‘The Lost Daughter’ was named best feature, while Taylour Paige, Simon Rex, Troy Kotsur, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Ruth Negga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Thuso Mbedu and Lee Jung-jae also were among the winners.
The Lost Daughter was the big winner at the 37th annual Independent Spirit Awards, which were handed out Sunday afternoon by Film Independent.
The film was named best feature, and Maggie Gyllenhaal won the awards for best screenplay and best director. While she has been nominated twice as an actor, this marked her first noms and wins as a screenwriter and director.
Among the other winners were several first-time nominees: Taylour Paige for best female lead for Zola, Simon Rex for best male lead for Red Rocket, Troy Kotsur for best supporting male actor for CODA (he made history as the first deaf actor to win a Spirit Award) and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson for best documentary for Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised).
Ruth Negga was named best supporting female for Passing, Drive My Car was named best international film, while the Robert Altman award went to Mass.
Awards were handed out not only in film categories but also in TV categories, which were added last year.
On the TV side, this year’s ensemble cast honor was given to Reservation Dogs, which also won best new scripted series. Thuso Mbedu won the award for best female lead in a new scripted series for The Underground Railroad, while Lee Jung-jae — a winner at last week’s SAG Awards — won best male performance in a new scripted series for Squid Game.
The ceremony has traditionally been held the Saturday before the Oscars but went virtual in 2021 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), airing three days before the Oscars. This year, it aired three weeks before the Oscars and just as the final round of Oscar voting begins.
Winners are selected by Film Independent members.
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
The Lost Daughter (WINNER)
Producers: Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler
A Chiara
Producers: Jonas Carpignano, Paolo Carpignano, Jon Coplon, Ryan Zacarias
C’mon C’mon
Producers: Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub
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 FEMALE LEAD
Taylour Paige, Zola (WINNER)
Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice
Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern
Patti Harrison, Together Together
Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One
BEST MALE LEAD
Simon Rex, Red Rocket (WINNER)
Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey
Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian
Udo Kier, Swan Song
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Ruth Negga, Passing (WINNER)
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth, The Novice
Revika Reustle, Pleasure
Suzanna Son, Red Rocket
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Troy Kotsur, CODA (WINNER)
Colman Domingo, Zola
Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory
Will Patton, Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian
BEST DIRECTOR
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter (WINNER)
Janicza Bravo, Zola
Lauren Hadaway, The Novice
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon
Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure
BEST SCREENPLAY
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter (WINNER)
Nikole Beckwith, Together Together
Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris, Zola
Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon
Todd Stephens, Swan Song
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
7 Days (WINNER)
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
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Michael Sarnoski; story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski, Pig (WINNER)
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., Wild Indian
Matt Fifer; story by Sheldon D. Brown, Cicada
Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern
Fran Kranz, Mass
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
Shiva Baby (WINNER)
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro
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
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 CINEMATOGRAPHY
Edu Grau, Passing (WINNER)
Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang, Blue Bayou
Lol Crawley, The Humans
Tim Curtin, A Chiara
Ari Wegner, Zola
BEST EDITING
Joi McMillon, Zola (WINNER)
Affonso Gonçalves, A Chiara
Ali Greer, The Nowhere Inn
Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent, The Novice
Enrico Natale, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (WINNER)
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel
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
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Drive My Car (Japan) (WINNER)
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Compartment No. 6 (Finland/Russia)
Director: Juho Kuosmanen
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
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
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
PRODUCERS AWARD (The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.)
Lizzie Shapiro (WINNER)
Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD (The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)
Alex Camilleri, Luzzu (WINNER)
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.)
Jessica Beshir, Faya Dayi (WINNER)
Angelo Madsen Minax, North By Current
Debbie Lum, Try Harder!
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
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
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Reservation Dogs (WINNER)
Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch
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
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 (WINNER)
Anjana Vasan, We Are Lady Parts
Jana Schmieding, Rutherford Falls
Jasmine Cephas Jones, Blindspotting
Deborah Ayorinde, THEM: Covenant
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game (WINNER)
Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin
Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant
BEST NEW NONSCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Black and Missing (WINNER)
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
