIFE
UNCUT GEMS
SWORD OF TRUST
THE LIGHTHOUSE
GIVE ME LIBERTY
Best Documentary (2 nominees last year)
AMERICAN FACTORY
APOLLO 11
FOR SAMA
HONEYLAND
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
Best International Film (3 nominees last year)
INVISIBLE LIFE (Brazil)
LES MISERABLES (France)
PARASITE (South Korea)
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (France)
RETABLO (Peru)
THE SOUVENIR (United Kingdom)
Takeaways:
– MARRIAGE STORY is getting love (Feature, Screenplay), but it’s interesting that Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson AND Laura Dern all missed out (all are former Spirit nominees), and it didn’t get into director. Very interesting for a body that is very much into the Baumbach vibe. Could be wanting to showcase other performances thinking that this is an Oscar lock anyway. Who knows.
– UNCUT GEMS had a great showing, getting in pretty much everywhere it could (including Sandler, who is an outside shot for Lead Actor this year), but that scans the same for GOOD TIME last year, a Safdie Bros. production with critic love but no big show accolades – similar showing for the bonkers-sounding THE LIGHTHOUSE with Pattinson and Dafoe (who was a surprise Lead Actor nominee last year). Big indie and critic support for those two and a definite shot at cinematography.
– Speaking of cinematography, it’s the only category for MIDSOMMAR – if it couldn’t make a stronger case here (where they loved Ari Aster’s HEREDITARY in multiple categories), I’d say it’s chances are pretty much dead.
– Good news: some actors got boosts with Jennifer Lopez in HUSTLERS legitimized here, same with Zellweger (JUDY), and much needed shots for Zhao Shuzhen (THE FAREWELL) and Alfre Woodard (CLEMENCY). Bad news for the likable BOOKSMART, which matches its showing from Gotham (Best First Feature here, Breakthrough Director there), but doesn’t crack any other category, like Screenplay.
– From the big category, I would guess that MARRIAGE STORY (as a lock) and THE FARWELL (towards the bottom of the ten nominees) are the only overlap with Oscar.
Be sure to check back in to The Media By Us for all your awards season news!
