Awards season may have kicked off last month with the Gotham Awards nominations, but as far as Oscar predictors go, the Independent Spirit Awards, whose nominations were announced Tuesday, are the ones to pay close attention to. The annual awards tend to be a pretty good predictor of which films and performances stand a good chance of being nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: The Spirits and the Oscars have picked the same Best Picture in four out of the past five years.
That means prospects are looking good for Barry Jenkins’ buzzy Moonlight, which tied Andrea Arnold’s American Honey for the most nominations at six apiece. Interestingly, almost all of its recognition comes in the technical/writing categories—director, editing, cinematography, screenplay—with no solo acting nominations to be had. The movie was given the Spirits’ Robert Altman award, which goes to a movie’s entire cast, its director, and casting director, but none of its actors were individually recognized.
That seems to suggest that Moonlight’s distributor, A24, has a difficult road ahead campaigning for the film’s highly praised performances, of which there are many, and with six different actors playing the film’s main characters at three different stages of life, the movie faces substantial confusion about what qualifies as a lead or a supporting performance. There is as yet no indication how A24, which succesfully pushed Room’s Brie Larson for Best Actress last year, plans to position them.
Manchester by the Sea, which has likewise been a critical hit and is assumed to be an Oscar front-runner, is not far behind with five nominations, including Best Lead Actor for Casey Affleck. If you’re wondering why the much-hyped La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s dreamy musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, is nowhere to be found, it’s because it wasn’t eligible, since its budget exceeds the Spirits’ $20 million maximum.
The winners will be announced at the Spirit Awards ceremony on Feb. 25, the day before the Oscars. Check out the rest of the big nominations below, and see the full list here.
Best Feature
American Honey
Chronic
Jackie
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Best Director
Andrea Arnold, American Honey
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Pablo Larraín, Jackie
Jeff Nichols, Loving
Kelly Reichardt, Certain Women
Best Screenplay
Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Mike Mills, 20th Century Women
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias, Little Men
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Best Cinematography
Ava Berkofsky, Free in Deed
Lol Crawley, The Childhood of a Leader
Zach Kuperstein, The Eyes of My Mother
James Laxton, Moonlight
Robbie Ryan, American Honey
Best Editing
Matthew Hannam, Swiss Army Man
Jennifer Lame, Manchester by the Sea
Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders, Moonlight
Jake Roberts, Hell or High Water
Sebastián Sepúlveda, Jackie
Best Female Lead
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Sasha Lane, American Honey
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Best Male Lead
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
David Harewood, Free in Deed
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Jesse Plemons, Other People
Tim Roth, Chronic
Best Supporting Female
Edwina Findley, Free in Deed
Paulina Garcia, Little Men
Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
Riley Keough, American Honey
Molly Shannon, Other People
Best Supporting Male
Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash
Ben Foster, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Shia LaBeouf, American Honey
Craig Robinson, Morris From America
Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Moonlight
Best Documentary
13th
I Am Not Your Negro
O.J.: Made in America
Sonita
Under the Sun
Best International Film (Award given to the director)
Aquarius (Brazil)
Chevalier (Greece)
My Golden Days (France)
Toni Erdmann (Germany and Romania)
Under the Shadow (Iran and U.K.)
