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Source: Variety
First founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards have served as a counterpart for the more popular Academy Awards that is dedicated exclusively to films produced independently or with minimal support from the studio system outside of distribution. In the nearly four decades of the ceremony’s existence, several independent films that have been honored with its various prizes have gone on to receive similar recognition at other, more prestigious events such as the aforementioned Oscars and are now regarded as classics of modern cinema, with films like “Pulp Fiction”, “Juno”, and “Get Out” being among the films honored with the Independent Spirit Awards’ top accolades and seen in today’s day and age as excellent, if not innovative, works of cinema. Every year, the Independent Spirit Awards selects a handful of films that may or may not get the same amount of attention elsewhere and give them the opportunity to receive at least some awards recognition and hopefully use that recognition to increase their chances when it comes to more well-known awards ceremonies. This year, the Independent Spirit Awards have indeed chosen to acknowledge plenty of spectacular films that, if they have not already been receiving significant awards buzz before, have likely had their chances of Academy Award nomination boosted to some degree, with one film in particular, one that has already proven to be a far greater success than most had anticipated, receiving more nominations than any other.
That film, landing a total of eight Independent Spirit Award nominations, is the A24-distributed absurd comedy-drama “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, which currently holds the title of being the distributor’s most financially successful film to date and has a chance of further building upon its already astonishing reputation as awards season draws nearer. It’s already doing just that at the Independent Spirit Awards; not only has it landed one of the ceremony’s Best Feature nominations, but it has also been nominated in the following nominations: Best Director and Best Screenplay for writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Best Lead Performance for leading actor Michelle Yeoh, two Best Supporting Performance nominations for Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan, Best Breakthrough Performance for Stephanie Hsu, and Best Editing for editor Paul Rogers. Having the most nominations may not necessarily guarantee that “Everything Everywhere All at Once” will receive the most wins, but given the film’s ongoing acclaim, the odds are in its favor, and at least one win should be expected.
One films that has actually already won at least one award, specifically the Robert Altman Award (which is given to the director, casting director, and ensemble cast collectively), is Orion Pictures’ drama “Women Talking”, with those recognized with this win including director Sarah Polley, casting directors John Buchanan and Jason Knight, and (among many others) cast members Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, and Frances McDormand. It’s certainly an honor, but the one downside is that winning the award disqualifies any of its actors from being included in the Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance categories, which is why none of the film’s actors have been recognized elsewhere by the Independent Spirit Awards. On the bright side, “Women Talking” has also been nominated for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay for Sarah Polley, so it hasn’t been completely ignored in favor of this one honorary prize. Its potential for additional awards success will largely depend on how strong the competition from “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and the other nominated films is, but if nothing else, at least “Women Talking” has the Robert Altman Award to claim as its own.
Besides the two aforementioned films, there are three other features nominated in the Best Feature category: the romantic horror “Bones and All”, which has also received nominations for Best Lead Performance for Taylor Russell and Best Supporting Performance for Mark Rylance; the horror-thriller “Our Father, the Devil”; and the drama “Tár”, which trails only “Everything Everywhere All at Once” with seven Independent Spirit Award nominations: Best Director and Best Screenplay for Todd Field, Best Lead Performance for Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Performance for Nina Hoss, Best Cinematography for Florian Hoffmeister, and Best Editing for Monika Willi. Of the films that weren’t nominated for Best Feature, the drama “Aftersun” triumphs with a total of five nominations: Best Lead Performance for Paul Mescal, Best Breakthrough Performance for Frankie Corio, Best First Feature, Best Cinematography for Gregory Oke, and Best Editing for Blair McClendon.
Outside all the main categories, the last remaining accolade is the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for less than a million dollars and is writer, director, and producer. Here, one can find five nominated features: “The African Desperate”, “A Love Song”, “The Cathedral”, “Holy Emy”, and “Something in the Dirt”. None of these films have been nominated elsewhere, so this will be their only opportunity to receive some recognition at the ceremony.
All of these films, as well as several others not previously mentioned, will be voted on by members of Film Independent, the organization behind the Independent Spirit Awards, with the winners expected to be announced on March 4th, 2023. Twenty-five nations have been represented by the films nominated this year, with 61% of their writers and directors being women and 34% being BIPOC; of the nominated actors, 70% are women and 27% are BIPOC. Taking all of the nominated individuals into account, 51% are women and 33% are BIPOC; these numbers may not reflect a completely diverse line-up, but it’s arguably more inclusive than past Independent Spirit Awards.
With that being said, there is plenty to appreciate about the upcoming awards ceremony. This is the first year to include the gender-inclusive Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance categories (as opposed to previous years where the award was divided into Best Lead/Supporting Actor and Actress), and many of the films nominated are already being highly speculated to be major contenders at various other upcoming awards ceremonies. How much so is hard to say at the moment, but at least for the time being, there’s a good chance that they will find at least some success at the Independent Spirit Awards.
