The film industry, along with some television creatives, gathered in Santa Monica to celebrate four decades of independent cinema at the 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards. Hosted by Aidy Bryant, the event featured a psychic skit with Julio Torres and saw Sean Baker’s “Anora” sweep the awards, winning Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison.
In addition to “Anora,” other winners included Jesse Eisenberg for Best Screenplay in “A Real Pain” and Kieran Culkin for Best Supporting Performance. The John Cassavetes Award went to “Girls Will Be Girls,” while “No Other Land” won Best Documentary and “Flow” took home the prize for Best International Film.
On the television side, “Baby Reindeer” was a big winner, taking home three awards, including acting honors for Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning, and Nava Mau. The canceled Hulu series “How To Die Alone” also received recognition.
This year’s Spirit Awards marked the first ceremony since the passing of longtime president Josh Welsh. Attendees paid tribute to Welsh with a spontaneous standing ovation.
The winners of this year’s awards are as follows:
– Best Feature: “Anora” (Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan)
– Best First Feature: “Didi” (Director/Producer: Sean Wang)
– John Cassavetes Award: “Girls Will Be Girls” (Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati)
– Best Director: Sean Baker – “Anora”
– Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg – “A Real Pain”
– Best First Screenplay: Sean Wang – “Didi”
– Best Lead Performance: Mikey Madison – “Anora”
– Best Supporting Performance: Kieran Culkin – “A Real Pain”
– Best Breakthrough Performance: Maisy Stella – “My Old Ass”
– Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray – “Nickel Boys”
– Best Editing: Hansjörg Weissbrich – “September 5”
– Best Documentary: “No Other Land” (Directors/Producers: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor)
– Best International Film: “Flow” (Director: Gints Zilbalodis)
The Spirit Awards also recognized emerging talent with awards such as the Producers Award, Someone to Watch Award, and Truer Than Fiction Award. Additionally, new non-scripted and scripted series were honored, with “Hollywood Black” taking home the award for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series, and “Shōgun” winning Best New Scripted Series.
In the scripted series categories, Richard Gadd won Best Lead Performance for “Baby Reindeer,” while Nava Mau was awarded Best Supporting Performance for “Baby Reindeer.” Jessica Gunning won Best Breakthrough Performance for the same series, and the ensemble cast of “How to Die Alone” was recognized as the Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.
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