“Long live independent cinema!” shouted Sean Baker in the final moments of the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday. The Anora director was onstage celebrating his film’s third win of the night, for best feature film. Earlier, he’d won the award for best director and his film’s star, Mikey Madison, won for lead performer.
Baker seemed quite at home onstage at the awards event that honors independent film – as he should as a self-proclaimed “indie film lifer.” Baker, who has made all his films independently, spoke passionately during his acceptance speech for best director about the need for more financial support for independent film and indie filmmakers.
Anora, which has solidified itself as the Oscar frontrunner for best picture after winning the DGA and PGA Awards, was always expected to do well at the Indie Spirits, but with just one week to go until the Oscars, it feels like the film is now almost unstoppable.
Other Oscar contenders also won on Saturday, including A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin for supporting performer (though he wasn’t in attendance) and Jesse Eisenberg for the film’s screenplay.
But the indie spirit awards, held in a tent at the Santa Monica pier, are also an opportunity to award smaller films that missed out on Oscar nominations, like Didi, which won awards for best first feature and first screenplay, and Maisy Stella who won for her breakout performance in My Old Ass.
The full list of winners is below:
Best Feature
Anora (NEON)
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
Best Director
Sean Baker, Anora (NEON)
Best Screenplay
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Best First Feature
Dìdi (Focus Features)
Director: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters
Best First Screenplay
Sean Wang, Dìdi (Focus Features)
John Cassavetes Award
(for best feature made under $1,000,000)
Girls Will Be Girls (Juno Films)
Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne
Best Breakthrough Performance
Maisy Stella, My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
Best Supporting Performance
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Best Lead Performance
Mikey Madison, Anora (NEON)
Robert Altman Award
His Three Daughters (Netflix)
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders
Best Cinematography
Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys (Amazon MGM Studios)
Best Editing
Hansjörg Weissbrich, September 5 (Paramount Pictures)
Best International Film
Flow (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Best Documentary
No Other Land
Director: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producer: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
Someone to Watch
Sarah Friedland, Familiar Touch
Truer Than Fiction
Rachel Elizabeth Seed, A Photographic Memory
Producers Award
Sarah Winshall
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Best New Scripted Series
Shōgun (FX)
Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michael Clavell
Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Jamie Vega Wheeler
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
Hollywood Black (MGM+)
Executive Producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhard
Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
How to Die Alone (Hulu)
Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims
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