Monday

Indie Spirit Award Nominees are in!

The DIY Film Fest applauds all the DIY Filmmakers who are nominated for this year's awards.  Congratulations!!!!


SPIRIT AWARDS FRI 11.16.2018

These Are Your 2019 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominees!


Awards season is here again already… and not a moment too soon. The push toward the end of calendar year 2018 has already been an eventful one, with a nail-biting national election punctuated by surprise, subterfuge and sudden reversals of fortune—the stuff of Hollywood screenplays, basically. And soon, yet another voting body will get the chance to assert its will, determining the winners of the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Not quite as life-and-death as that other election, perhaps, but just try telling that to your distributor.
The 2019 Film Independent Spirit Award nominees were announced this morning at the W Hotel in Hollywood, presented by Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich AsiansMary Queen of Scots) and Molly Shannon (Other PeoplePrivate Life) and featuring yet another diverse group of talented creators with a shared belief in the power and promise of independent storytelling.
The 2019 Spirit Awards will be held February 23, 2019 at its usual spot on the beach in Santa Monica and broadcast live on IFC. To vote for the winners of this year’s awards, become a Film Independent Member by December 6 for full voter benefits—including screeners and access to our Member screening series n Los Angeles.
Okay! Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s meet this year’s nominees…

BEST FEATURE

EIGHTH GRADE

Producers: Eli Bush, Scott Rudin, Christopher Storer, Lila Yacoub

FIRST REFORMED

Producers: Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Producers: Dede Gardner, Barry Jenkins, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski

LEAVE NO TRACE

Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Producers: Rosa Attab, Pascal Caucheteux, Rebecca O’Brien, Lynne Ramsay, James Wilson
(Award given to the producer)

BEST FIRST FEATURE

HEREDITARY

Director: Ari Aster
Producers: Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen, Buddy Patrick

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Director: Boots Riley
Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, Forest Whitaker, Kelly Williams

THE TALE

Director/Producer: Jennifer Fox
Producers: Sol Bondy, Lawrence Inglee, Mynette Louie, Oren Moverman, Simone Pero, Reka Posta, Laura Rister, Regina K. Scully, Lynda Weinman

WE THE ANIMALS

Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Producers: Andrew Goldman, Christina D. King, Paul Mezey, Jeremy Yaches

WILDLIFE

Director/Producer: Paul Dano
Producers: Andrew Duncan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Oren Moverman, Ann Ruark, Alex Saks
(Award given to the producer and director)

BEST DIRECTOR

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

BEST SCREENPLAY

Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Richard Glatzer (writer, story by), Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Wash Westmoreland, Colette
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Tamara Jenkins, Private Life
Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Quinn Shephard (writer, story by), Laurie Shephard (story by), Blame
Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade
Christina Choe, Nancy
Jennifer Fox, The Tale
Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

A BREAD FACTORY

Writer/Director/Producer: Patrick Wang
Producers: Daryl Freimark, Matt Miller

EN EL SÉPTIMO DÍA

Writer/Director/Producer: Jim McKay
Producers: Alex Bach, Lindsey Cordero, Caroline Kaplan, Michael Stipe

NEVER GOIN’ BACK

Writer/Director: Augustine Frizzell
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston

SÓCRATES

Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Moratto
Writer: Thayná Mantesso
Producers: Ramin Bahrani, Jefferson Paulino, Tammy Weiss

THUNDER ROAD

Writer/Director: Jim Cummings
Producers: Natalie Metzger, Zack Parker, Benjamin Weissner
(Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; given to the writer, director and producer)

BEST MALE LEAD

Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
John Cho, Searching
Christian Malheiros, Sócrates
Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here

BEST FEMALE LEAD

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

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Adam Driver, BLACKkKLANSMAN
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
John David Washington, Monsters and Men
Raúl Castillo, We the Animals

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

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

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ashley Connor, Madeline’s Madeline
Benjamin Loeb, Mandy
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria
Zak Mulligan, We the Animals
Diego Garcia, Wildlife

BEST EDITING

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

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

BURNING (South Korea)

Director: Lee Chang-Dong

HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)

Director: Alice Rohrwacher

ROMA (Mexico)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)

Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu

THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING

Director/Producer: RaMell Ross
Producer: Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim

MINDING THE GAP

Director/Producer: Bing Liu
Producer: Diane Quon

OF FATHERS AND SONS

Director: Talal Derki
Producers: Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert

ON HER SHOULDERS

Director: Alexandria Bombach
Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams

SHIRKERS

Director/Producer: Sandi Tan
Producers: Jessica Levin, Maya Rudolph

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

Director/Producer: Morgan Neville
Producer: Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma
(Award given to the director and producer)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

SUSPIRIA

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Casting Directors: Avy Kaufman, Stella Savino
Ensemble Cast: Malgosia Bela, Ingrid Caven, Lutz Ebersdorf, Elena Fokina, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Dakota Johnson, Gala Moody, Chloë Grace Moretz, Renée Soutendijk, Tilda Swinton, Sylvie Testud, Angela Winkler
(Award given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

BONNIE AWARD SPONSORED BY AMERICAN AIRLINES        

Karyn Kusama
Tamara Jenkins
Debra Granik
(Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the second annual Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.)

PRODUCERS AWARD  

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
(The Producers Award, now in its 22nd year, 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.)

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

LEMONADE

Director: Ioana Uricaru

SÓCRATES

Director: Alex Moratto

WE THE ANIMALS

Director: Jeremiah Zagar
(The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 25th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted.)

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING

Director: RaMell Ross

MINDING THE GAP

Director: Bing Liu

ON HER SHOULDERS

Director: Alexandria Bombach
(The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 24th year, 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.)