Continuing to build momentum as award season nears its conclusion, “Anora” won three prizes at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, including best feature. The movie was also recognized for director Sean Baker and lead performance for Mikey Madison.
Kieran Culkin won for supporting performance for “A Real Pain,” while Jesse Eisenberg won for the film’s screenplay.
The winner of the Spirit Award for best feature has gone on to win the Oscar for best picture in four of the last 10 years. And in 2023 and 2024, the two years since the Spirit Awards switched to gender-neutral acting categories with 10 nominees each, the winner for supporting performance has gone on to win the Oscar, while the winner of the lead performance award has been nominated for an Oscar but lost.
In the television categories, “Shōgun” won best new scripted series, while “Baby Reindeer” swept the performing prizes with three wins.
In her opening monologue, host Aidy Bryant referred to the event as “Hollywood’s third or fourth biggest night,” capturing the relaxed, low-pressure atmosphere befitting an afternoon ceremony held in an oversize tent near the beach in Santa Monica.
With a number of awards shows postponed in the aftermath of the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles last month, there have often been awkward moments at events, as presenters and hosts struggle to find the right tone that still allows for a sense of celebration.
“I do want to acknowledge that I know it feels a little silly to have an awards show now, but your films are important to people,” said Bryant. “Independent film is passionate people working together to build something better. And who better to help rebuild the city of Los Angeles than our community?”
She noted a fund for people to make donations to help filmmakers affected by the recent wildfires.
“Film is what this city was built on,” added Bryant. “And who built it? A bunch of annoying dorks like us.”
A rousing speech from ‘Anora’s’ Sean Baker
In accepting the award for best director, Baker gave the evening’s most rousing speech. Setting his statue down and pulling pages from his pocket, he began to read an impassioned plea on what he called the “current state of indie film.”
“I’m an indie-film lifer,” Baker said, noting that he doesn’t make movies to be calling cards for larger studio projects. “Some of us want to make personal films that are intended for theatrical release with subject matter that would never be greenlit by the big studios.”
But the state of indie film was precarious, he warned.
“The system has to change because this is simply unsustainable,” Baker continued, detailing in depth the average time needed to make an indie film and the personal costs involved for directors. “We are creating product that creates jobs and revenue for the entire industry. We shouldn’t be barely getting by.”
Calling for higher upfront fees, Baker said, “Let’s demand what we’re worth. I know that if you’re in this room, you’ve proven you’re worth it. So let’s not undervalue ourselves any longer.”
As the audience erupted in cheers and a standing ovation, Baker pleaded for filmmakers, financiers, sales companies and distributors to work together “to make indie films sustainable for creatives and keep indie film alive. This is for all the indie-film lifers who are holding on and fighting the good fight.”
How to face ‘dark times’
Last year’s Spirit Awards were disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters using a loudspeaker outside the tent to amplify their message. Though the overall atmosphere this year was not as stridently political, the outside world still found its way into the tent.
What could have been the event’s most charged political moment — when the film “No Other Land,” made by a collective of Israeli and Palestinian directors, won the documentary award — ended up slightly muted. No one from the film was in attendance and no speech was given.
But the policies of the new U.S. administration have already had an impact on some of those in the room Saturday. Hunter Schafer, the trans performer nominated for her lead performance in “Cuckoo,” revealed this week that her newly issued passport misgenders her. Schafer made no mention of the incident as she took to the stage to co-present an award that went to trans actor Nava Mau for “Baby Reindeer.”
In her speech, Mau said, “We don’t know what is going to happen, but we do know our power. We do know that we get to decide who we work with. We get to decide what we work on. Even if it doesn’t feel that way, we do have all the power. Because we are the people and our labor is everything. So please, please — let’s stick together. We can do this. We’re going to get through it.”
In accepting the John Cassavetes Award for a film made for under $1 million, “Girls Will Be Girls” filmmaker Shuchi Telati acknowledged, “Honestly, these are dark times and we’re culture makers. And thank you to all the people who support this work, who support stories of quiet rebellion.”
The prize for ensemble in a scripted series went to “How to Die Alone,” which was recently canceled by Hulu. In accepting the award, the show’s star and creator Natasha Rothwell noted she was not going to cry because she took beta blockers, but, choking up regardless, said, “beta blockers need to do more beta blocking.”
Rothwell added, “At its core, ‘How to Die Alone’ is a show about the need to feel seen, to be valued just as you are. And for Black stories, visibility isn’t a privilege, it is a necessity. We deserve to take up space.”
Rothwell finished her speech by saying, “To the trans community that is under attack right now, know that you are not alone. I see you. We see you. We all see you. We stand with you.”
Accepting the award for new non-scripted or documentary series for “Hollywood Black,” executive producer Justin Simien said, “I did not expect this, so I’m going to say what’s on my heart here. If you really are serious about stopping the white nationalist coup taking over the country — have you heard of it? — if you’re serious about stopping this, how about amplifying Black history? Because Black people, we’ve been in a fascist country this whole time.”
Josh Welsh remembered
The acting president of Film Independent, Brenda Robinson, gave a speech in the middle of the ceremony in which she mentioned Josh Welsh, the organization’s longtime leader who died on New Year’s Eve after battling colon cancer for five years. At the mention of Welsh’s name the room burst into applause and an emotional standing ovation.
Before leading the audience in a second standing ovation, Robinson said, “Josh is a visionary of the type that comes along once in a lifetime. We want his work and impact to continue on, because he is a great leader. He is a person of exceptional character. I speak about him very deliberately in the present tense, because he is still here. He’s here. We will feel his spirit in the programs he created and the lives of filmmakers who he impacted, always and in all ways. Josh is only absent in the body, but the spirit of who Josh is and what he means to this community — that is forever.”
In accepting the Robert Altman Award for “His Three Daughters,” filmmaker Azazel Jacobs acknowledged “the spirit of Josh Welsh,” saying, “I’m one of the people whose kindness and encouragement he deeply touched and I’m grateful for him.”
In his speech for winning the feature prize for “Anora,” Baker also noted, “I know we are all thinking about Josh Welsh tonight, a true champion of independent voices and a wonderful, kind human being. We’ll miss you, Josh. We’ll miss you. Long live independent cinema.”
A complete list of today’s Spirit winners
FILM CATEGORIES
Best Feature
“Anora”
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
Director
Sean Baker, “Anora”
Screenplay
Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”
First Feature
“Dìdi”
Director: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters
First Screenplay
Sean Wang, “Dìdi”
John Cassavetes Award
(for best feature made under $1,000,000)
“Girls Will Be Girls”
Writer-Director-Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne
Breakthrough Performance
Maisy Stella, “My Old Ass”
Supporting Performance
Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” (Searchlight Pictures)
Lead Performance
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Robert Altman Award
“His Three Daughters”
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders
Cinematography
Jomo Fray, “Nickel Boys”
Editing
Hansjörg Weissbrich, “September 5”
International Film
“Flow”
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Documentary
“No Other Land”
Directors: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producer: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
Someone to Watch Award
Sarah Friedland, “Familiar Touch”
Truer Than Fiction Award
Rachel Elizabeth Seed, “A Photographic Memory”
Producers Award
Sarah Winshall
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Best New Scripted Series
“Shōgun”
Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michael Clavell
Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Jamie Vega Wheeler
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
“Hollywood Black”
Executive Producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhard
Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant
Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Nava Mau, “Baby Reindeer”
Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer”
Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”
Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
“How to Die Alone”
Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims
