Sean Baker鈥檚 odyssey of a New York stripper, and Jane Schoenbrun鈥檚 psychological horror dominated nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards with six nods each, including best film and best director. The nonprofit organization announced nominations Wednesday on a YouTube livestream.
Three actors in which won , were also singled out for their performances including Mikey Madison鈥檚 leading turn and Yura Borisov and Karren Karagulian鈥檚 supporting turns. Acting categories for the Spirit Awards are gender neutral and include 10 actors each. 鈥淚 Saw the TV Glow鈥檚鈥� Justice Smith was nominated in lead and Brigette Lundy-Paine in supporting.
Also nominated for best feature film were RaMell Ross鈥檚 Colson Whitehead adaptation 鈥淣ickel Boys,鈥� Greg Kwedar鈥檚 incarceration drama 鈥淪ing Sing鈥� and Coralie Fargeat鈥檚 body horror 鈥淭he Substance.鈥�
In the best director category, in addition to Baker and Schoenbrun, nominees included Brady Corbet for its sole nomination despite its big showing with the this week, Ali Abbasi for and Alonso Ruizpalacios for 鈥淟a Cocina.鈥� Sebastian Stan was also recognized for his turn as a young Donald Trump in 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥� in the lead performing category, but not for 鈥淎 Different Man.鈥�
Other lead performers who got nods include Amy Adams for 鈥淣ightbitch,鈥� Colman Domingo for Demi Moore for 鈥淗unter Schafer for 鈥淐uckoo,鈥� Keith Kupferer for 鈥淕hostlight鈥� and Ryan Destiny for 鈥淭he Fire Inside.鈥�
The supporting category also included both newcomers and veterans: (鈥淎 Real Pain鈥�), (鈥淏etween the Temples鈥�), (鈥淪ing Sing鈥�), (鈥淎 Different Man,鈥� ), Joan Chen (鈥淒矛di鈥�), Danielle Deadwyler (鈥淭he Piano Lesson鈥�) and Kani Kusruti (鈥淕irls Will Be Girls鈥�).
Sometimes the Spirit Awards overlap significantly with major Oscar contenders and winners, as in the year, and sometimes not. included Celine Song鈥檚 and Cord Jefferson鈥檚 The awards limit eligibility to productions with budgets of $30 million or less, meaning more expensive productions like and were not in the running.
International film nominees were: Payal Kapadia鈥檚 which India did not select to represent the country at the Oscars, 鈥淏lack Dog,鈥� from China, the animated adventure 鈥淔low,鈥� Agnieszka Holland鈥檚 鈥淕reen Border,鈥� and Netflix movies 鈥淓milia P茅rez鈥� and 鈥淢aria鈥� were eligible only for international feature, but neither made the cut.
The Robert Altman Award, recognizing an ensemble cast, went to Azazel Jacobs鈥� moving portrait of three women, played by Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen, whose father is in hospice.
The Spirit Awards also recognize new fiction and non-fiction television series, where nominees include the Netflix phenomenon 鈥淏aby Reindeer,鈥� 鈥淪h艒gun鈥� and 鈥淩en Fair.鈥�
The organization, which switched to gender neutral acting categories in 2022, said that of all the nominees, 46% are women and 30% are people of color. Like last year, the independent film studio A24 dominated with 19 nominations for releases like 鈥淚 Saw the TV Glow,鈥� 鈥淪ing Sing鈥� and 鈥淭he Brutalist.鈥�
The Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Santa Monica, California, and streamed live on IMDb and Film Independent鈥檚 YouTube channels. Comedian Aidy Bryant will return to host.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
