2017 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominees

Film Independent kicked off the awards season November 22, 2016 with the announcement of nominees for the org's 32nd Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards.  The Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity in the industry. Film Independent President Josh Welsh presided over the press conference held at W Hollywood, with actors Jenny Slate and Edgar Ramirez presenting the nominations.

Winners, who are selected by Film Independent Members, will be announced at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 25, 2017. The awards ceremony will be held on the beach in Santa Monica, just north of the Santa Monica Pier. The show will broadcast live exclusively on IFC at 2:00 pm PT/ 5:00 pm ET.

For more information on submission guidelines, voting, media and publicist credentials, and the history of the Spirit Awards, please visit spiritawards.com.

What follows is a list of the 2017 Nominees, by alphabetical order per category:

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)   

American Honey  Producers: Thomas Benski, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Lucas Ochoa, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg

Chronic   Producers: Michel Franco, Gina Kwon, Gabriel Ripstein, Moisés Zonana

Jackie  Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel, Juan de Dios Larraín, Mickey Liddell           

 Manchester by the Sea  Producers: Lauren Beck, Matt Simon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh 

 Moonlight  Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski

 

BEST FIRST FEATURE  (Award given to the director and producer)

  The Childhood of a Leader   Director: Brady Corbet,            Producers: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Chris Coen, Ron Curtis, Helena Danielsson, Mona Fastvold, István Major

  The Fits  Director/Producer: Anna Rose Holmer, Producer: Lisa Kjerulff

 Other People  Director: Chris Kelly, Producers: Sam Bisbee, Adam Scott, Naomi Scott

 Swiss Army Man  Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Producers: Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, Lauren Mann, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon, Jonathan Wang           

The Witch  Director: Robert Eggers, Producers: Daniel Bekerman, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Rodrigo Teixeira

 

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000.  Award given to the writer, director and producer.  Executive Producers are not awarded.

Free In Deed  Writer/Director: Jake Mahaffy, Producers: Mike Bowes, Mike S. Ryan, Brent Stiefel

 Hunter Gatherer      Writer/Director: Josh Locy,             Producers: Michael Covino, April Lamb, Sara Murphy, Isaiah Smallman

 Lovesong  Writer/Director: So Yong Kim,  Writer/Producer: Bradley Rust Gray, Producers: David Hansen, Alex Lipschultz, Johnny Mac

Nakom  Writer/Director/Producer: TW Pittman,             Director/Producer: Kelly Daniela Norris, Witer/Producer: Isaac Adakudugu, Producer: Giovanni Ximénez 

 Spa Night  Writer/Director: Andrew Ahn, Producers: David Ariniello, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Kelly Thomas

 

BEST DIRECTOR

Andrea Arnold, American Honey  

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Pablo Larraín,  Jackie

 Jeff Nichols, Loving

 Kelly Reichardt,  Certain Women

 

BEST SCREENPLAY

Barry Jenkins, Story By Tarell Alvin McCraney  -        Moonlight

Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea

Mike Mills - 20th Century Women

 Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias -  Little Men

  Taylor Sheridan - Hell or High Water

 

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Robert Eggers - The Witch 

Chris Kelly - Other People

Adam Mansbach - Barry

 Stella Meghie - Jean of the Joneses

 Craig Shilowich - Christine

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

 Ava Berkofsky, Free In Deed

Lol Crawley, The Childhood of a Leader

Zach Kuperstein, The Eyes of My Mother

James Laxton,  Moonlight

 Robbie Ryan, American Honey

 

BEST EDITING         

 Matthew Hannam, Swiss Army Man

Jenifer Lame, Manchester by the Sea

 Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders, Moonlight

 Jake Roberts, Hell or High Water

 Sebastián Sepulveda, Jackie

 

BEST FEMALE LEAD

 Annette Bening, 20th Century Women

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Sasha Lane, American Honey

Ruth Negga, Loving

Natalie Portman, Jackie

   

BEST MALE LEAD

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

David Harewood, Free In Deed

Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

 Jesse Plemons, Other People

 Tim Roth, Chronic

  

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Edwina Findley, Free In Deed

Paulina Garcia, Little Men

Lily Gladstone, Certain Women

Riley Keough, American Honey

Molly Shannon, Other People

 

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash

Ben Foster, Hell or High Water

 Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea

 Shia LaBeouf, American Honey

Craig Robinson, Morris from America

 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - Moonlight was selected to receive the Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. The Altman Award was created in 2008 in honor of legendary director Robert Altman who was known for creating extraordinary ensemble casts.

Moonlight  Director: Barry Jenkins, Casting Director: Yesi Ramirez, Ensemble Cast: Mahershala Ali, Patrick Decile, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders

 

 BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

 13th - Diector/Producer: Ava DuVernay, Producers: Spencer Averick, Howard Barish

Cameraperson - Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson,             Producer: Marilyn Ness

I Am Not Your Negro - Director/Producer: Raoul Peck,             Producers: Rémi Grellety, Hérbert Peck

 O.J.: Made in America - Director/Producer: Ezra Edelman,      Producers: Nina Krstic, Tamara Rosenberg, Caroline Waterlow

Sonita - Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, Producer: Gerd Haag

Under the Sun - Director: Vitaly Mansky, Producer: Natalya Manskaya

 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

 Aquarius (Brazil)  Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

 Chevalier  (Greece)  Director: Athina Tsangari

My Golden Days  (France)  Director: Arnaud Desplechin

Toni Erdmann  (Germany and Romania)  Director: Maren Ade

 Under the Shadow   (Iran and U.K.)  Director: Babak Anvari

  

20th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 20th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Lisa Kjerulff, Jordana Mollick, Melody C. Roscher  & Craig Shilowich

 

23rd ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 23rd annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.  The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.

 Andrew Ahn , Director of Spa Night

Claire Carré, Director of Embers

Anna Rose Holmer, Diirector of The Fits

 Ingrid Jungermann, Director of Women Who Kill

 

22nd TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 22nd annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Kristi Jacobson, Director of Solitary      

Sara Jordenö,  Director of Kiki

Nanfu Wang, Director of Hooligan Sparrow