2019 Film Independent Spirit Award

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