AWARDS

2021 Indie Spirit Awards: 'Nomadland', 'Sound of Metal', 'Crip Camp'

by Alex Billington
April 23, 2021

The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring all of the indie films which deserve the honor and recognition that they usually don't receive - celebrating their 36th year. The 2021 winners of the Spirit Awards were announced Thursday evening just before the Oscars in a virtual ceremony, still filled with all kinds of excitement and surprises. The two main winners this year: Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, heading home with four wins in total, and Sound of Metal, winning for Best First Feature, and both the Best Male Lead & Supporting Male. The rest of the nominees from 2020 included many outstanding little films that everyone has been talking about all year (like Minari!), but they deserve this extra attention anyway. These are always a nice counter-balance to the Oscars, especially with lots of films that didn't get any noms there (e.g. First Cow). Read on for the list of 2021 Indie Spirits results.

You'll notice an [IMDb] link next to each film. This is so you can discover great new films, because there is guaranteed to be at least one film you've never heard of in here. Read on for a complete list of nominees and winners from the 36th Independent Spirit Awards. Winners from each category are designated in BOLD.

BEST FEATURE
First Cow [IMDb]
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [IMDb]
Minari [IMDb]
Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Nomadland [IMDb]

BEST FIRST FEATURE
I Carry You With Me [IMDb]
The 40-Year-Old Version [IMDb]
Sound of Metal [IMDb]
Miss Juneteenth [IMDb]
Nine Days [IMDb]

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung - Minari [IMDb]
Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman [IMDb]
Eliza Hittman - Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Kelly Reichardt - First Cow [IMDb]
Chloe Zhao - Nomadland [IMDb]

BEST MALE LEAD
Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal [IMDb]
Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [IMDb]
Rob Morgan - Bull [IMDb]
Steven Yeun - Minari [IMDb]
Adarsh Gourav - The White Tiger [IMDb]

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Nicole Beharie - Miss Juneteenth [IMDb]
Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [IMDb]
Sidney Flanigan - Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Julia Garner - The Assistant [IMDb]
Frances McDormand - Nomadland [IMDb]
Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman [IMDb]

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [IMDb]
Orion Lee - First Cow [IMDb]
Paul Raci - Sound of Metal [IMDb]
Glynn Turmann - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [IMDb]
Benedict Wong - Nine Days [IMDb]

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Alexis Chikaeze - Miss Juneteenth [IMDb]
Yeri Han - Minari [IMDb]
Valerie Mahaffey - French Exit [IMDb]
Talia Ryder - Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Yuh-jung Youn - Minari [IMDb]

BEST SCREENPLAY
Mike Makowsky - Bad Education [IMDb]
Lee Isaac Chung - Minari [IMDb]
Alice Wu - The Half of It [IMDb]
Eliza Hittman - Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman [IMDb]

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Kitty Green - The Assistant [IMDb]
Noah Hutton - Lapsis [IMDb]
Channing Godfrey Peoples - Miss Juneteenth [IMDb]
Andy Siara - Palm Springs [IMDb]
James Sweeney - Straight Up [IMDb]

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jay Keitel - She Dies Tomorrow [IMDb]
Shabier Kirchner - Bull [IMDb]
Michael Latham - The Assistant [IMDb]
Hélène Louvart - Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Joshua James Richards - Nomadland [IMDb]

BEST EDITING
Enat Sidi - I Carry You With Me [IMDb]
Andy Canny - The Invisible Man [IMDb]
Merawi Gerima - Residue [IMDb]
Scott Cummings - Never Rarely Sometimes Always [IMDb]
Chloe Zhao - Nomadland [IMDb]

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Collective [IMDb]
Crip Camp [IMDb]
Dick Johnson is Dead [IMDb]
Time [IMDb]
The Mole Agent [IMDb]

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Bacurau (Brazil) [IMDb]
The Disciple (India) [IMDb]
Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast) [IMDb]
Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Hungary) [IMDb]
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia & Herzegovina) [IMDb]

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Best feature made for less than $500,000.
The Killing of Two Lovers [IMDb]
La Leyenda Negra [IMDb]
Lingua Franca [IMDb]
Residue [IMDb]
Saint Frances [IMDb]

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
One Night in Miami - Regina King [IMDb]
For Best Ensemble: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Ekwa Msangi - Writer / Director of Farewell Amor [IMDb]

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Pier Kids - Elegance Bratton [IMDb]

For last year's list of nominees and winners, with films like The Farewell and Uncut Gems taking home lots of awards - click here. This year's set of nominees for the Indie Spirits include a wonderful selection of some of the finest indie films from the last few years. Including a number of my favorites that otherwise haven't received many nominees, such as: Nine Days, Lapsis, Miss Juneteenth, The White Tiger, First Cow, The 40-Year-Old Version, Bad Education, and so many other underrated & underseen gems. I'm also really happy to see Crip Camp win for Best Doc, as that film is incredible and not many are talking about it. Really all five of the Best Doc nominees are worth watching if there's any you haven't seen yet. And I loved Nomadland, so I'm delighted it keeps picking up so many awards. As usual, all of these little films are worth watching and discovering and sharing with friends. These are the real gems of the film industry and always the very best.

For more: SpiritAwards.com. A big indie congratulations to all of 2021's winners & nominees!

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