Coming-of-age drama “We the Animals” has scored a leading five Spirit Awards nominations, with “Eighth Grade,” “First Reformed,” and “You Were Never Really Here” taking four each.
The nominees for best feature are “Eighth Grade,” “First Reformed,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Leave No Trace,” and “You Were Never Really Here.”
“We the Animals” received nominations for best first feature, best supporting male actor for Raul Castillo, cinematography, editing, and the Someone to Watch award for Jeremiah Zagar, who directed and adapted the script from Justin Torres’ debut novel of the same name. The movie, which focuses on a mixed-race family in upstate New York, opened at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Bo Burnham’s comedy-drama “Eighth Grade” took nods for feature, first feature, actress for Elsie Fisher, and supporting male actor for Josh Hamilton. “First Reformed” landed noms for feature, director and screenplay for Paul Schrader, and male lead for Ethan Hawke.
Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really” scored for feature, director, editing, and male lead for Joaquin Phoenix. Tamara Jenkins’ “Private Life” nabbed three nominations for director, screenplay, and supporting female actor for Kayli Carter. Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” picked up a trio of noms for feature, director, and supporting female for Regina King. Debra Granik’s PTSD drama “Leave No Trace” received three nominations for best feature, director and supporting female actor for Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie.
“Suspiria” director Luca Guadagnino, and the cast and casting directors were awarded the Robert Altman Award. A24, which handled “Eighth Grade” and “First Reformed,” was the top distributor with 12 nominations, followed by Amazon, Netflix, and the Orchard with six each.
Nominations were announced on Friday morning by “Crazy Rich Asians” star Gemma Chan and Molly Shannon at the W Hotel in Hollywood.
The awards ceremony will take place on Feb. 23 — the day before the Academy Awards — in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. The show, now in its 34th year, will air on IFC.
The Spirit Awards nominations are selected by a 46-member committee and the awards are voted on by the 6,000-plus members of Film Independent. The eligibility rules require that movies be produced in the U.S. for less than $20 million. “Get Out” won the best feature film trophy this year. In the prior four years, “Moonlight,” “Spotlight,” “Birdman,” and “12 Years a Slave” won both the Spirit Award and the Oscar for best picture.
Here is the full list of nominations:
Best Feature
EIGHTH GRADE
FIRST REFORMED
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
LEAVE NO TRACE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Best Director
Debra Granik, LEAVE NO TRACE
Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Lynne Ramsay, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED
Best Male Lead
John Cho, SEARCHING
Daveed Diggs, BLINDSPOTTING
Ethan Hawke, FIRST REFORMED
Christian Malheiros, SÓCRATES
Joaquin Phoenix, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Glenn Close, THE WIFE
Toni Collette, HEREDITARY
Elsie Fisher, EIGHTH GRADE
Regina Hall, SUPPORT THE GIRLS
Helena Howard, MADELINE’S MADELINE
Carey Mulligan, WILDLIFE
Best Supporting Female Actor
Kayli Carter, PRIVATE LIFE
Tyne Daly, A BREAD FACTORY
Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE
J. Smith-Cameron, NANCY
Best Supporting Male Actor
Raúl Castillo, WE THE ANIMALS
Adam Driver, BLACKKKLANSMAN
Richard E. Grant, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Josh Hamilton, EIGHTH GRADE
John David Washington, MONSTERS AND MEN
Best Cinematography
Ashley Connor, MADELINE’S MADELINE
Diego Garcia, WILDLIFE
Benjamin Loeb, MANDY
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, SUSPIRIA
Zak Mulligan, WE THE ANIMALS
Best Screenplay
Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, COLETTE
Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Boots Riley, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Paul Schrader FIRST REFORMED
Best First Screenplay
Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE
Christina Choe, NANCY
Cory Finley, THOROUGHBREDS
Jennifer Fox, THE TALE
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), BLAME
Best Documentary
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
MINDING THE GAP
OF FATHERS AND SONS
ON HER SHOULDERS
SHIRKERS
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
Best international film
BURNING (South Korea)
THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)
HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)
ROMA (Mexico)
SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)
The Truer Than Fiction Award
Alexandria Bombach, ON HER SHOULDERS
Bing Liu, MINDING THE GAP
RaMell Ross, HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
Producers Award
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
The Someone to Watch Award
Alex Moratto, SÓCRATES
Ioana Uricaru, LEMONADE
Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS
The Bonnie Award
Debra Granik
Tamara Jenkins
Karyn Kusama
