The nominations for the 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards were revealed early Tuesday morning and a number of major Oscar contenders saw themselves get a nice indie boost. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” led all films with 8 nominations followed by “TAR” with 7 nods and “Aftersun” with five nods. 2022 winner Taylour Paige and 2019 nominee Raul Castillo made the announcement.
READ MORE: Spirit Awards go gender-neutral and increase qualifying budget cap
In the prestigious Best Feature category, “Everything Everywhere” and “TAR” were joined by “Women Talking,” “Bones and All” and, in something of a head-scratcher, “Our Father, the Devil,” which won the Best Narrative Feature at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.
In the Frist Feature category, “Aftersun,” “The Inspection,” “Murina,” “Emily the Criminal” and “Palm Trees and Power Lines” were all recognized.
It’s notable that Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” which earned two Gotham Award nominations, was completely snubbed in all categories. This was also the first time in recent memory that Netflix did not land one nomination. It should be noted that “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “She Said” and “Triangle of Sadness” did not qualify due to international credits or budget.
In August, Film Independent announced that the organization’s acting categories would join the growing gender-neutral trend. For Film categories, that resulted in 25 nominations spread across Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, and Best Breakthrough Performance. 20 actors were nominated combined in the Television Best Lead Performance in a New Series and Best Supporting Performance in a New Series (the latter, a completely new addition for 2023).
Lead Actor performances recognized include Cate Blanchett (“TAR”), Dale Dickey (“A Love Song”), Mia Goth (“Pearl”), Regina Hall (“Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Aubrey Plaza (“Emily the Criminal”), Jeremy Pope (“The Inspection”), Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”), Taylor Russell (“Bones and All”) and Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”).
Supporting Performance nominations went to Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”), Nina Hoss (“TAR”), Brian d’Arcy James (“The Cathedral”), Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”), Trevante Rhodes (“Bruiser”), Theo Rossi (“Emily the Criminal”), Mark Rylance (“Bones and All”), Jonathan Tucker (“Palm Trees and Power Lines”) and Gabrielle Union (“The Inspection”).
The cast of Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” was honored with the Robert Altman Award which is given to the film’s director, casting directors, and acting ensemble. That honor disqualifies those performances from the individual categories.
The Television categories will be announced on Tuesday, December 13.
After more than a decade of being telecast live on IFC, the Spirits are currently looking for a new broadcast partner (in all fairness, so are the SAG Awards). That being said, the 38th Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2023 and the current plan is to stream it internationally across multiple online and digital platforms.
All of this year’s nominees are as follows:
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
Bones and All
Producers: Timothée Chalamet, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Luca Guadagnino, David Kajganich, Lorenzo Mieli, Marco Morabito, Gabriele Moratti, Theresa Park, Peter Spears
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Producers: Daniel Kwan, Mike Larocca, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang
Our Father, the Devil
Producers: Ellie Foumbi, Joseph Mastantuono
Tár
 Producers: Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra Milchan
Women Talking
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Frances McDormand

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
Aftersun
Director: Charlotte Wells
Producers: Mark Ceryak, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
Emily the Criminal
Director: John Patton Ford
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Aubrey Plaza, Drew Sykes
The Inspection
Director: Elegance Bratton
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Chester Algernal Gordon
Murina
Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Producers: Danijel Pek, Rodrigo Teixeira
Palm Trees and Power Lines
Director/Producer: Jamie Dack
Producer: Leah Chen Baker
 
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD  – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer)
The African Desperate
Writer/Director/Producer: Martine Syms
Writer/Producer: Rocket Caleshu
Producer: Vic Brooks
A Love Song
Writer/Director/Producer: Max Walker-Silverman
Producers: Jesse Hope, Dan Janvey
The Cathedral
Writer/Director: Ricky D’Ambrose
Producer: Graham Swon
Holy Emy
Writer/Director: Araceli Lemos
Writer/Producer: Giulia Caruso
Producers: Mathieu Bompoint, Ki Jin Kim, Konstantinos Vassilaros
Something in the Dirt
Writer/Director/Producer: Justin Benson
Director/Producer: Aaron Moorhead
Producer: David Lawson Jr.
 
BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Field
Tár
Kogonada
After Yang
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Sarah Polley
Women Talking
Halina Reijn
Bodies Bodies Bodies
 
BEST SCREENPLAY
Lena Dunham
Catherine Called Birdy
Todd Field
Tár
Kogonada
After Yang
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Sarah Polley
Women Talking

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Joel Kim Booster
Fire Island
Jamie Dack, Audrey Findlay, Story by Jamie Dack
Palm Trees and Power Lines
K.D. Dávila
Emergency
Sarah DeLappe, Story by Kristen Roupenian
Bodies Bodies Bodies
John Patton Ford
Emily the Criminal

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Cate Blanchett
Tár
Dale Dickey
A Love Song
Mia Goth
Pearl
Regina Hall
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Paul Mescal
Aftersun
Aubrey Plaza
Emily the Criminal
Jeremy Pope
The Inspection
Andrea Riseborough
To Leslie
Taylor Russell
Bones and All
Michelle Yeoh
Everything Everywhere All At Once

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Jamie Lee Curtis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Brian Tyree Henry
Causeway
Nina Hoss
Tár
Brian d’Arcy James
The Cathedral
Ke Huy Quan
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Trevante Rhodes
Bruiser
Theo Rossi
Emily the Criminal
Mark Rylance
Bones and All
Jonathan Tucker
Palm Trees and Power Lines
Gabrielle Union
The Inspection

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (New Award)
Frankie Corio
Aftersun
Gracija Filipović
Murina
Stephanie Hsu
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Lily McInerny
Palm Trees and Power Lines
Daniel Zolghadri
Funny Pages

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Florian Hoffmeister
Tár
Hélène Louvart
Murina
Gregory Oke
Aftersun
Eliot Rockett
Pearl
Anisia Uzeyman
Neptune Frost
 
BEST EDITING
Ricky D’Ambrose
The Cathedral
Dean Fleischer Camp, Nick Paley
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Blair McClendon
Aftersun
Paul Rogers
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Monika Willi
Tár
 
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD  – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
Women Talking
Director: Sarah Polley
Casting Directors: John Buchan, Jason Knight
Ensemble Cast: Shayla Brown, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Kira Guloien, Kate Hallett, Judith Ivey, Rooney Mara, Sheila McCarthy, Frances McDormand, Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, Ben Whishaw, August Winter
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
All That Breathes
Director/Producer: Shaunak Sen
Producers: Teddy Leifer, Aman Mann
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Howard Gertler, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, John Lyons
A House Made of Splinters
Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont
Producers: Monica Hellström
Midwives
Director/Producer: Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing
Producers: Mila Aung-Thwin, Ulla Lehmann, Bob Moore
Riotsville, U.S.A.
Director: Sierra Pettengill
Producers: Sara Archambault, Jamila Wignot
 
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Corsage
Austria/Luxembourg/France/Belgium/Italy/England
Director: Marie Kreutzer
Joyland
Pakistan/USA
Director: Saim Sadiq
Leonor Will Never Die
Philippines
Director: Martika Ramirez Escobar
Return to Seoul
South Korea/France/Belgium/Romania
Director: Davy Chou
Saint Omer
France
Director: Alice Diop
 
PRODUCERS AWARD presented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey  – The Producers Award, now in its 26th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Liz Cardenas
Tory Lenosky
David Grove Churchill Viste
 SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD  – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 29th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
Adamma Ebo
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Nikyatu Jusu
Nanny
Araceli Lemos
Holy Emy
 
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD  – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 28th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Isabel Castro
Mija
Reid Davenport
I Didn’t See You There
Rebeca Huntt
Beba