Eighth Grade, We The Animals, and First Reformed lead Spirit Awards nominations
There’s no clear frontrunner in the Spirit Awards nominations, which were announced today, but rather a handful of disparate features duking it out in the major categories. The ceremony, which celebrates U.S. films produced for less than $20 million, will see Bo Burnham’s touching coming-of-age comedy Eighth Grade, Paul Schrader’s existential First Reformed, and Lynne Ramsey’s eviscerating You Were Never Really Here competing in its top categories, with each nabbing four nominations. All three can be found in its best feature category, which also includes Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Debra Janik’s Leave No Trace.
Out-ranking all of them in nominations, however, is Sundance breakout We The Animals, which scored five nominations, including best first feature and best cinematography.
But what really stands out is the host of young, rising talent on the list, which includes acting nominations for Eighth Grade’s Elsie Fisher, Private Life’s Kayli Carter, Socrates’ Christian Malheiros, Madeline’s Madeline’s Helena Howard, and Leave No Trace’s Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, all of whom forecast a rich future for the industry.
The Spirit Awards tend to be a strong barometer for what will unfold at the Oscars, as four out of the last five years saw the same films—Moonlight, Spotlight , Birdman, and 12 Years a Slave—win both the Spirit Award and the Oscar for best picture. See how it all shakes out when the ceremony airs on IFC on February 23, one day before the Academy Awards.
See the full list of nominations below.
Best Feature
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
You Were Never Really Here
Best Director
Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
Tamara Jenkins, Private Life
Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Best First Feature
Hereditary
Sorry To Bother You
The Tale
We The Animals
Wildlife
Best Male Lead
John Cho, Searching
Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Christian Malheiros, Socrates
Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
Best Female Lead
Glenn Close, The Wife
Toni Collette, Hereditary
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Regina Hall, Support The Girls
Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline
Carey Mulligan, Wildlife
Best Supporting Female Actor
Kayli Carter, Private Life
Tyne Daly, A Bread Factory
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace
J. Smith-Cameron, Nancy
Best Supporting Male Actor
Raúl Castillo, We The Animals
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
John David Washington, Monsters And Men
Best Cinematography
Ashley Connor, Madeline’s Madeline
Diego Garcia, Wildlife
Benjamin Loeb, Mandy
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria
Zak Mulligan, We The Animals
Best Screenplay
Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and Wash Westmoreland, Colette
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Tamara Jenkins, Private Life
Boots Riley, Sorry To Bother You
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Best First Screenplay
Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade
Christina Choe, Nancy
Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds
Jennifer Fox, The Tale
Quinn Shephard and Laurie Shephard, Blame
Best Editing
Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, and Jeremiah Zagar, We The Animals
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, and Julian Hart, American Animals
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, and Gary Levy, The Tale
Nick Houy, MID90S
Best Documentary
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding The Gap
Of Fathers And Sons
On Her Shoulders
Shirkers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
Best international Film
Burning (South Korea)
The Favourite (United Kingdom)
Happy As Lazzaro (Italy)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
The Truer Than Fiction Award
Alexandria Bombach, On Her Shoulders
Bing Liu, Minding The Gap
RaMell Ross, Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Producers Award
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
The Someone to Watch Award
Alex Moratto, Socrates
Ioana Uricaru, Lemonade
Jeremiah Zagar, We The Animals
The Bonnie Award
Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama