36th Independent Spirit Awards Coverage (2021)

The 36th Independent Spirit Awards will be presented on April 22nd, 2021. This later date was chosen due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The nominations, which for the first time include five TV categories, were announced on January 26th, 2021 by by Laverne Cox, Barry Jenkins and Olivia Wilde.

Here is a look at the nominees:

BEST FEATURE

  • FIRST COW
    Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
  • MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
    Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany Wolf
  • MINARI
    Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh
  • NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
    Producers: Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski
  • NOMADLAND
    Producers: Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao

BEST FIRST FEATURE

  • I CARRY YOU WITH ME
    Director/Producer: Heidi Ewing
    Producers: Edher Campos, Mynette Louie, Gabriela Maire
  • THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
    Director/Producer: Radha Blank
    Producers: Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Jordan Fudge, Rishi Rajani, Jennifer Semler, Lena Waithe
  • MISS JUNETEENTH
    Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples
    Producers: Toby Halbrooks, Tim Headington, Jeanie Igoe, James M. Johnston, Theresa Steele Page, Neil Creque Williams
  • NINE DAYS
    Director: Edson Oda
    Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Matthew Linder, Laura Tunstall, Datari Turner
  • SOUND OF METAL
    Director: Darius Marder
    Producers: Bill Benz, Kathy Benz, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
  • Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
  • Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Kelly Reichardt, First Cow
  • Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST SCREENPLAY

  • Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
  • Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
  • Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Mike Makowsky, Bad Education
  • Alice Wu, The Half of It

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

  • Kitty Green, The Assistant
  • Noah Hutton, Lapsis
  • Channing Godfrey Peoples, Miss Juneteenth
  • Andy Siara, Palm Springs
  • James Sweeney, Straight Up

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

  • THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS
    Writer/Director/Producer: Robert Machoian
    Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford
  • LA LEYENDA NEGRA
    Writer/Director: Patricia Vidal Delgado
    Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez
  • LINGUA FRANCA
    Writer/Director/Producer: Isabel Sandoval
    Producers: Darlene Catly Malimas, Jhett Tolentino, Carlo Velayo
  • RESIDUE
    Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima
  • SAINT FRANCES
    Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
    Writer: Kelly O’Sullivan
    Producers: James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Raphael Nash, Roger Welp

BEST MALE LEAD

  • Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
  • Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger
  • Rob Morgan, Bull
  • Steven Yeun, Minari

BEST FEMALE LEAD

  • Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth
  • Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Julia Garner, The Assistant
  • Frances McDormand, Nomadland
  • Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

  • Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Orion Lee, First Cow
  • Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
  • Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Benedict Wong, Nine Days

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

  • Alexis Chikaeze, Miss Juneteenth
  • Yeri Han, Minari
  • Valerie Mahaffey, French Exit
  • Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Yuh-jung Youn, Minari

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Jay Keitel, She Dies Tomorrow
  • Shabier Kirchner, Bull
  • Michael Latham, The Assistant
  • Hélène Louvart, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Joshua James Richards, Nomadland

BEST EDITING

  • Andy Canny, The Invisible Man
  • Scott Cummings, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Merawi Gerima, Residue
  • Enat Sidi, I Carry You With Me
  • Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

  • BACURAU (Brazil)
    Director: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
  • THE DISCIPLE (India)
    Director: Chaitanya Tamahane
  • NIGHT OF THE KINGS (Ivory Coast)
    Director: Philippe Lacôte
  • PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME (Hungary)
    Director: Lili Horvát
  • QUO VADIS, AIDA? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
    Director: Jasmila Žbanic

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • COLLECTIVE
    Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
    Producers: Hanka Kastelicová, Bernard Michaux, Bianca Oana
  • CRIP CAMP
    Directors/Producers: Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
    Producer: Sara Bolder
  • DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
    Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
    Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness
  • THE MOLE AGENT
    Director: Maite Alberdi
    Producer: Marcela Santibáñez
  • TIME
    Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
    Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

  • ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
    Director: Regina King
    Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin
    Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

PRODUCERS AWARD

  • Lucas Joaquin
  • Gerry Kim
  • Kara Durrett

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

  • DAVID MIDELL
    Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
  • EKWA MSANGI
    Director of Farewell Amor
  • ANNIE SILVERSTEIN
    Director of Bull

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

  • CECILIA ALDARONDO
    Director of Landfall
  • ELEGANCE BRATTON
    Director of Pier Kids
  • ELIZABETH LO
    Director of Stray

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES

  • ATLANTA’S MISSING AND MURDERED: THE LOST CHILDREN
    Executive Producers: Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius
  • CITY SO REAL
    Produced by: Zak Piper, Steve James
    Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder
  • IMMIGRATION NATION
    Executive Producers: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson
    Co-Executive Producers: Andrey Alistratov, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Lauren Haber
  • LOVE FRAUD
    Executive Producers: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Amy Goodman Kass, Vinnie Malhotra, Jihan Robinson, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman
  • WE’RE HERE
    Creators/Executive Producers: Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram
    Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Peter LoGreco
    Co-Executive Producers: Erin Haglund, Sabrina Mar

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

  • I MAY DESTROY YOU
    Creator/Executive Producer: Michaela Coel
    Executive Producers: Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni
  • LITTLE AMERICA
    Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Alan Yang, Siân Heder, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon
  • SMALL AXE
    Executive Producers: Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen
  • A TEACHER
    Creator/Executive Producer: Hannah Fidell
    Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Kate Mara, Louise Shore, Jason Bateman, Danny Brocklehurst
    Co-Executive Producer: Daniel Pipski
  • UNORTHODOX
    Creator/Executive Producer: Anna Winger
    Creator: Alexa Karolinski
    Executive Producer: Henning Kamm

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A SCRIPTED SERIES

  • Elle Fanning, The Great
  • Shira Haas, Unorthodox
  • Abby McEnany, Work in Progress
  • Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever
  • Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

  • Adam Ali, Little America
  • Nicco Annan, P-Valley
  • Conphidance, Little America
  • Amit Rahav, Unorthodox
  • Harold Torres, ZeroZeroZero

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

  • I MAY DESTROY YOU
    Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Weruche Opia, Stephen Wight