2016 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS – Nominees & Winners

The 2016 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS took place on Saturday, February 27, in Santa Monica, celebrating the best indie movies, filmmakers, and performances of the year. The show aired live on IFC, hosted by Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani. Highlights included spot-on parodies of Carol and Room, which are definitely worth a look.

More juicy details from the event (like who sat at our table) can be found in Darrien’s awards season recap. And be sure to check out the full list of 2016 Spirit Award nominees and winners below.

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2016 Spirit Award Nominees & Winners:

Best Feature

• Anomalisa
• Beasts of No Nation
• Carol
• Spotlight – WINNER
• Tangerine

Best First Feature

• The Diary of a Teenage Girl – WINNER
• James White
• Manos Sucias
• Mediterranea
• Songs My Brothers Taught Me

John Cassavetes Award
(for best film made for under $500,000)

• Advantageous
• Christmas, Again
• Heaven Knows What
• Krisha – WINNER
• Out of My Hand

Best Director

• Sean Baker (Tangerine)
• Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)
• Todd Haynes (Carol)
• Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson (Anomalisa)
• Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) – WINNER
• David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)

Best Screenplay

• Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)
• Donald Margulies (The End of the Tour)
• Phyllis Nagy (Carol)
• Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight) – WINNER
• S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk)

Best First Screenplay

• Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
• Jonas Carpignano (Mediterranea)
• Emma Donoghue (Room) – WINNER
• Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)
• John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, and Myna Joseph (The Mend)

Best Cinematography

• Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)
• Mike Gioulakis (It Follows)
• Edward Lachman (Carol) – WINNER
• Reed Morano (Meadowland)
• Joshua James Richards (Songs My Brothers Taught Me)

Best Editing

• Ronald Bronstein and Ben Safdie (Heaven Knows What)
• Tom McArdle (Spotlight) – WINNER
• Nathan Nugent (Room)
• Julio Perez IV (It Follows)
• Kristan Sprague (Manos Sucias)

Best Male Lead

• Christopher Abbott (James White)
• Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation) – WINNER
• Ben Mendelsohn (Mississippi Grind)
• Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)
• Koudous Seihon (Mediterranea)

Best Female Lead

• Cate Blanchett (Carol)
• Brie Larson (Room) – WINNER
• Rooney Mara (Carol)
• Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)
• Kitana Kiki Rodriguez (Tangerine)

Best Supporting Male

• Kevin Corrigan (Results)
• Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
• Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) – WINNER
• Richard Jenkins (Bone Tomahawk)
• Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Best Supporting Female

• Robin Bartlett (H.)
• Marin Ireland (Glass Chin)
• Jennifer Jason Leigh (Anomalisa)
• Cynthia Nixon (James White)
• Mya Taylor (Tangerine) – WINNER

Best International Feature

• Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
• Girlhood (France)
• Mustang (France)
• A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence (Sweden)
• Son of Saul (Hungary) – WINNER

Best Documentary

• (T)ERROR
• Best of Enemies
• Heart of a Dog
• The Look of Silence – WINNER
• Meru
• The Russian Woodpecker

Robert Altman Award
(for best ensemble casting)

• Spotlight

Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award

• Chloé Zhao (Songs My Brothers Taught Me)
• Felix Thompson (King Jack) – WINNER
• Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck (God Bless the Child)

Piaget Producers Award

• Darren Dean
• Mel Eslyn – WINNER
• Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith

LensCrafters Truer Than Fiction Award

• A Woman Like Me
• Incorruptible – WINNER
• Among the Believers

CONGRATS TO ALL THE NOMINEES AND WINNERS! WHAT WERE YOUR SPIRIT AWARD HIGHLIGHTS?

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