2019 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS – Winners

[UPDATED 2/25/19]

We’ve got spirit, yes we do. Independent Spirit. Like in, the awards. For indie films. You get what we mean. Anyway, the 2019 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS honored the year’s best films, filmmakers, and performers this weekend (see the full list of nominees and winners below). This year’s ceremony – hosted by Aubrey Plaza – aired live on IFC, and we were there for the party (and all that statue-handing-outing). Check out the full winners list and let us know what you were most excited to see take home a prize.

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2019 Spirit Awards Nominees & Winners:

Best Feature

• Eighth Grade
• First Reformed
• If Beale Street Could Talk – WINNER
• Leave No Trace
• You Were Never Really Here

Best First Feature

• Hereditary
• Sorry to Bother You – WINNER
• The Tale
• We the Animals
• Wildlife

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

• A Bread Factory
• En el Séptimo Día – WINNER
• Never Goin’ Back
• Socrates
• Thunder Road

Best Director

• Debra Granik (Leave No Trace)
• Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) – WINNER
• Tamara Jenkins (Private Life)
• Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here)
• Paul Schrader (First Reformed)

Best Female Lead

• Glenn Close (The Wife) – WINNER
• Toni Collette (Hereditary)
• Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade)
• Regina Hall (Support the Girls)
• Helena Howard (Madeline’s Madeline)
• Carey Mulligan (Wildlife)

Best Male Lead

• John Cho (Searching)
• Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting)
• Ethan Hawke (First Reformed) – WINNER
• Christian Malheiros (Socrates)
• Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here)

Best Supporting Female

• Kayli Carter (Private Life)
• Tyne Daly (A Bread Factory)
• Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) – WINNER
• Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (Leave No Trace)
• J. Smith-Cameron (Nancy)

Best Supporting Male

• Raúl Castillo (We the Animals)
• Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)
• Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) – WINNER
• Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade)
• John David Washington (Monsters and Men)

Best Screenplay

• Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, & Wash Westmoreland (Colette)
• Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whity (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) – WINNER
• Tamara Jenkins (Private Life)
• Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You)
• Paul Schrader (First Reformed)

Best First Screenplay

• Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade) – WINNER
• Christina Choe (Nancy)
• Cory Finley (Thoroughbreds)
• Jennifer Fox (The Tale)
• Quinn Shephard & Laurie Shephard (Blame)

Best Cinematography

• Ashley Connor (Madeline’s Madeline)
• Diego Garcia (Wildlife)
• Benjamin Loeb (Mandy)
• Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Suspiria) – WINNER
• Zak Mulligan (We the Animals)

Best Editing

• Joe Bini (You Were Never Really Here) – WINNER
• Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, & Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals)
• Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, & Julian Hart (American Animals)
• Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, & Gary Levy (The Tale)
• Nick Houy (Mid90s)

Best International Feature

• Burning (South Korea)
• The Favourite (United Kingdom)
• Happy as Lazzaro (Italy)
• Roma (Mexico) – WINNER
• Shoplifters (Japan)

Best Documentary

• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
• Minding the Gap
• Of Fathers and Sons
• On Her Shoulders
• Shirkers
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – WINNER

Robert Altman Award (for best ensemble casting)

• Suspiria – WINNER

2019 Spirit Awards Grants:

Someone to Watch Award

• Alex Moratto (Socrates) – WINNER
• Ioana Uricaru (Lemonade)
• Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals)

Producers Award

• Jonathan Duffy & Kelly Williams
• Gabrielle Nadig
• Shrihari Sathe – WINNER

Truer Than Fiction Award

• Alexandria Bombach (On Her Shoulders)
• Bing Liu (Minding the Gap) – WINNER
• RaMell Ross (Hale County This Morning, This Evening)

American Airlines Bonnie Award

• Debra Granik – WINNER
• Tamara Jenkins
• Karyn Kusama

CONGRATS TO ALL OF THIS YEAR’S WINNERS!

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