The 40th Independent Spirit Awards kicked off on Saturday by honoring the best breakthrough performance in a feature film.
Maisy Stella was the first winner of the evening for her romantic dramedy My Old Ass, which costarred Aubrey Plaza as a future version of herself trying to guide her toward a better future.
SNL alumna Aidy Bryant is hosting the star-studded ceremony, which is being held in Santa Monica, California, for the second year in a row.
The Indie Spirits have gender-neutral acting categories, unlike the Oscars, Emmys or Golden Globes.
The ceremony celebrates film and television talent with both standard and unique categories like Best First Screenplay and the John Cassavetes Award (for best feature under $1 million).
Questlove presented another early award for best documentary feature, which went to the critically lauded film No Other Land.
The 40th Independent Spirit Awards kicked off on Saturday by honoring the best breakthrough performance in a feature film. Maisy Stella was the first winner of the evening for her romantic dramedy My Old Ass
The documentary was directed by a quartet of Palestinian–Israeli collective of four filmmakers.
Demi Moore, Amy Adams, Sebastian Stan, Mikey Madison, and Hunter Schafer are just some of the A-listers who are nominated at this year’s show.
‘Anora’ and ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ dominated the nominations, with each film picking up six nods. Both movies are up for best feature, competing against The Substance, Nickel Boys, and Sing Sing.
The presenters include Michelle Yeoh, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Kathryn Hahn, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Lyonne, Questlove, Edgar Ramirez, Hunter Schafer, and more.
Licorice Pizza star and Haim member Alana Haim and Euphoria star Hunter Schafer were next up to present the award for best supporting performance in a new scripted series.
The honor went to one of Baby Reindeer multiple breakout stars, Nava Mau.
The transgender actress recalled her early work in independent short films and marveled at how far she had come.
She also signaled her hope that the film industry would increasingly focus on the labor of its workers as it moves forward.
Maisy’s award was presented by Nightbitch star Amy Adams
Maisy stars in My Old Ass with Aubrey Plaza, who plays a future version of herself trying to guide her toward a better future
Questlove presented another early award for best documentary feature, which went to the critically lauded film No Other Land. The documentary was directed by a quartet of Palestinian–Israeli collective of four filmmakers
Licorice Pizza star and Haim member Alana Haim and Euphoria star Hunter Schafer were next up to present the award for best supporting performance in a new scripted series
The honor went to one of Baby Reindeer multiple breakout stars, Nava Mau. The transgender actress recalled her early work in independent short films and marveled at how far she had come. She also signaled her hope that the film industry would increasingly focus on the labor
Baby Reindeer snatched up another award next with the best breakthrough performance in a new scripted series award.
Jessica Gunning, who earned praise for playing the stalker of series creator and star Richard Gadd, won the award.
This Spirit Awards considered films with budgets from $112,000 to $28 million this year.
The budgetary restrictions applied to film nominations did not extend to television series recognized by the Spirit Awards, exemplified by Shōgun, a large-scale historical epic that garnered five nominations, including Best New Scripted Series.
The series is competing against Baby Reindeer, Diarra From Detroit, English Teacher, and Fantasmas.
‘Anora’ earned further nominations for director Sean Baker, lead actress Mikey Madison, and supporting stars Yura Borisov and Karren Karagulian.
Baby Reindeer snatched up another award next with the best breakthrough performance in a new scripted series award. Jessica Gunning, who earned praise for playing the stalker of series creator and star Richard Gadd, won
‘Anora’ and ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ dominated the Independent Spirit Awards nominations, with each film picking up six nods; Mark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madison seen in a still from Anora
Two teens lose their grip on reality due to a TV obsession in the horror film ‘I Saw the TV Glow’; Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine seen in a still
Both movies are up for best feature, competing against The Substance, Nickel Boys, and Sing Sing; Demi Moore seen in a still from ‘The Substance’
As the Indie Spirit Awards do not categorize performers by gender, those competing for best leading performance in a film are: Amy Adams (Nightbitch), Ryan Destiny (The Fire Inside), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Keith Kupferer (Ghostlight), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), Hunter Schafer (Cuckoo), Justice Smith (I Saw The Tv Glow), June Squibb (Thelma) and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice).
In TV and streaming Shōgun’s Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai are up for best lead performances against Brian Jordan Alvarez (English Teacher), Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer), Lily Gladstone (Under the Bridge), Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along), Cristin Milioti (The Penguin), Julianne Moore (Mary & George), Andrew Scott (Ripley), and Julio Torres (Fantasmas).
Alvarez’s nomination comes after he was accused of sexual assault by former co-star Jon Ebeling two months prior.
Ebeling alleges that Alvarez sexually assaulted him while they worked together on the digital series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, which aired on YouTube back in 2016.
They starred alongside Stephanie Koenig, who also co-stars with Alvarez in The English Teacher.
Alvarez has denied the allegations.
Another nominated star currently embroiled in a controversy is The Apprentice director Ali Abbasi, who’s up for the Best Director award.
Abbasi has been accused of groping an A-list star at a Golden Globes afterparty last month, leading to a split from his high profile talent representatives at CAA and Entertainment360.
Shōgun, a large-scale historical epic series adapted from James Clavell’s 1975 historical novel, garnered five nominations, including Best New Scripted Series; Hiroyuki Sanada seen in a still
The series is competing against Baby Reindeer, Diarra From Detroit, English Teacher, and Fantasmas; Jessica Gunning pictured in a scene from Baby Reindeer
Brian Jordan Alvarez, the creator and star of FX’s critically acclaimed series English Teacher, is nominated for Best Lead Performance In A New Scripted Series
He has not addressed the accusations at this time.
While the Oscars and Spirit Awards sometimes diverge in their selections, as evidenced by last year’s differing top film choices, they have also overlapped in prior years, with films like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Nomadland, and Moonlight winning their top film prizes.
‘What I love about the Spirit Awards is I feel like they have a looseness and a bit more personality, and I think we’re just trying to lean into that,’ Bryant told Entertainment Weekly about the show.
‘I think the Spirits are going to be extremely fun. I feel like this has been such an intense year that I really hope that this is just a place where people can blow off some steam and we can celebrate some really great small movies.’
The 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards will stream live on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube and X channels.
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