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This year\u2019s Film Independent Spirit Awards stayed ahead of the Oscar curve once more, announcing their winners on Sunday, February 25 in the usual chilly white tent on the Santa Monica beach (and on YouTube). With Oscar voting not over until the evening of February 27, the winners at the 39th Spirits could gain valuable Oscar momentum.<\/p>\n
Host Aidy Bryant played to a warm crowd who chuckled at her jokes. The Spirits are \u201calso known as the bisexual Oscars,\u201d she said. Being an awards show host is tricky, she added, \u201cI could be panned, considered out of touch, and sexist, and potentially be slapped. Worst case: nobody mentions me.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she tried roasting the celebrities, she called \u201cMay December\u201d star Natalie Portman a \u201cstupid bitch,\u201d Sterling K. Brown \u201ca Stupid K. Bitch,\u201d and said of Charles Melton, \u201ceveryone wants to have sex with you, you stupid bitch\u201d and Greta Lee, \u201cyou are a slob and a slut and a stupid bitch. I\u2019m sorry, I am not a good roaster.\u201d The room ate it up.<\/p>\n
The A24 table was all smiles Sunday, winning Best Feature and Director for Celine Song\u2019s \u201cPast Lives,\u201d which is also up for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Original Screenplay. Song wrote from her own experience, she said. \u201cNow it\u2019s everyone\u2019s story. Thank you for letting me share what it is to be human, to love, and be loved.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s some overlap between the Indie Spirit voters and Academy membership. Oscar nominees tend to win Spirits, and sometimes go on to win Oscars as well. Last year, \u201cEverything Everywhere All at Once\u201d rode its seven Spirit wins into its Oscar sweep. This year\u2019s Oscar contenders cleaned up as well, but Film Independent voters spread the wealth among films under the $30-million budget cap: \u201cPast Lives,\u201d \u201cAmerican Fiction,\u201d \u201cThe Holdovers,\u201d and \u201cAnatomy of a Fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only did \u201cPast Lives\u201d win the top two awards (Best Feature and Best Director), but \u201cThe Holdovers\u201d won three. Globe, CCA, BAFTA, SAG, and inevitable Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph beat a gender-free field of ten, including fellow Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown (\u201cAmerican Fiction\u201d). After shouting out her costars, director Alexander Payne, and writer David Hemingson, Randolph said, \u201cIndependent films are the beating heart of this industry, and they are worth fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cHoldovers\u201d winners for Best Cinematography Eigil Bryld, and Breakthrough Performance Dominic Sessa, are not Oscar-nominated. College student Sessa thanked \u201cThe Holdovers\u201d casting director and his new agency CAA. \u201cI promise it\u2019s not all downhill from here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerican Fiction\u201d won Best Screenplay yet again for rookie director Cord Jefferson (winner of the BAFTA and CCA awards) and Best Lead Performance for Jeffrey Wright, who are both up for Oscars. Wright was the only Oscar nominee in the lineup of ten. \u201cI put so much of my life in this movie,\u201d said Jefferson. \u201cIt\u2019s probably the most vulnerable thing I have ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Wright, he\u2019s changing his mind about the grinding awards circuit. \u201cYou go to these awards shows, you tire of them, you get one and it changes the vibe!,\u201d he said, thanking MRC and Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman at T Street for backing their indie movie.<\/p>\n
Oscar nominee Samy Burch, winner of Best First Screenplay for \u201cMay December,\u201d brought a beaming smile from Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, who had been in the audience at Netflix\u2019s live launch of the SAG Awards Saturday night. Burch thanked Will Ferrell and Jessica Elbaum\u2019s Gloria Sanchez Productions, Killer Films\u2019 Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler (also producers of \u201cPast Lives\u201d), and Natalie Portman, who brought the film to director Todd Haynes.<\/p>\n
Justine Triet\u2019s courtroom drama \u201cAnatomy of a Fall,\u201d which is not France\u2019s submission for the Best International Feature Oscar, beat Jonathan Glazer\u2019s holocaust film \u201cThe Zone of Interest\u201d for Best International Film at the Spirits. Both movies have five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay. Triet said that her film was made in \u201cabsolute freedom,\u201d breaking old models. Glazer is expected to win Best International Feature and Sound; Triet could win Original Screenplay, but Hemingson is a strong rival.<\/p>\n
Best Documentary went to Tunisia\u2019s Kaouther Ben Hania\u2019s \u201cFour Daughters,\u201d a documentary Oscar nominee that shared the Best Documentary award at Cannes, won the Cesar and Lumiere Awards for Best Documentary.<\/p>\n
When Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner \u201cA Thousand and One\u201d (Focus) won Best First Feature, director A.V. Rockwell tearfully shared the award with Hollywood consultant and \u201ca dear friend of mine, Michael Latt. Michael believed in me. I share this award with my friend who I love and miss.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few folks on the stage signaled awareness of a pro-Palestinian protester with a blaster bullhorn (\u201cFree Palestine\u201d) behind the tent, which intruded noisily on the proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd life goes on outside the tent,\u201d said auteur Kelly Reichardt, accepting the Robert Altman casting award for \u201cShowing Up.\u201d<\/p>\n
View the full list of winners and this article at IndieWire<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards Winners Could Impact This Year\u2019s Oscar Voting: This year\u2019s Film Independent Spirit Awards stayed ahead of the Oscar curve once more, announcing their winners on Sunday, February 25 in the usual chilly white tent on the Santa Monica beach (and on YouTube). With Oscar voting not over until the
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