2020 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: 'The Lighthouse' And 'Uncut Gems' Lead The Pack With Five Nominations Each

2020 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: ‘The Lighthouse’ And ‘Uncut Gems’ Lead The Pack With Five Nominations Each

There’s no denying it: awards season is upon us. And this morning marked the arrival of the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards nominations, where A24’sThe LighthouseandUncut Gemstied for the highest number of nominations with five each.Honey Boyalso had a strong showing, locking down four noms, along with a movie calledGive Me Liberty, which I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never heard of until this very moment. Read the full list of nominees below.

The full list of nominees (viaThe Playlist) represents a solid group of talent (shout-out to Jonathan Majors inThe Last Black Man in San Francisco), but there are still some gaps that I feel compelled to point out.Bong Joon-ho’sParasitewas only nominated for Best International Film, and the same goes forCéline Sciamma’sPortrait of a Lady on Fire. For my money, those are the top two movies of all of 2019, and the fact that they aren’t being recognized for things like screenplay, editing, cinematography, or any of its performances is baffling. A similar thing is true forAri Aster’sMidsommar: the film received one nomination for cinematography, but was shut out in every other category. NoFlorence Pugh? No best director nod for Aster? I’m pulling my hair out over here.

But this list did putGive Me Libertyon my radar, and I hope it does the same for you with films that you maybe haven’t heard of or ones that fell through the cracks for you as the year went on.

2020 Independent Spirit Award Nominees

BEST FEATURE

A Hidden Life

Producers: Elisabeth Bentley, Dario Bergesio, Grant Hill, Josh Jeter

Producers: Timur Bekbosunov, Julian Cautherley, Bronwyn Cornelius, Peter Wong

The Farewell

Producers: Anita Gou, Daniele Melia, Andrew Miano, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Lulu

Wang, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng

Marriage Story

Producers: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman

Uncut Gems

Producers: Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Scott Rudin

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Director: Olivia Wilde

Producers: Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Jessica Elbaum, Megan Ellison,

Katie Silberman

Director/Producer: Michael Angelo Covino

Producers: Noah Lang, Kyle Marvin

Director: Kent Jones

Producers: Luca Borghese, Ben Howe, Caroline Kaplan, Oren Moverman

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Director/Producer: Joe Talbot

Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Khaliah Neal, Christina Oh

The Mustang

Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Producer: Ilan Goldman

See You Yesterday

Director: Stefon Bristol

Producer: Spike Lee

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.)

Burning Cane

Writer/Director/Producer: Phillip Youmans

Producers: Ojo Akinlana, Jakob Johnson, Karen Kaia Livers, Mose Mayer,

Wendell Pierce, Isaac Webb, Cassandra Youmans

Writer/Director: Tom Quinn

Producers: Joshua Blum, Alexandra Byer, Craig Shilowich, Matthew Thurm

Give Me Liberty

Writer/Director/Producer: Kirill Mikhanovsky

Writer/Producer: Alice Austen

Producers: Val Abel, Wally Hall, Michael Manasseri, George Rush, Sergey Shtern

Writer/Director/Producer: Rashaad Ernesto Green

Writer: Zora Howard

Producer: Darren Dean, Joy Ganes

Wild Nights With Emily

Writer/Director/Producer: Madeleine Olnek

Producers: Anna Margarita Albelo, Casper Andreas, Max Rifkind-Barron

BEST DIRECTOR

Alma Har’el

Lorene Scafaria

Julius Onah

Robert Eggers

The Lighthouse

Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie

BEST SCREENPLAY

Noah Baumbach

Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder

Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie

Chinonye Chukwu

Tarell Alvin McCraney

High Flying Bird

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Fredrica Bailey & Stefon Bristol

Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen

Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy

Blow the Man Down

Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe

Greener Grass

James Montague & Craig W. Sanger

The Vast of Night

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Todd Banhazl

Jarin Blaschke

Natasha Braier

Chananun Chotrungroj

The Third Wife

Pawel Pogorzelski

BEST EDITING

Julie Béziau

Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie

Tyler L. Cook

Sword of Trust

Louise Ford

Kirill Mikhanovsky

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Karen Allen

Elisabeth Moss

Mary Kay Place

Alfre Woodard

Renée Zellweger

BEST MALE LEAD

Chris Galust

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Robert Pattinson

Matthias Schoenaerts

Adam Sandler

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jennifer Lopez

Taylor Russell

Lauren “LoLo” Spencer

Octavia Spencer

Zhao Shuzhen

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Willem Dafoe

Shia LaBeouf

Jonathan Majors

Wendell Pierce

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD– Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

Director: Noah Baumbach

Casting Directors: Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler

Ensemble Cast: Alan Alda, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Scarlett Johansson,

Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Merritt Wever

BEST DOCUMENTARY(Award given to the director and producer)

American Factory

Director/Producer: Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert

Producers: Julie Parker Benello, Jeff Reichert

Director/Producer: Todd Douglas Miller

Producers: Evan Krauss, Thomas Baxley Petersen

Director: Edward Watts

Director/Producer: Waad al-Kateab

Director: Tamara Kotevska

Director/Producer: Ljubo Stefanov

Producer: Atanas Georgiev

Island of the Hungry Ghosts

Director/Producer: Gabrielle Brady

Producers: Gizem Acarla, Samm Haillay, Alex Kelly, Alexander Wadouh

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM(Award given to the director)

Invisible Life

Director: Karim Aïnouz

Les Misérables

Director: Ladj Ly

South Korea

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Director: Céline Sciamma

Director: Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L.

The Souvenir

United Kingdom

Director: Joanna Hogg

Marielle Heller

Kelly Reichardt

PRODUCERS AWARD– The 23rd annual Producers Award 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.

Mollye Asher

Krista Parris

Ryan Zacarias

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD– The 26th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Rashaad Ernesto Green

Director of Premature

Ash Mayfair

Director of The Third Wife

Joe Talbot

Director of The Last Black Man in San Francisco

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD– The 25th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.