The 2018 Indie Spirit Awards Nominations Are Full Of Happy Surprises

The 2018 Independent Spirit Awards nominations were revealed today, and, at least to me, this is the most "indie" the nominees have been in a long time. There seems to have been a concerted effort to get closer to the event's roots, and we see that in some of the movies that got left out.

Coming away with the most nominations with six was Luca Guadagnino's beloved summer romance, Call Me By Your Name. The film has been earning incredible reviews since it debuted at Sundance and has appeared like an obvious Best Picture frontrunner for months. Following closely behind with five nominations were Jordan Peele's Get Out and, surprisingly, the Safdie Brothers' gritty crime flick, Good Time. Greta Gerwig's skyrocketing Lady Bird came away with four nominations, more on that in a sec, tied with The Rider which has only played at TIFF. Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri finished up with three, as well as the excellent low-key drama Columbus, while Sean Baker's The Florida Project had two, and yeah I'll comment on those right now.

First off, I'm absolutely ecstatic to see that Columbus, one of my favorite movies of the year and a gorgeous dramatic masterpiece from Kogonada, earned three nominations. I'm sad none of them were for stars Haley Lu Richardson and John Cho, but I'll deal if it gets this amazing film more attention.

Get Out and Call Me By Your Name doing so well was a given, although I remain perplexed by all the love for Guadagnino's film. Maybe I'm missing something other than the terrific, honest portrayals by Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet, but then our reviewer Mae Abdulbaki wasn't too crazy about it, either.

Good Time, which saw Robert Pattinson go street for the first time in his career, felt like it should be an indie darling, and it was treated as such. I'm still surprised by the honors it received, though; not just Pattinson but co-star (and co-director) Benny Safie and newcomer Teliah Lennice Webster.

I'm disappointed we didn't see Danielle MacDonald's fiery hip-hop performance in Patti Cake$ get some love, but then the same could be said for both Brooklynn Prince and Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project. I could see maybe snubbing Prince due to her age, but there's no excuse leaving out Dafoe who is an absolute hero in a triumphant movie.

Nothing for Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water or Taylor Sheridan's Wind River? Both are indie favorites with reviews to match, but I don't know if they seem too much like studio movies to the voters? In terms of economics they fall within the awards guidelines, so maybe we'll learn more about the decision-making process here. Actually, we probably won't.

Even though Lady Bird earned four nominations, part of me still feels it's a bit of a disappointment. Is that crazy? The film is a box office giant by arthouse standards, with word-of-mouth carrying it to genuine Oscars consideration. I thought there would be more, that's all, like Gerwig for Best Director?

The full list of nominees is below. The Indie Spirits will be held on March 3rd 2018.

BEST FEATURE

(Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)     

Call Me by Your Name         

Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman 

The Florida Project  

Producers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou

Get Out          

Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele

Lady Bird      

Producers: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin

The Rider      

Producers: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao

 BEST FIRST FEATURE

(Award given to the director and producer)

ColumbusDirector: Kogonada
Producers: Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Aaron Boyd, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz

Ingrid Goes WestDirector: Matt Spicer
Producers: Jared Ian Goldman, Adam Mirels, Robert Mirels, Aubrey Plaza, Tim White, Trevor White

MenasheDirector/Producer: Joshua Z. Weinstein
Producers: Yoni Brook, Traci Carlson, Daniel Finkelman, Alex Lipschultz

Oh Lucy!Director/Producer: Atsuko Hirayanagi
Producers: Jessica Elbaum, Yukie Kito, Han West

Patti Cake$Director: Geremy Jasper
Producers: Chris Columbus, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Noah Stahl, Rodrigo Teixeira

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

DayveonWriter/Director/Producer: Amman Abbasi
Writer: Steven Reneau
Producers: Lachion Buckingham, Alexander Uhlmann 

A Ghost StoryWriter/Director: David Lowery
Producers: Adam Donaghey, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston 

Life and nothing moreWriter/Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza
Producers: Amadeo Hernández Bueno, Alvaro Portanet Hernández, Pedro Hernández Santos

Most Beautiful IslandWriter/Director/Producer: Ana Asensio
Producers: Larry Fessenden, Noah Greenberg, Chadd Harbold, Jenn Wexler

The TransfigurationWriter/Director: Michael O’Shea
Producer: Susan Leber 

BEST DIRECTOR

Sean BakerThe Florida Project     

Jonas CarpignanoA Ciambra       

Luca GuadagninoCall Me by Your Name           

Jordan PeeleGet Out          

Benny Safdie, Josh SafdieGood Time     

Chloé ZhaoThe Rider       

BEST SCREENPLAY

Greta GerwigLady Bird         

Azazel JacobsThe Lovers      

Martin McDonaghThree Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri  

Jordan PeeleGet Out           

Mike WhiteBeatriz at Dinner

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY 

Kris AvedisianStory By: Kyle Espeleta, Jesse WakemanDonald Cried  

Emily V. Gordon, Kumail NanjianiThe Big Sick  

Ingrid JungermannWomen Who Kill

KogonadaColumbus       

David Branson Smith, Matt SpicerIngrid Goes West

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

 Thimios BakatakisThe Killing of a Sacred Deer  

Elisha ChristianColumbus        

Hélène LouvartBeach Rats     

Sayombhu MukdeepromCall Me by Your Name          

Joshua James RichardsThe Rider

BEST EDITING         

Ronald Bronstein, Benny SafdieGood Time 

Walter FasanoCall Me by Your Name          

Alex O’FlinnThe Rider

Gregory PlotkinGet Out          

Tatiana S. RiegelI, Tonya          

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Salma HayekBeatriz at Dinner        

Frances McDormandThree Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

 Margot RobbieI, Tonya

Saoirse RonanLady Bird        

Shinobu TerajimaOh Lucy!                  

Regina WilliamsLife and nothing more 

BEST MALE LEAD

Timothée ChalametCall Me by Your Name

Harris DickinsonBeach Rats     

James FrancoThe Disaster Artist 

Daniel KaluuyaGet Out          

Robert PattinsonGood Time      

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE 

Holly HunterThe Big Sick 

Allison JanneyI, Tonya          

Laurie MetcalfLady Bird                    

Lois SmithMarjorie Prime

Taliah Lennice WebsterGood Time

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Nnamdi AsomughaCrown Heights                       

Armie HammerCall Me by Your Name          

Barry KeoghanThe Killing of a Sacred Deer 

Sam RockwellThree Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri    

Benny SafdieGood Time 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

MudboundDirector: Dee Rees
Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram
Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan 

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

The DepartureDirector/Producer: Lana Wilson

Faces PlacesDirectors: Agnés Varda, JR
Producer: Rosalie Varda

Last Men in AleppoDirector: Feras Fayyad
Producers: Kareem Abeed, Søeren Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos

MotherlandDirector/Producer: Ramona S. Diaz
Producer: Rey Cuerdo 

QuestDirector: Jonathan Olshefski
Producer: Sabrina Schmidt Gordon

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
BPM (Beats Per Minute)France
Director: Robin Campillo

A Fantastic WomanChile
Director: Sebastián Lelio 

I Am Not a WitchZambia
Director: Rungano Nyoni 

Lady MacbethU.K.
Director: William Oldroyd 

LovelessRussia
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev 

BONNIE AWARD – Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the inaugural Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.

So Yong KimLynn SheltonChloé Zhao

JEEP TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 23rd annual Truer Than Fiction Award, funded by the Jeep brand, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by the Jeep brand.

Shevaun MizrahiDirector of Distant Constellation         

Jonathan OlshefskiDirector of Quest        

Jeff UnayDirector of The Cage Fighter

KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 24th annual Someone to Watch Award, funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.

Amman AbbasiDirector of Dayveon 

Justin ChonDirector of Gook         

Kevin PhillipsDirector of Super Dark Times 

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 21st annual Producers Award, funded by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget. 

Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin KimBen LeClairSummer Shelton