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The nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards in cinema and television are now known. What do they mean for “May December” and “Past Lives”’s Oscar chances?
On December 5th, the Independent Spirit Awards revealed its nominations in film and television. Since 1984 this ceremony so characteristic of award season is carried out and aims to distinguish the best of the independent scene.
This year, there was room for some inclusions to films least rated of the season like “A Thousand and One” or “Theater Camp” and for great candidates like “Past Lives”“May December” It is “American Fiction”who lead the nominations with five mentions each.
In a year when the race for the Oscars is about to be between big-budget films like “Oppenheimer”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” It is “Barbie”the Spirit Awards put the focus on another type of competitors who so much need to be elevated in this conversation.
Looking at “American Fiction”, the film that took predictions by storm when it surprised and won the Toronto Festival. Since “Guide for a happy end” in 2012 that all the winners of this award appear in the category of Best movie.
The sharp satire of Cord Jefferson has won the criticism and cemented his place in the race. Us Golden Globethe film won nominations in the categories of Comedy/Musical for Best Film and Best Actor (Jeffrey Wright). It was expected that it would get a place in the Best Screenplay category, but without the separation of Original and Adapted it was expected to be difficult to achieve.
However, the Spirit Awards were more generous and found space to honor the film in other categories such as Best Supporting Performance (Sterling K. Brown It is Erika Alexander) and Best Argument. It remains to be seen whether Brown or Alexander will be able to repeat the feat in any of the televised precursors.
For now, there is no reason to doubt that “American Fiction” will be a constant presence throughout the season and in Oscars.
In a more fragile position is “May December – Secrets of a Scandal”, the film by Todd Haynes which was warmly received in Cannes but who has demonstrated a much higher level of passion that could catapult him into the race.
At the center of this passion is its cast: Natalie Portman, Charles Melton It is Julianne Moore. They were all recognized in the Golden Globe nominations, however Moore was not invited to the Spirit Awards party.
At this moment, Melton, who has already won the Gotham It is NYFCCit seems the strongest bet for the film to appear at the Oscars, in the GoldDerby Moore comes in 5th and Portman in 9th, behind Greta Lee (“Past Lives”) and Annette Bening (“Nyad“).
The film’s other chance is Argumento, which was recognized here in the Best First Screenplay category, and won NYFCC. At the moment, the Original Screenplay category is less populated than Adapted Screenplay and there is room for Sammy Burch to get a spot. At the moment, it appears in 6th place, behind “Conductor”.
Todd Haynes’ recognition in his category occurred at the Spirit Awards but should not be repeated in Oscars.
With passion on his side, “May December” has everything it takes to become Haynes’ first film (“Carol”) to win a nomination for Best Film, depending on whether this passion spreads to other precursors such as PGA, SAG or BAFTA.
“Past Lives” is the big favorite at the Spirit Awards, has already won the Gotham and has been the highlight when it comes to independent cinema. In the Oscar race, there are still some doubts about whether it will be able to transform this acclaim into an Academy nomination, but so far the film has not failed at all and has even surprised.
Both here and at the Globes, it won Best Film, Actress for Greta Lee, Director and Screenplay for Celine Song. The only difference was that Teo Yoo was not recognized by the Globes.
The fact that “Past Lives” did so well at the Globes proves that the film’s presence may not just be a criticism. It’s still too early to understand whether the more populist groups (PGA, SAG) will embrace the film, but so far everything seems headed towards a very happy season for fans of the work that won over the audience at Sundance.
THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS NOMINEES IN CINEMA
BEST FIRST FILM
BEST DOCUMENTARY
BETTER INTERNATIONAL FILM
BEST DIRECTOR
BETTER PROTAGONIST PERFORMANCE
- Jessica Chastain, Memory
- Greta Lee, Past Lives
- Trace Lysette, Monica
- Natalie Portman, May December: Secrets of a Scandal
- Judy Reyes, Birth/Rebirth
- Franz Rogowski, Passages
- Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
- Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One
- Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
- Teo Yoo, Past Lives
BETTER SECONDARY PERFORMANCE
- Erika Alexander, American Fiction
- Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
- Noah Galvin, Theater Camp
- Anne Hathaway, Eileen
- Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry
- Marin Ireland, Eileen
- Charles Melton, May December: Secrets of a Scandal
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The excluded ones
- Catalina Saavedra, Rotting in the Sun
- Ben Whishaw, Passages
AWARD REVELATION
BETTER ARGUMENT
BEST FIRST ARGUMENT
- Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik, May December: Secrets of a Scandal
- Noah Galvin/ Molly Gordon/ Nick Lieberman/ Ben Platt, Theater Camp
- Tomás Gómez Bustillo, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
- Laurel Parmet, The Starling Girl
- Alejandro Rojas & Juan Sebastián Vásquez, Upon Entry
BETTER ASSEMBLY
- Santiago Cendejas/ Gabriel Díaz/ Sofía Subercaseaux, Rotting in the Sun
- Stephanie Filo, We Grown Now
- Daniel Garber, How to Blow Up a Pipeline
- Jon Philpot, Theater Camp
- Emanuele Tiziani, Upon Entry
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY
- Katelin Arizmendi, Monica
- Eigil Bryld, The excluded ones
- Jomo Fray, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
- Pablo Lozano, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
- Pat Scola, We Grown Now
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Showing Up
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Director of casting: Gayle Keller
Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd HirschHeather Lawless, James Le Gros, John MagaroMatt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, michelle williams
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS NOMINEES ON TELEVISION
BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY SERIES
BEST NEW SERIES (FICTION)
BEST PROTAGONIST PERFORMANCE IN A NEW FICTION SERIES
- Emma Corrin, A Murder at the End of the World
- Dominique Fishback, Swarm
- Betty Gilpin, Mrs Davis
- Jharrel Jerome, I’m a Virgo
- Zoe Lister-Jones, Slip
- Bel Powley, A Small Light
- Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
- Ramón Rodríguez, Will Trent
- Ali Wong, Beef
- Steven Yeun, Beef
BEST SECONDARY PERFORMANCE IN A NEW FICTION SERIES
- Murray Bartlett, The Last of Us
- Billie Eilish, Swarm
- Jack Farthing, Rain Dogs
- Nick Offerman, The Last of Us
- Adina Porter, The Changeling
- Lewis Pullman, Lessons in Chemistry
- Benny Safdie, The Curse
- Luke Tennie, Shrinking
- Olivia Washington, I’m a Virgo
- Jessica Williams, Shrinking
REVELATION AWARD IN NEW FICTION SERIES
BETTER CAST IN NEW FICTION SERIES
Cast: Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk FoxRoss Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James MarsdenEdy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, and Evan Williams
Are you satisfied with these Independent Spirit Awards nominations?
