As we gear up for the big afternoon on the beach this Saturday, now’s a great time to get to know your nominees. Hopefully you’ve seen their films, and if you’re a Film Independent member, watched your screeners and voted too. But there’s nothing quite like hearing about the process from the creative minds themselves.

That’s exactly what we did with this year’s Directors Close-Up, where we brought together the nominees from some of the top filmmaking categories, to talk shop. Over two weeks this February, we held Zoom sessions for our members, where these creators tell how exactly they got their projects off the ground, the creative choices they made, and what inspires them.

If you missed them live, we’ve got you covered. Let’s take a look at all the action from this year’s Directors Close-Up:

SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE

The directors of this year’s Best Feature & Best Director nominees talk about collaboration over video calls in Sing Sing, interviewing real immigrant cooks for La Cocina, the visceral sound design of The Substance, having an outsider perspective for The Apprentice, what draws us to screens in I Saw the TV Glow, and questioning perspective and representation in Nickel Boys.

FEATURING: Ali Abbasi, (The Apprentice), Coralie Fargeat (The Substance), Greg Kwedar (Sing Sing), RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys), Alonso Ruizpalacios, (La Cocina), Jane Schoenbrun, (I Saw the TV Glow).

Moderated by Jennifer Wilson (Senior Programmer, Film Independent)

 

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

The creators of this year’s Best New Scripted Series nominees talk about being scrappy and maxing out credit cards for Shōgun, the reality of product placement and budgets in Diarra From Detroit, the benefits of writing and directing yourself in Baby Reindeer and Fantasmas, and the joy of collaborating in a writers room in English Teacher.

FEATURING: Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer), Brian Jordan Alvarez (English Teacher), Diarra Kilpatrick (Diarra From Detroit), Rachel Kondo (Shōgun), Justin Marks (Shōgun), Julio Torres, (Fantasmas).

Moderated by Wendy Calhoun (Writer/EP; Prodigal Son, Empire)

 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

This year’s Best International Film nominees discuss music driving and even changing the story in Flow, how the star of the film ended up adopting a ‘canine actor’ after production of Black Dog, making a film your government doesn’t want you to in Green Border, and finding the universal in specific details in All We Imagine as Light.

FEATURING: Agnieszka Holland, (Green Border), Guan Hu (Black Dog), Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light),Gints Zilbalodis, (Flow).

Moderated by Robert Abele (President, Los Angeles Film Critics Association)

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

The creators of this year’s Best Documentary nominees talk about taking time to know the participants and to get the shot in Gaucho Gaucho, recontextualizing historical figures in Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, pointing the camera at yourself in Hummingbirds, and working a camera into a preexisting relationship in Patrice: The Movie.

FEATURING: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños (Hummingbirds), Michael Dweck (Gaucho Gaucho), Johan Grimonprez (Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat), Gregory Kershaw (Gaucho Gaucho), Ted Passon (Patrice: The Movie).

Moderated by David Wilson (Co-Founder True/False Film Fest)

 

BEST FIRST FEATURE

The Best First Feature nominees talk about taking the right notes for your film in Janet Planet, writing out your feelings on theme for The Piano Lesson, how the unique details add up to make a film stand out for Didi, being ok with the not knowing in Problemista, and betting on yourself in In the Summers.

FEATURING: Annie Baker Janet Planet), Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio (In the Summers), Julio Torres (Problemista), Sean Wang (Didi), Malcolm Washington (The Piano Lesson).

Moderated by Shelby Stone (Executive Producer, The Chi)

 

JOHN CASSEVETES AWARD 

 Casting in the location in Jazzy, building a community of artists for The People’s Joker, the alchemy of casting in Girls Will Be Girls, collaborating with actors on Ghostlight, and making sure characters sound authentic in Big Boys are just a few of the topics covered with the nominees for the John Cassavetes Award.

FEATURING: Vera Drew (The People’s Joker), Morrisa Maltz (Jazzy), Kelly O’Sullivan (Ghostlight), Corey Sherman (Big Boys), Shuchi Talati (Girls Will Be Girls), Alex Thompson (Ghostlight).

Moderated by Darrien Michele Gipson (Executive Director, SAGindie)

 

BEST SCREENPLAY 

 The Best Screenplay nominees talk knowing your story in My Old Ass, years of researching world religions for Heretic, finding your own structure with A Different Man, and finding the right setting for a character story with A Real Pain.

FEATURING: Scott Beck (Heretic), Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain), Megan Park (My Old Ass), Aaron Schimberg (A Different Man), Bryan Woods (Heretic).

Moderated by Daniel Waters (Writer; Heathers, Batman Returns)

 

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

The creators of this year’s Best First Screenplay nominees speak about using screens cinematically in Didi, opposites attracting in Problemista, taking a new look at the single-mother/child relationship in Janet Planet, creating different rules for different chapters of The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed, and balancing dialogue and action in Good One.

FEATURING: Joanna Arnow (The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed), Annie Baker (Janet Planet), India Donaldson (Good One), Julio Torres (Problemista), Sean Wang (Didi).

Moderated by Ritesh Mehta (Freelance Journalist and Critic, Indiewire)