Who were the big winners at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards, presented on Sunday, March 6, at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California? Scroll down for the complete list of results in all categories, updated throughout the ceremony as the awards were handed out.
These awards are unique in that they are limited to American films made for under $20 million; films made outside the United States are eligible for Best International Feature. And the awards are decided in two stages. In the first round, committees of film professionals, experts, and critics choose the nominees. In the second round, the entire Film Independent membership gets to vote for the winners. Members include industry insiders, but also anyone in the general public who wish to pay yearly dues starting at $95 per year.
The Oscars have had more of an independent spirit themselves in recent years, rewarding lower-budget, quirkier films than they have in the past. Both groups chose “The Artist” (2011), “12 Years a Slave” (2013), “Birdman” (2014), “Spotlight” (2015), “Moonlight” (2016), and “Nomadland” (2020) as their best film. This year, however, the nominating committee went their own way: none of this year’s Best Feature contenders are up for Best Picture at the Oscars, and only two actors were recognized at both events — supporting actor Troy Kotsur (“CODA“) and supporting actress Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter“). So how did that affect the winners? Find out below.
BEST FEATURE
A Chiara
C’mon C’mon
X — The Lost Daughter
The Novice
Zola
BEST DIRECTOR
Janicza Bravo, Zola
X — Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Lauren Hadaway, The Novice
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon
Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure
BEST ACTRESS
Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice
Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern
Patti Harrison, Together Together
X — Taylour Paige, Zola
Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One
BEST ACTOR
Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey
Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian
Udo Kier, Swan Song
X — Simon Rex, Red Rocket
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth, The Novice
X — Ruth Negga, Passing
Revika Anne Reustle, Pleasure
Suzanna Son, Red Rocket
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Colman Domingo, Zola
Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory
X — Troy Kotsur, CODA
Will Patton, Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian
BEST SCREENPLAY
C’mon C’mon, Mike Mills
X — The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Swan Song, Todd Stephens
Together Together, Nikole Beckwith
Zola, Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang, Blue Bayou
Lol Crawley, The Humans
Tim Curtin, A Chiara
X — Edu Grau, Passing
Ari Wegner, Zola
BEST FILM EDITING
Affonso Gonçalves, A Chiara
Ali Greer, The Nowhere Inn
Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent, The Novice
X — Joi McMillon, Zola
Enrico Natale, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Flee
In the Same Breath
Procession
X — Summer of Soul
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Compartment No. 6
X — Drive My Car
Parallel Mothers
Pebbles
Petite Maman
Prayers for the Stolen
BEST FIRST FEATURE
X — 7 Days
Holler
Queen Glory
Test Pattern
Wild Indian
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr., Wild Indian
Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown, Cicada
Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern
Fran Kranz, Mass
X — Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski, Pig
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to director, casting director and ensemble cast)
X — Mass
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Best feature made for under $500,000)
Cryptozoo
Jockey
X — Shiva Baby
Sweet Thing
This is Not a War Story
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Angelo Madsen Minax, North By Current
X — Jessica Beshir, Faya Dayi
Debbie Lum, Try Harder!
SOMEONE TO WATCH
X — Alex Camilleri, Luzzu
Michael Sarnoski, Pig
Gillian Wallace Horvat, I Blame Society
PRODUCERS AWARD
Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
X — Lizzie Shapiro
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Blindspotting
It’s a Sin
X — Reservation Dogs
The Underground Railroad
We Are Lady Parts
BEST NEW NON-FICTION/DOCUMENTARY SERIES
X — Black and Missing
The Choe Show
The Lady and the Dale
Nuclear Family
Philly D.A.
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Olly Alexander – It’s a Sin as Ritchie Tozer
Murray Bartlett – The White Lotus as Armond
Michael Greyeyes – Rutherford Falls as Terry Thomas
X — Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game as Seong Gi-hun
Ashley Thomas – Them: Covenant as Henry Emory
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Deborah Ayorinde – Them: Covenant as Livia “Lucky” Emory
Jasmine Cephas Jones – Blindspotting as Ashley Rose
X — Thuso Mbedu – The Underground Railroad as Cora Randall
Jana Schmieding – Rutherford Falls as Reagan Wells
Anjana Vasan – We Are Lady Parts as Amina
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
X — Reservation Dogs
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