The 34th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards just wrapped and the winners have been tallied. This is the last major stop on the awards road to the 91st Academy Awards, which will be held tomorrow evening. If you are not familiar, the Indie Spirit Awards are sort of the Oscars exclusively for independent film. Those are films produced independently from a major motion picture studio. 

Also, Glenn Close may have won the award, but her puppy stole the show. Google it and thank me later!

And the winners are…

BEST FEATURE

EIGHTH GRADE
FIRST REFORMED
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (WINNER)
LEAVE NO TRACE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE


BEST DIRECTOR

Debra Granik, LEAVE NO TRACE
Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (WINNER)
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Lynne Ramsay, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED


BEST FIRST FEATURE

HEREDITARY
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (WINNER)
THE TALE
WE THE ANIMALS
WILDLIFE


BEST MALE LEAD

John Cho, SEARCHING
Daveed Diggs, BLINDSPOTTING
Ethan Hawke, FIRST REFORMED (WINNER)
Christian Malheiros, SÓCRATES
Joaquin Phoenix, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE


BEST FEMALE LEAD

Glenn Close, THE WIFE (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
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? (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
Zak Mulligan, WE THE ANIMALS


BEST SCREENPLAY

(Writer/Story By)
Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, COLETTE
Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (WINNER)
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Boots Riley, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Paul Schrader FIRST REFORMED


BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE (WINNER)
Christina Choe, NANCY
Cory Finley, THOROUGHBREDS
Jennifer Fox, THE TALE
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), BLAME


BEST EDITING

Joe Bini, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (WINNER)
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & 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? (WINNER)


BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

BURNING (South Korea)
THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)
HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)
ROMA (Mexico) (WINNER)
SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)


THE TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Alexandria Bombach, ON HER SHOULDERS
Bing Liu, MINDING THE GAP (WINNER)
RaMell Ross, HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING


PRODUCERS AWARD

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe (WINNER)


THE SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Alex Moratto, SÓCRATES (WINNER)
Ioana Uricaru, LEMONADE
Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS


THE BONNIE AWARD

Debra Granik (WINNER)
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama


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


What do you think about the winners at this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards? Do any of the winners surprise you? Was there a particular film you wanted to see win that didn’t? Let me know in the comments below!

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