Chloe Zhao's 鈥淣omadland鈥� won best feature at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards in a ceremony that turned the annual beach soiree into a virtual, mostly pre-taped event, and, possibly, an Oscar preview.
The Spirits, usually held in a giant tent on the Southern California coast, have sometimes been a laid back dress rehearsal for the Academy Awards. 鈥淢oonlight,鈥� 鈥淪potlight,鈥� 鈥淏irdman鈥� and 鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� all won at the Spirits before taking best picture at the Oscars the next day, though top winners (鈥淭he Farewell鈥� won the Spirits' top prize in 2020) have diverged the last few years. But many of the same contenders overlapped this year, including 鈥淢inari,鈥� 鈥淢a Rainey's Black Bottom,鈥� 鈥淧romising Young Woman鈥� and 鈥淪ound of Metal.鈥�
And 鈥淣omadland鈥� has been on a steady march to the Oscars. The film's Spirit win follows others at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the producers guild and the directors guild. Zhao also won best director Thursday at the Spirits, an honour she's heavily favoured to win at the Academy Awards.
It was a fitting victory for Zhao's modest drama about rootlessness and community in the American West. Three years earlier on the day of the Spirit Awards, Zhao and Frances McDormand first met to discuss the project.
Most of the other Oscar nominees went home with Spirit awards, too. Yuh-Jung Youn, the Academy Awards favourite, won best supporting female actor for 鈥淢inari.鈥� Paul Raci, the 72-year-old veteran working actor who's soaked up his moment in the sun, won best supporting male actor for 鈥淪ound of Metal.鈥� Emerald Fennell, the writer-director, of 鈥淧romising Young Woman,鈥� took best screenplay.
In one twist, best male lead actor went to Riz Ahmed for his performance in 鈥淪ound of Metal鈥� - an award that has usually gone this year to the late Chadwick Boseman for his final performance in 鈥淢a Rainey's Black Bottom.鈥�
Carey Mulligan (鈥淧romising Young Woman鈥�) took best lead female actor in the category that's perhaps most up for grabs at the Academy Awards. Previous awards have been split between Viola Davis (鈥淢a Rainey's Black Bottom鈥�), McDormand and Mulligan.
Put on by the non-profit Independent Film, the Spirits were hosted by Melissa Villasenor of 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� and broadcast Thursday night on IFC. Independent Film did everything it could to virtually mimic the experience of the awards, including grouping Zoomed-in attendees by table, featuring virtual wine and bourbon bars and hosting a karaoke afterparty. Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, called it 鈥渢he first ever pants-optional Spirit Awards.鈥�
The nominees were especially diverse. None of the best feature nominees - 鈥淣omadland,鈥� 鈥淢inari,鈥� 鈥淔irst Cow,鈥� 鈥淢a Rainey's Black Bottom,鈥� 鈥淣ever Rarely Sometimes Always鈥� - were directed by white men. All of the directing nominees - Zhao, Fennell, Eliza Hittman (鈥淣ever Rarely Sometimes Always鈥�), Kelly Reichardt (鈥淔irst Cow鈥�) and Lee Isaac Chung (鈥淢inari鈥�) - were women or people of colour.
Nominees at the Spirits, the premier independent film awards, have to be made for less than $22.5 million.
The Robert Altman Award, an honour for a film's ensemble, went to Regina King's feature film directorial debut 鈥淥ne Night in Miami...,鈥� the fictional account of a 1960s meeting of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown. The disability rights movement documentary 鈥淐rip Camp鈥� won best documentary. Best first film went to Darius Marder's 鈥淪ound of Metal.鈥�
The Spirit Awards also this year began expanding into television. Among those winners was Michaela Coel's 鈥淚 May Destroy You鈥� for best new scripted series and for best ensemble in a new scripted series.
