AWARDS

2022 Indie Spirit Awards: 'The Lost Daughter' Wins Three Top Prizes

by Alex Billington
March 6, 2022
Source: Film Independent

The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring all of the indie films which deserve honor and recognition - celebrating their 37th year. The 2022 winners of the Spirit Awards were announced Sunday evening, in their usual spot just a few weeks before the Oscar ceremony. The biggest winner this year: Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter (now on Netflix), taking home the three top prizes: Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Zola also ended up with one key win - Taylour Paige for Best Actress. Questlove's Summer of Soul picked up Best Doc, and Japanese drama Drive My Car won Best International Film. The other nominations from all the 2021 releases included many excellent indie films many critics have been talking up all year, deserving of some extra time in the spotlight - gems like Wild Indian, Swan Song, The Novice, Passing. These awards are always a nice counter-balance to the Oscars, so many underrated films that deserve to be seen. Read on for the list of 2022 film winners.

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 37th Independent Spirit Awards. Winners from each category are designated in BOLD.

BEST FEATURE
A Chiara [IMDb]
C'mon C'mon [IMDb]
The Lost Daughter [IMDb]
The Novice [IMDb]
Zola [IMDb]

BEST FIRST FEATURE
7 Days [IMDb]
Holler [IMDb]
Queen of Glory [IMDb]
Test Pattern [IMDb]
Wild Indian [IMDb]

BEST DIRECTOR
Janicza Bravo - Zola [IMDb]
Maggie Gyllenhaal - The Lost Daughter [IMDb]
Lauren Hadaway - The Novice [IMDb]
Mike Mills - C'mon C'mon [IMDb]
Ninja Thyberg - Pleasure [IMDb]

BEST MALE LEAD
Clifton Collins, Jr. - Jockey [IMDb]
Frankie Faison - The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain [IMDb]
Michael Greyeyes - Wild Indian [IMDb]
Udo Kier - Swan Song [IMDb]
Simon Rex - Red Rocket [IMDb]

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Isabelle Fuhrman - The Novice [IMDb]
Brittany S. Hall - Test Pattern [IMDb]
Patti Harrison - Together Together [IMDb]
Taylour Paige - Zola [IMDb]
Kali Reis - Catch the Fair One [IMDb]

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo - Zola [IMDb]
Meeko Gattuso - Queen of Glory [IMDb]
Troy Kotsur - CODA [IMDb]
Will Patton - Sweet Thing [IMDb]
Chaske Spencer - Wild Indian [IMDb]

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessie Buckley - The Lost Daughter [IMDb]
Amy Forsyth - The Novice [IMDb]
Ruth Negga - Passing [IMDb]
Revika Anne Reustle - Pleasure [IMDb]
Suzanna Son - Red Rocket [IMDb]

BEST SCREENPLAY
Mike Mills - C'mon C'mon [IMDb]
Maggie Gyllenhaal - The Lost Daughter [IMDb]
Todd Stephens - Swan Song [IMDb]
Nikole Beckwith - Together Together [IMDb]
Janicza Bravo & Jeremy O. Harris - Zola [IMDb]

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Matt Fifer & Sheldon D. Brown - Cicada [IMDb]
Fran Kranz - Mass [IMDb]
Michael Sarnoski & Vanessa Block - Pig [IMDb]
Shatara Michelle Ford - Test Pattern [IMDb]
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. - Wild Indian [IMDb]

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tim Curtin - A Chiara [IMDb]
Ante Cheng & Matthew Chuang - Blue Bayou [IMDb]
Lol Crawley - The Humans [IMDb]
Eduard Grau - Passing [IMDb]
Ari Wegner - Zola [IMDb]

BEST EDITING
Affonso Gonçalves - A Chiara [IMDb]
Enrico Natale - The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain [IMDb]
Lauren Hadaway & Nathan Nugent - The Novice [IMDb]
Ali Greer - The Nowhere Inn [IMDb]
Joi McMillon - Zola [IMDb]

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Ascension [IMDb]
Flee [IMDb]
In the Same Breath [IMDb]
Procession [IMDb]
Summer of Soul [IMDb]

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Compartment No. 6 (Finland) [IMDb]
Drive My Car (Japan) [IMDb]
Parallel Mothers (Spain) [IMDb]
Pebbles (India) [IMDb]
Petite Maman (France) [IMDb]
Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico) [IMDb]

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Best feature made for less than $500,000.
Cryptozoo [IMDb]
Jockey [IMDb]
Shiva Baby [IMDb]
Sweet Thing [IMDb]
This Is Not a War Story [IMDb]

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Mass - Fran Kranz [IMDb]
For Best Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Alex Camilleri - Writer / Director of Luzzu [IMDb / Trailer]

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Faya Dayi - Jessica Beshir [IMDb]

And that's that! For last year's list of nominees and winners, with films like Nomadland and Sound of Metal the evening's top winners - click here. This year's set of nominees for the Indie Spirits include an impressive and diverse selection of some of the best indie films and talented filmmakers out there - every last one of these films is worth a watch. The Indie Spirits are always a breath of fresh air in the awards season, with so many lovely little indie films getting some extra attention. Everyone seems to be in a better mood, always supportive & upbeat since everyone loves celebrating indies. A number of other great films that otherwise haven't received too many nominations yet also should be seen: Pleasure, Jockey, Swan Song, Red Rocket, Together Together, and Cryptozoo. I'm not the biggest fan of Zola or The Novice, but I'm happy for them to be in the awards mix anyway. One of my Top 10 favorites is C'mon C'mon, which I really love and I'm glad it was even nominated, though it didn't win anything this year. And I couldn't be happier for Troy Kotsur to continue winning awards! He's the best and this is just so heartwarming to see him rock the awards season.

For more: SpiritAwards.com. A big indie congratulations to all of 2022's winners & nominees!

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