The past couple months of entertainment news have not been the cheeriest, to say the least. But as the necessary work of righting longstanding injustices continues, the importance of elevating new and diverse voices inside the film industry remains. And while awards shows may seem like small potatoes in the face of larger global events, the fact remains: championing creative independence and supporting a diverse community of unique, innovative artists remains vitally important—sowing the seeds via pop culture of a better, more equitable future.

So! With that in mind, we’re honored to announce our nominees for the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, unveiled this morning at The Jeremy hotel in West Hollywood by presenters Lily Collins (To the Bone, Okja, Rules Don’t Apply) and Tessa Thompson (Dear White People, Creed, Thor: Ragnarok). Once again, this year’s Spirit Award nominees represent a true uniqueness of vision and innovation in visual storytelling. They are:

 

BEST FEATURE

 

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

PRODUCERS: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodgrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman

THE FLORIDA PROJECT

PRODUCERS: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou

GET OUT

PRODUCERS: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele

LADY BIRD

PRODUCERS: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin

THE RIDER

PRODUCERS: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck,Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao

(Award given to the producer)

 

BEST FIRST FEATURE

 

COLUMBUS

DIRECTOR: Kogonada

PRODUCERS: Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Aaron Boyd, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz

INGRID GOES WEST

DIRECTOR: Matt Spicer

PRODUCERS: Jared Goldman, Adam Mirels, Robert Mirels, Aubrey Plaza, Tim White, Trevor White

MENASHE

DIRECTOR: Joshua Z. Weinstein

PRODUCERS: Yoni Brook, Traci Carlson, Daniel Finkelman, Alex Lipschultz

OH LUCY!

DIRECTOR: Atsuko Hirayanagi

PRODUCERS: Jessica Elbaum, Yukie Kito, Han West

PATTI CAKE$

DIRECTOR: Geremy Jasper

PRODUCERS: Chris Columbus, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Noah Stahl, Rodrigo Teixeira

(Award given to the producer and director)

 

BEST DIRECTOR

 

Sean Baker, The Florida Project

Jonas Carpignano, A Ciambra

Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Good Time

Chloé Zhao, The Rider

 

BEST SCREENPLAY

 

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Azazel Jacobs, The Lovers

Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Mike White, Beatriz at Dinner

 

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

 

Kris Avedisian, Kyle Espeleta (story by), Jesse Wakeman (story by), Donald Cried

Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick

Ingrid Jungermann, Women Who Kill

Kogonada, Columbus

David Smith, Matt Spicer, Ingrid Goes West

 

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

 

DAYVEON

WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Amman Abbasi

WRITER: Steven Reneau

PRODUCERS: Lachion Buckingham, Alexander Uhlmann

A GHOST STORY

WRITER/DIRECTOR: David Lowery

PRODUCERS: Adam Donaghey, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston

LIFE AND NOTHING MORE

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Antonio Méndez Esparza

PRODUCERS: Amadeo Hernández Bueno, Alvaro Portanet Hernández, Pedro Hernández Santos

MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND

WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ana Asensio

PRODUCERS: Larry Fessenden, Noah Greenberg, Chadd Harbold, Jenn Wexler

THE TRANSFIGURATION

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael O’Shea

PRODUCER: Susan Leber

(Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; given to the writer, director and producer)

 

BEST MALE LEAD

 

Harris Dickinson, Beach Rats

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Robert Pattinson, Good Time

James Franco, The Disaster Artist

 

BEST FEMALE LEAD

 

Salma Hayek Pinault, Beatriz at Dinner

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Regina Williams, Life and Nothing More

Shinobu Terajima, Oh Lucy!

 

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

 

Nnamdi Asomugha, Crown Heights

Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name

Barry Keoghan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Benny Safdie, Good Time

 

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

 

Holly Hunter, The Big Sick

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Lois Smith, Marjorie Prime

Taliah Lennice Webster, Good Time

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

 

Thimios Bakatakis, The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Elisha Christian, Columbus

Hélène Louvart, Beach Rats

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me by Your Name

Joshua James Richards, The Rider

 

BEST EDITING

 

Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Good Time

Walter Fasano, Call Me by Your Name

Alex O’Flinn, The Rider

Gregory Plotkin, Get Out

Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya

 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

 

BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE) (France)

DIRECTOR: Robin Campillo

A FANTASTIC WOMAN (Chile)

DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio

I AM NOT A WITCH (UK)

DIRECTOR: Rungano Nyoni

LADY MACBETH (UK)

DIRECTOR: William Oldroyd

LOVELESS (Russia)

DIRECTOR: Andrey Zvyagintsev

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY

 

THE DEPARTURE

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Lana Wilson

FACES PLACES

DIRECTORS: Agnés Varda, JR

PRODUCER: Rosalie Varda

LAST MEN IN ALEPPO

DIRECTOR: Feras Fayyad

PRODUCERS: Kareem Abeed, Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos

MOTHERLAND

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ramona S. Diaz

PRODUCER: Rey Cuerdo

QUEST

DIRECTOR: Jonathan Olshefski

PRODUCER: Sabrina Schmidt Gordon

(Award given to the director and producer)

 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

 

MUDBOUND

DIRECTOR: Dee Rees

CASTING DIRECTORS: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram

ENSEMBLE CAST: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan

(Award given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

 

JEEP TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

 

THE CAGE FIGHTER

DIRECTOR: Jeff Unay

DISTANT CONSTELLATION           

DIRECTOR: Shevaun Mizrahi

QUEST

DIRECTOR: Jonathan Olshefski

(The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 23rd year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by the Jeep brand.) 

 

KIEHL’s SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

 

DAYVEON

DIRECTOR: Amman Abbasi

GOOK          

DIRECTOR: Justin Chon

SUPER DARK TIMES  

DIRECTOR: Kevin Phillips

(The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 24th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851.)

 

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

          

Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim

Ben LeClair

Summer Shelton

(The Producers Award, now in its 21st year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by Piaget.)

 

AMERICAN AIRLINES BONNIE AWARD

               

So Yong Kim

Lynn Shelton

Chloé Zhao

(Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the inaugural Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.)

 

Watch this morning’s press conference in its entirety below:

Want more? Aim those insatiable eyeballs of yours at the highlights below, featuring even more from Collins and Thompson. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel all awards season long for more Spirit Awards coverage!

But before you start filling out your awards ballot and planning your March 3 viewing party, it’s time for you to help determine this year’s winners.

Members of Film Independent who join by December 7 will enjoy all that our awards-season Membership privileges have to offer, including screeners of select nominated films and access to free theatrical screenings of ALL nominated films in Los Angeles (and don’t worry if you miss the December deadline—screenings and voting are open to all new Members joining before January 19.) Click here for more info. And for information on how to actually attend the Spirit Awards, click here.

The 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards happen Saturday, March 3 on the beach in Santa Monica and will be broadcast live on IFC at 2p/5e with returning hosts Nick Kroll and John Mulaney.

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow Film Independent on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest updates before, during and after the show itself. Now—go watch some movies!