2024 Indie Spirit Awards: ‘Past Lives’ Wins Best Film & Best Director
by Alex Billington
February 26, 2024
Source: Film Independent
The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring all of the indie films which deserve honor and recognition – celebrating their 39th year. The 2024 winners of the Spirit Awards were announced Saturday evening, in their usual spot in Santa Monica near the beach – this time just a week before the Oscars. The big winner this year is the beloved Past Lives, taking both Best Film and Best Director (Celine Song also won a DGA Award for Best First Feature). The other nominations from all the 2023 releases included many outstanding indie films many cinephiles have been talking up all year, deserving of some extra time in the spotlight – gems like May December, American Fiction, Passages, Earth Mama, All of Us Strangers, Theater Camp, BlackBerry, and The Starling Girl. As usual, there are a few surprises: I’ve never heard of Chronicles of a Wandering Saint (an Argentinian film titled Crónicas de una Santa Errante in Spanish) or Upon Entry before their nominations; We Grown Now (watch the trailer) and Mountains haven’t been released yet. Still worth a watch whenever they come your way. Full list below.
You’ll notice an [IMDb] link next to each film. This is so you can discover great new films, because there is guaranteed to be at least one film you’ve never heard of in here. Read on for a complete list of nominees and winners from the 39th Independent Spirit Awards. Winners from each category are designated in BOLD.
BEST FEATURE
All of Us Strangers [IMDb]
American Fiction [IMDb]
May December [IMDb]
Passages [IMDb]
Past Lives [IMDb]
We Grown Now [IMDb]
BEST FIRST FEATURE
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt [IMDb]
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint [IMDb]
Earth Mama [IMDb]
A Thousand and One [IMDb]
Upon Entry [IMDb]
BEST DIRECTOR
Andrew Haigh – All of Us Strangers [IMDb]
Todd Haynes – May December [IMDb]
William Oldroyd – Eileen [IMDb]
Celine Song – Past Lives [IMDb]
Ira Sachs – Passages [IMDb]
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Jessica Chastain – Memory [IMDb]
Greta Lee – Past Lives [IMDb]
Trace Lysette – Monica [IMDb]
Natalie Portman – May December [IMDb]
Judy Reyes – Birth/Rebirth [IMDb]
Franz Rogowski – Passages [IMDb]
Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers [IMDb]
Teyana Taylor – A Thousand and One [IMDb]
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction [IMDb]
Teo Yoo – Past Lives [IMDb]
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Erika Alexander – American Fiction [IMDb]
Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction [IMDb]
Noah Galvin – Theater Camp [IMDb]
Anne Hathaway – Eileen [IMDb]
Glenn Howerton – BlackBerry [IMDb]
Marin Ireland – Eileen [IMDb]
Charles Melton – May December [IMDb]
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers [IMDb]
Catalina Saavedra – Rotting in the Sun [IMDb]
Ben Whishaw – Passages [IMDb]
Best Breakthrough Performance
Marshawn Lynch – Bottoms [IMDb]
Atibon Nazaire – Mountains [IMDb]
Tia Nomore – Earth Mama [IMDb]
Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers [IMDb]
Anaita Wali Zada – Fremont [IMDb]
BEST SCREENPLAY
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction [IMDb]
Laura Moss & Brendan J. O’Brien – Birth/Rebirth [IMDb]
Emma Seligman & Rachel Sennott – Bottoms [IMDb]
David Hemingson – The Holdovers [IMDb]
Celine Song – Past Lives [IMDb]
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Tomás Gómez Bustillo – Chronicles of a Wandering Saint [IMDb]
Samy Burch – May December [IMDb]
Laurel Parmet – The Starling Girl [IMDb]
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt – Theater Camp [IMDb]
Alejandro Rojas & Juan Sebastián Vásquez – Upon Entry [IMDb]
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jomo Fray – All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt [IMDb]
Pablo Lozano – Chronicles of a Wandering Saint [IMDb]
Eigil Bryld – The Holdovers [IMDb]
Katelin Arizmendi – Monica [IMDb]
Pat Scola – We Grown Now [IMDb]
BEST EDITING
Daniel Garber – How to Blow Up a Pipeline [IMDb]
Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz, Sofía Subercaseaux – Rotting in the Sun [IMDb]
Jon Philpot – Theater Camp [IMDb]
Emanuele Tiziani – Upon Entry [IMDb]
Stephanie Filo – We Grown Now [IMDb]
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Bye Bye Tiberias [IMDb]
Four Daughters [IMDb]
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project [IMDb]
Kokomo City [IMDb]
The Mother of All Lies [IMDb]
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Anatomy of a Fall (France) [IMDb]
Godland (Denmark/Iceland) [IMDb]
Mami Wata (Nigeria) [IMDb]
Tótem (Mexico) [IMDb]
The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom/Poland/United States) [IMDb]
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Best feature made for less than $1,000,000.
The Artifice Girl [IMDb]
Cadejo Blanco [IMDb]
Fremont [IMDb]
Rotting in the Sun [IMDb]
The Unknown Country [IMDb]
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Showing Up – Kelly Reichardt [IMDb]
Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Monica Sorrelle – Co-Writer / Director of Mountains [IMDb]
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Set Hernandez for Unseen [IMDb]
And that’s that! For last year’s list of nominees and winners, which was dominated by The Daniels’ brilliant multiverse movie Everything Everywhere All at Once winning 7 awards in total – click here. This year’s set of nominees for the Indie Spirits include an impressive and diverse selection of some of the best indie films and talented filmmakers out there – every last one of these films is worth a watch. The Indie Spirits are always a breath of fresh air in the awards season, with so many great films getting some extra attention. This year it’s nice to see something different from the Oscars, as I don’t think Past Lives will win anything there. It deserves to win! I adore this film! But I’m glad to see Indie Spirit Awards going to so many smaller films, and favorites like American Fiction and A Thousand and One. I’m also especially happy to see How to Blow Up a Pipeline winning something during the awards season – this rebellious eco-punk film totally rocks, and I hope this attention might get a few more people to watch it. Keep an eye out for the documentaries listed as noms, all of them deserve to be seen. Always some excellent films in these nominations to catch up with.
For more: SpiritAwards.com. A big indie congratulations to all of 2024’s winners & nominees!
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