Awards season is here again already… and not a moment too soon. The push toward the end of calendar year 2018 has already been an eventful one, with a nail-biting national election punctuated by surprise, subterfuge and sudden reversals of fortune—the stuff of Hollywood screenplays, basically. And soon, yet another voting body will get the chance to assert its will, determining the winners of the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Not quite as life-and-death as that other election, perhaps, but just try telling that to your distributor.

The 2019 Film Independent Spirit Award nominees were announced this morning at the W Hotel in Hollywood, presented by Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians, Mary Queen of Scots) and Molly Shannon (Other People, Private Life) and featuring yet another diverse group of talented creators with a shared belief in the power and promise of independent storytelling.

The 2019 Spirit Awards will be held February 23, 2019 at its usual spot on the beach in Santa Monica and broadcast live on IFC. To vote for the winners of this year’s awards, become a Film Independent Member by December 6 for full voter benefits—including screeners and access to our Member screening series n Los Angeles.

Okay! Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s meet this year’s nominees…

 

BEST FEATURE

EIGHTH GRADE

Producers: Eli Bush, Scott Rudin, Christopher Storer, Lila Yacoub

FIRST REFORMED

Producers: Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Producers: Dede Gardner, Barry Jenkins, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski

LEAVE NO TRACE

Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Producers: Rosa Attab, Pascal Caucheteux, Rebecca O’Brien, Lynne Ramsay, James Wilson

(Award given to the producer)

 

BEST FIRST FEATURE

HEREDITARY

Director: Ari Aster

Producers: Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen, Buddy Patrick

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Director: Boots Riley

Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, Forest Whitaker, Kelly Williams

THE TALE

Director/Producer: Jennifer Fox

Producers: Oren Moverman, Laura Rister, Mynette Louie, Simone Pero, Lawrence Inglee, Sol Bondy, Regina K. Scully, Lynda Weinman, Reka Posta

WE THE ANIMALS

Director: Jeremiah Zagar

Producers: Andrew Goldman, Christina D. King, Paul Mezey, Jeremy Yaches

WILDLIFE

Director/Producer: Paul Dano

Producers: Andrew Duncan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Oren Moverman, Ann Ruark, Alex Saks

(Award given to the producer and director)

 

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk

Debra Granik, Leave No Trace

Tamara Jenkins, Private Life

Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here

 

BEST SCREENPLAY

Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Richard Glatzer (writer, story by), Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Wash Westmoreland, Colette

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

Tamara Jenkins, Private Life

Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You

 

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Quinn Shephard (writer, story by), Laurie Shephard (story by), Blame

Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade

Christina Choe, Nancy

Jennifer Fox, The Tale

Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds

 

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

A BREAD FACTORY

Writer/Director/Producer: Patrick Wang

Producers: Daryl Freimark, Matt Miller

EN EL SÉPTIMO DÍA

Writer/Director/Producer: Jim McKay

Producers: Alex Bach, Lindsey Cordero, Caroline Kaplan, Michael Stipe

NEVER GOIN’ BACK

Writer/Director: Augustine Frizzell

Producers: Liz Cardenas, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston

SÓCRATES

Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Moratto

Writer: Thayná Mantesso

Producers: Ramin Bahrani, Jefferson Paulino, Tammy Weiss

THUNDER ROAD

Writer/Director: Jim Cummings

Producers: Natalie Metzger, Zack Parker, Benjamin Weissner

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

 

BEST MALE LEAD

Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting

Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

John Cho, Searching

Christian Malheiros, Sócrates

Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here

 

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

Toni Collette, Hereditary

Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline

Regina Hall, Support the Girls

Glenn Close, The Wife

Carey Mulligan, Wildlife

 

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Adam Driver, BLACKkKLANSMAN

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade

John David Washington, Monsters and Men

Raúl Castillo, We the Animals

 

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Tyne Daly, A Bread Factory

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace

J. Smith-Cameron, Nancy

Kayli Carter, Private Life

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ashley Connor, Madeline’s Madeline

Benjamin Loeb, Mandy

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria

Zak Mulligan, We the Animals

Diego Garcia, Wildlife

 

BEST EDITING

Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, Julian Hart, American Animals

Nick Houy, Mid90s

Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, Gary Levy, The Tale

Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals

Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here

 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

BURNING (South Korea)

Director: Lee Chang-Dong

HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)

Director: Alice Rohrwacher

ROMA (Mexico)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)

Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu

THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING

Director/Producer: RaMell Ross

Producer: Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim

MINDING THE GAP

Director/Producer: Bing Liu

Producer: Diane Quon

OF FATHERS AND SONS

Director: Talal Derki

Producers: Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert

ON HER SHOULDERS

Director: Alexandria Bombach

Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams

SHIRKERS

Director/Producer: Sandi Tan

Producers: Jessica Levin, Maya E. Rudolph

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

Director/Producer: Morgan Neville

Producer: Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma

(Award given to the director and producer)

 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

SUSPIRIA

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Casting Directors: Avy Kaufman, Stella Savino

Ensemble Cast: Malgosia Bela, Ingrid Caven, Lutz Ebersdorf, Elena Fokina, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Dakota Johnson, Gala Moody, Chloë Grace Moretz, Fabrizia Sacchi, Renée Soutendijk, Tilda Swinton, Sylvie Testud, Angela Winkler

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

 

BONNIE AWARD SPONSORED BY AMERICAN AIRLINES        

Karyn Kusama

Tamara Jenkins

Debra Granik

(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 second annual Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.)

 

PRODUCERS AWARD  

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams

Gabrielle Nadig

Shrihari Sathe

(The Producers Award, now in its 22nd 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.)

 

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

LEMONADE

Director: Ioana Uricaru

SÓCRATES

Director: Alex Moratto

WE THE ANIMALS

Director: Jeremiah Zagar

(The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 25th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted.)

 

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING

Director: RaMell Ross

MINDING THE GAP

Director: Bing Liu

ON HER SHOULDERS

Director: Alexandria Bombach

(The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 24th 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.) 

 

Watch the entire press conference below and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel all season long for more Spirit Awards coverage.

More highlights…

Pretty awesome, eh? And only you can help determine this year’s winners. Members of Film Independent who join by December 6 will enjoy our complete suite of Spirit Awards benefits, including screeners of select nominated films and access to free theatrical screenings of ALL nominated films in LA.

To see who else is nominated at this year’s 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards click here. The 2019 Film Independent Sprit Awards will be held Saturday, February 23 back on the beach in Santa Monica and broadcast live EXCLUSIVELY on IFC at 5:00pm ET / 2:00pm PT.

The 2019 Spirit Awards is sponsored by Premier Sponsors American Airlines, AT&T, IFC and Subaru of America, Inc. Rocket Mortgage® by Quicken Loans® is the Official Sponsor of the Voting Process. FIJI Water is the Official Water. Hangar One Vodka and Maestro Dobel Tequila are the Official Spirits. JNSQ Wines is the Official Wine. Getty Images is the Official Photographer. Town & Country Event Rentals is the Exclusive Rental Company.