2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations announced

Film Independent announced nominations for the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Film Independent President Josh Welsh introduced the prerecorded video announcements, which featured guest presenters Beanie Feldstein (The Humans, Impeachment: American Crime Story), Regina Hall (Nine Perfect Strangers, Girls Trip) and Naomi Watts (Penguin Bloom, upcoming The Watcher).

Best Feature nominees include A Chiara, C’mon C’mon, The Lost Daughter, The Novice and Zola. Also announced, for the second year, were the nominees of five TV awards. Nominees in the Best New Scripted Series category include Blindspotting, It’s a Sin, Reservation Dogs, The Underground Railroad and We Are Lady Parts. 

Mass 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 honour of legendary director Robert Altman, who was known for creating extraordinary ensemble casts.

Celebrating creative independence, original, provocative subject matter, diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision, the 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Sunday, March 6, 2022, positioning it squarely in the corridor leading into Oscar voting. Returning to its home on the Santa Monica beach, the in-person show will be broadcast exclusively on IFC. The Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for the non-profit Film Independent’s year-round slate of programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity and inclusion in the industry.

“Congratulations to this year’s nominees – visual storytellers who have made the most original, daring and provocative film and television shows of the year,” said Film Independent president Josh Welsh. “The Spirit Awards once again plants its flag on the beach at Santa Monica, and on IFC. We’re thrilled to be back and celebrating art that continues to inspire, enlighten and entertain us.”

Blake Callaway, GM of IFC, said, “The Spirit Awards is a standout event in any year. After being away for more than a year, IFC is ready to bring audiences back to the beach celebrating the best of film and television.”

This year the Spirit Awards Nominating Committees selected nominees from over 15

different countries, applying the following guidelines in determining nominees: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means. The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees are comprised of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors, critics, casting directors, film festival programmers and other working film professionals. Of all nominated writers and directors, 44% are women and 38% are BIPOC. Of all nominated actors, 60% are BIPOC. And of all 2022 nominees, 46% are women and 32% are BIPOC. This year, the Spirit Awards nominating committees are 63% women, 5% Non-binary and 56% BIPOC.

The Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by Premier Sponsor IFC; Bulleit Frontier Whiskey and Seedlip, the Official Spirits; and FIJI Water, the Official Water.

The full list of nominations are as followed:

BEST FEATURE

A Chiara
Producers: Jonas Carpignano, Paolo Carpignano, Jon Coplon, Ryan Zacarias

C’mon C’mon
Producers: Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub

The Lost Daughter
Producers: Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler

The Novice
Producers: Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker

Zola
Producers: Kara Baker, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Haggard, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Christine Vachon, Gia Walsh

BEST FIRST FEATURE 

7 Days
Director: Roshan Sethi
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn

Holler
Director: Nicole Riegel
Producers: Adam Cobb, Rachel Gould, Katie Mcneill, Jamie Patricof, Christy Spitzer Thornton

Queen of Glory
Director: Nana Mensah
Producers: Baff Akoto, Anya Migdal, Kelley Robins Hicks, Jamund Washington

Test Pattern
Director/Producer: Shatara Michelle Ford
Producers: Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su

Wild Indian
Director/Producer: Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Producers: Thomas Mahoney, Eric Tavitian

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD Given to the best feature made for under $500,000

Cryptozoo
Writer/Director: Dash Shaw
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way

Jockey
Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley
Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar
Producer: Nancy Schafer

Shiva Baby
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro

Sweet Thing
Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal

This is Not a War Story
Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy
Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West

BEST DIRECTOR

Janicza Bravo
Zola 

Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Lost Daughter

Lauren Hadaway
The Novice

Mike Mills
C’mon C’mon

Ninja Thyberg
Pleasure

BEST SCREENPLAY

Nikole Beckwith
Together Together

Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris
Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Lost Daughter

Mike Mills
C’mon C’mon

Todd Stephens
Swan Song

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Wild Indian 

Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown
Cicada

Shatara Michelle Ford
Test Pattern 

Fran Kranz
Mass 

Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski
Pig

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang
Blue Bayou 

Lol Crawley
The Humans

Tim Curtin
A Chiara

Edu Grau
Passing

Ari Wegner
Zola

BEST EDITING

Affonso Gonçalves
A Chiara 

Ali Greer
The Nowhere Inn

Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent
The Novice

Joi McMillon
Zola 

Enrico Natale
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Isabelle Fuhrman
The Novice

Brittany S. Hall
Test Pattern

Patti Harrison
Together Together

Taylour Paige
Zola

Kali Reis
Catch the Fair One

BEST MALE LEAD

Clifton Collins Jr.
Jockey 

Frankie Faison
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Michael Greyeyes
Wild Indian

Udo Kier
Swan Song

Simon Rex
Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessie Buckley
The Lost Daughter

Amy Forsyth
The Novice

Ruth Negga
Passing

Revika Reustle
Pleasure

Suzanna Son
Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Colman Domingo
Zola

Meeko Gattuso
Queen of Glory

Troy Kotsur
CODA

Will Patton
Sweet Thing

Chaske Spencer
Wild Indian

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Mass
Director: Fran Kranz
Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin
Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Ascension
Director/Producer: Jessica Kingdon
Producers: Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell

Flee
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen

In the Same Breath
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
Producers: Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Jialing Zhang

Procession
Director: Robert Greene
Producers: Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Compartment No. 6
Finland/Russia
Director: Juho Kuosmanen

Drive My Car
Japan
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Parallel Mothers
Spain
Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Pebbles
India
Director: P S Vinothraj

Petite Maman
France
Director: Céline Sciamma

Prayers for the Stolen
Mexico
Director: Tatiana Huezo

PRODUCERS AWARD (The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honours emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.)

Brad Becker-Parton 

Pin-Chun Liu

Lizzie Shapiro

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD (The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognises a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)

Alex Camilleri
Luzzu

Michael Sarnoski
Pig

Gillian Wallace Horvat
I Blame Society

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD (The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.)

Angelo Madsen Minax
North By Current

Jessica Beshir
Faya Dayi

Debbie Lum
Try Harder!

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Black and Missing
Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir
Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

The Choe Show
Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe
Executive Producers: Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

The Lady and The Dale
Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Nick  Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller

Nuclear Family
Series By: Ry Russo-Young
Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex  Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine  Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer

 Philly D.A.
Creators: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin
Co-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Blindspotting
Creators/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith  Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann

It’s a Sin
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler

Reservation Dogs
Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch

The Underground Railroad
Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins
Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt

We Are Lady Parts
Creator: Nida Manzoor
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Thuso Mbedu
The Underground Railroad

Anjana Vasan
We Are Lady Parts

Jana Schmieding
Rutherford Falls

Jasmine Cephus Jones 
Blindspotting

Deborah Ayorinde
THEM: Covenant

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Lee Jung-jae
Squid Game 

Olly Alexander
It’s a Sin 

Michael Greyeyes
Rutherford Falls

Murray Bartlett
The White Lotus

Ashley Thomas
THEM: Covenant

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Reservation Dogs
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone