39th Independent Spirit Awards

The 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films and television series of 2023, were presented by Film Independent on February 25, 2024. The ceremony took place at the Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California, and was hosted by American actress and comedian Aidy Bryant. For the second year in a row, the ceremony was streamed live on the YouTube channels of both IMDb and Film Independent, among other social platforms.
The nominations were announced live via YouTube on December 5, 2023, by actors Joel Kim Booster and Natalie Morales. American Fiction, May December, and Past Lives led the film nominations with five each, followed by The Holdovers and Passages with four apiece; for the television categories, I'm a Virgo and The Last of Us received the most nominations with four each.
The grant recipients of the Emerging Filmmakers Awards were announced on January 6, 2024.

WWW filmindependent.org/spiri...

Changes

This year, Film Independent added a new category: Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series. This move evens the number of performance categories for film and TV; three on the film side and three on the television side.

Winners and nominees

Film

Best Feature	Best Director
Past Lives – David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, and Christine VachonAll of Us Strangers – Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and Sarah HarveyAmerican Fiction – Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, and Ben LeClairMay December – Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, and Christine VachonPassages – Michel Merkt and Saïd Ben SaïdWe Grown Now – Minhal Baig and Joe Pirro	Celine Song – Past Lives Andrew Haigh – All of Us Strangers Todd Haynes – May December William Oldroyd – Eileen Ira Sachs – Passages
Best Lead Performance	Best Supporting Performance
*Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction* as Thelonious "Monk" Ellison** Jessica Chastain – Memory as Sylvia Greta Lee – Past Lives as Nora Moon Trace Lysette – Monica as Monica Natalie Portman – May December as Elizabeth Berry Judy Reyes – Birth/Rebirth as Celie Franz Rogowski – Passages as Tomas Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers as Adam Teyana Taylor – A Thousand and One as Inez de la Paz Teo Yoo – Past Lives as Hae Sung	*Da'Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers* as Mary Lamb** Erika Alexander – American Fiction as Coraline Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction as Clifford "Cliff" Ellison Noah Galvin – Theater Camp as Glenn Winthrop Anne Hathaway – Eileen as Rebecca Glenn Howerton – BlackBerry as Jim Balsillie Marin Ireland – Eileen as Rita Polk Charles Melton – May December as Joe Yoo Catalina Saavedra – Rotting in the Sun as Señora "Vero" Verónica Ben Whishaw – Passages as Martin
Best Breakthrough Performance	Best Screenplay
*Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers* as Angus Tully** Marshawn Lynch – Bottoms as Mr. G Atibon Nazaire – Mountains as Xavier Tia Nomore – Earth Mama as Gia Anaita Wali Zada – Fremont as Donya	American Fiction – Cord JeffersonBirth/Rebirth – Laura Moss and Brendan J. O'BrienBottoms – Emma Seligman and Rachel SennottThe Holdovers – David HemingsonPast Lives – Celine Song
Best First Feature	Best First Screenplay
A Thousand and One – A. V. Rockwell ; Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, and Brad Weston All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt – Raven Jackson ; Maria Altamirano, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, and Adele Romanski Chronicles of a Wandering Saint – Tomás Gómez Bustillo ; Gewan Brown and Amanda Freedman Earth Mama – Savanah Leaf ; Sam Bisbee, Shirley O'Connor, Medb Riordan, and Cody Ryder Upon Entry – Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez ; Sergio Adrià, Carlos Juárez, Alba Sotorra, Carles Torras, and Xosé Zapata	May December – Samy Burch; story by Samy Burch and Alex MechanikChronicles of a Wandering Saint – Tomás Gómez BustilloThe Starling Girl – Laurel ParmetTheater Camp – Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, and Ben PlattUpon Entry – Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez
Best Documentary Feature	Best International Film
Four Daughters – Kaouther Ben Hania ; Nadim Cheikhrouha Bye Bye Tiberias – Lina Soualem ; Jean-Marie Nizan Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project – Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson ; Tommy Oliver Kokomo City – D. Smith ; Bill Butler and Harris Doran The Mother of All Lies – Asmae El Moudir	Anatomy of a Fall – Justine TrietGodland – Hlynur PálmasonMami Wata – C.J. "Fiery" ObasiTótem – Lila AvilésThe Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer
Best Cinematography	Best Editing
The Holdovers – Eigil BryldAll Dirt Roads Taste of Salt – Jomo FrayChronicles of a Wandering Saint – Pablo LozanoMonica – Katelin ArizmendiWe Grown Now – Pat Scola	How to Blow Up a Pipeline – Daniel GarberRotting in the Sun – Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz, and Sofía SubercaseauxTheater Camp – Jon PhilpotUpon Entry – Emanuele TizianiWe Grown Now – Stephanie Filo

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Nominations	Film
5	American Fiction
5	May December
5	Past Lives
4	The Holdovers
4	Passages
3	All of Us Strangers
3	Birth/Rebirth
3	Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
3	Eileen
3	Rotting in the Sun
3	Theater Camp
3	Upon Entry
3	We Grown Now
2	All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
2	Bottoms
2	Earth Mama
2	Fremont
2	Monica
2	Mountains
2	A Thousand and One

Awards	Film
3	The Holdovers
2	American Fiction
2	Past Lives

Television

Best New Scripted Series	Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
Beef – Lee Sung Jin ; Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Jake Schreier, Ravi Nandan, and Alli Reich ; Alice Ju and Carrie Kemper Dreaming Whilst Black – Adjani Salmon ; Maximilian Evans, Natasha Jatania, and Laura Seixas ; Tanya Qureshi, Dhanny Joshi, Bal Samra, and Thomas Stogdon I'm a Virgo – Boots Riley ; Tze Chun, Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Jharrel Jerome, and Rebecca Rivo ; Marcus Gardley and Carver Karaszewski Jury Duty – Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky ; David Bernad, Ruben Fleischer, Nicholas Hatton, Cody Heller, Todd Schulman, Jake Szymanski, and Andrew Weinberg Slip – Zoe Lister-Jones ; Ro Donnelly, Dakota Johnson, Katie O'Connell Marsh, David Fortier, and Ivan Schneeberg	Dear Mama – Lasse Järvi, Quincy "QD3" Jones III, Staci Robinson, Nelson George, Charles D. King, Peter Nelson, Adel "Future" Nur, Jamal Joseph, Ted Skillman, Allen Hughes, Steve Berman, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, John Janick, Nicholas Ferrall, and Nigel Sinclair Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court – Vinnie Malhotra, Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, and Dawn Porter Murder in Big Horn – Matthew Galkin and Vinnie Malhotra ; Lisa Kalikow and Joshua Levine Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence – Mindy Goldberg, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Zach Heinzerling, Krista Parris, Daniel Barban Levin, and Felicia Rosario ; Julie Gaither Wrestlers – Greg Whiteley and Ryan O'Dowd ; Alejandro Melendez and Adam Leibowitz
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series	Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
*Ali Wong – Beef* as Amy Lau** Emma Corrin – A Murder at the End of the World as Darby Hart Dominique Fishback – Swarm as Andrea "Dre" Greene Betty Gilpin – Mrs. Davis as Sister Simone Jharrel Jerome – I'm a Virgo as Cootie Zoe Lister-Jones – Slip as Mae Cannon Bel Powley – A Small Light as Miep Gies Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us as Ellie Ramón Rodríguez – Will Trent as Will Trent Steven Yeun – Beef as Danny Cho	*Nick Offerman – The Last of Us* as Bill** Murray Bartlett – The Last of Us as Frank Billie Eilish – Swarm as Eva Jack Farthing – Rain Dogs as Selby Adina Porter – The Changeling as Lillian Kagwa Lewis Pullman – Lessons in Chemistry as Calvin Evans Benny Safdie – The Curse as Dougie Schecter Luke Tennie – Shrinking as Sean Olivia Washington – I'm a Virgo as Flora Jessica Williams – Shrinking as Gaby
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series	Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
*Keivonn Montreal Woodard – The Last of Us* as Sam** Clark Backo – The Changeling as Emma "Emmy" Valentine Aria Mia Loberti – All the Light We Cannot See as Marie-Laure LeBlanc Adjani Salmon – Dreaming Whilst Black as Kwabena Kara Young – I'm a Virgo as Jones	Jury Duty – Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O'Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, and Evan Williams

Series with multiple nominations and awards

Nominations	Series
4	I'm a Virgo
4	The Last of Us
3	Beef
2	The Changeling
2	Dreaming Whilst Black
2	Jury Duty
2	Shrinking
2	Slip
2	Swarm

Wins	Series
2	Beef
2	The Last of Us

Special awards

John Cassavetes Award">Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award">John Cassavetes Award

Fremont – Babak Jalali ; Carolina Cavalli ; Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, and Laura Wagner The Artifice Girl – Franklin Ritch ; Aaron B. Koontz and Ashleigh Snead Cadejo Blanco – Justin Lerner ; Mauricio Escobar, Ryan Friedkin, and Jack Patrick Hurley Rotting in the Sun – Sebastián Silva ; Pedro Peirano ; Jacob Wasserman The Unknown Country – Morrisa Maltz ; Lily Gladstone ; Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux and Vanara Taing ; Katherine Harper, Laura Heberton, and Tommy Heitkamp

Robert Altman Award">Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award">Robert Altman Award

'Showing Up'' – Kelly Reichardt ; Gayle Keller ; André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James LeGros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, and Michelle Williams '''

Emerging Filmmakers Awards

Producers Award

The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films.Monique Walton

* Rachael Fung
* Graham Swon

[Someone to Watch Award]

The award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.Monica Sorelle – Mountains

* Joanna Arnow – The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
* Laura Moss – ''Birth/Rebirth''

Truer than Fiction Award

The award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.Set Hernandez – Unseen

* Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli – Lakota Nation vs. United States
* Sierra Urich – ''Joonam''

Palestinian genocide protest

Outside the venue, a handful of protesters were located on the beach in Santa Monica playing previously recorded chants on a megaphone, such as "free Palestine", "long live Palestine" and "ceasefire now", which played on a loop throughout most of the ceremony and was audible to everyone inside; host Aidy Bryant, and winners Babak Jalali and Kelly Reichardt referenced the chants in their speeches. It was also revealed that the disruption was coming from one young male who was holding the loudspeaker and standing on the outer part of the Spirits barricade; a group of security guards and Spirits showrunners tried to reason with the protester, who was quite calm and tranquil, but to no success. Another group of Spirits security guards stood by and watched; three police officers, one in fully armed gear, looked on.
Additionally, The New York Times pop culture reporter Kyle Buchanan spoke to the protester who refused to give a statement and revealed that he is with the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression; the protester elaborated that The New York Times "is a publication that has been complicit in misinformation and distortion of the facts".
Furthermore, film critic Tomris Laffly was able to speak to one of the protesters, Vivian Wiseman, about disrupting awards events to keep a light on the events happening in Palestine; Wiseman told Laffly: "We want everyone to know that the activists and the people who care are going to disrupt them wherever they go because we believe in love, we believe in peace, and we believe in liberation of the Palestinian people."
Afterward, Josh Welsh, the long-serving president of Film Independent, responded to the scene, saying: "We embrace the First Amendment and freedom of speech, and this is clearly a moment when people feel passionately about what's happening in the world and want to speak about it. We support that. Of course, we also want to honor the filmmakers here today in their moment being recognized for their beautiful work. But I think today was a beautiful show and people incorporated what was going on into their remarks in really great ways."
The following day, the Los Angeles Times revealed that filmmaker Merawi Gerima was among the protesters; Gerima previously won the John Cassavetes Award for his film Residue at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards in 2021. A video posted to the Instagram page of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network showed the beginning of the protest, with Gerima speaking into a loudspeaker to announce they are there on behalf of the USPCN and the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression. "We say it is far better to stand with the oppressed people around the world than with the oppressors here in Hollywood," Gerima said in the video, before specifically calling out multiple times actor Jeffrey Wright, star of the film American Fiction; the film won two awards, including Best Lead Performance for Wright. "It's not enough to have a film about racism, Mr. Jeffrey Wright," said Gerima. "It's not enough to have a film about oppression in the United States, Jeffrey Wright. It is far more important to stand against oppression and racism as it exists in the world today in solidarity with the Black and brown people of the planet, particularly Palestinians." Gerima stated in another video: "A whole industry of communicators is absolutely silent in the face of genocide. And so we say no business as usual, not even in Hollywood." A request for comment from Gerima was not responded to while Film Independent did not respond to a request for comment on the protest.