Innovative Movie Talent Shines Once Again With The Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

In case you somehow missed it, the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominees, presented by Lily Collins and Tessa Thompson, an event growing in stature and significance each year. Not only is the roll-out of such exceptional work from the indie film scene an integrated part of the Academy Awards build-up, it is also an exciting, essential recognition of the diverse, unique talent on show.

Oscarologists are likely to get their knickers in a twist over both the films hitting big in many categories, as well as those missing out on several, or not showing up at all. In the meantime, though, let’s continue to celebrate and embrace the innovative work of independent cinema, with these nominations and beyond. 

BEST FEATURE

Call Me By Your Name
Lady Bird
Get Out
The Florida Project
The Rider

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Columbus
Ingrid Goes West
Menashe
Oh Lucy!
Patti Cake$

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Dayveon
A Ghost Story
Life and nothing more
Most Beautiful Island
The Transfiguration

BEST DIRECTOR

Sean Baker (The Florida Project)
Jonas Carpignano (A Ciambra)
Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie (Good Time)
Chloé Zhao (The Rider)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Azazel Jacobs (The Lovers)
Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Mike White (Beatriz at Dinner)

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Kris Avedis, Kyle Espeleta, Jesse Wakeman (Donald Cried)
Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick)
Ingrid Jungermann (Women Who Kill)
Kogonada (Columbus)
David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer (Ingrid Goes West)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Thimios Bakatakis (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Elisha Christian (Columbus)
Hélène Louvart (Beach Rats)
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Call Me by Your Name)
Joshua James Richards (The Rider)

BEST EDITING

Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie (Good Time)
Walter Fasano (Call Me by Your Name)
Alex O’Flinn (The Rider)
Gregory Plotkin (Get Out)
Tatiana S. Riegel (I, Tonya)

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Salma Hayek (Beatriz at Dinner)
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)
Shinobu Terajima (Oh Lucy!)
Regina Williams (Life and nothing more)

BEST MALE LEAD

Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)
Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats)
James Franco (The Disaster Artist)
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
Robert Pattinson (Good Time) 

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Holly Hunter (The Big Sick)
Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
Lois Smith (Marjorie Prime)
Taliah Lennice Webster (Good Time)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Nnamdi Asomugha (Crown Heights)
Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name)
Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Bennie Safdie (Good Time)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Mudbound (Director: Dee Rees; Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram; Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

BPM (Beats Per Minute), France (Robin Campillo)
A Fantastic Woman, Chile (Sebastián Lelio)
I Am Not a Witch, Zambia (Rungano Nyoni)
Lady Macbeth, U.K. (William Oldroyd)
Loveless, Russia (Andrey Zvyagintsev)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Departure (Lana Wilson)
Faces Places (Agnés Varda, JR; Rosalie Varda)
Last Men in Aleppo (Feras Fayyad; Kareem Abeed, Søeren Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos)
Motherland (Ramona S. Diaz; Rey Cuerdo)
Quest (Jonathan Olshefski; Sabrina Schmidt Gordon)

BONNIE AWARD – recognizes mid-career female directors with a $50,000 unrestricted grant.

So Yong Kim
Lynn Shelton
Chloé Zhao

JEEP TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by the Jeep brand.

Shevaun Mizrahi (director of Distant Constellation)
Jonathan Olshefski (director of Quest)
Jeff Unay (director of The Cage Fighter)

KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.

Amman Abbasi (director of Dayveon)
Justin Chon (director of Gook)
Kevin Phillips (director of Super Dark Times)

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim
Ben LeClair
Summer Shelton

Review: The Florida Project

“Childhood means simplicity. Look at the world with the child’s eye – it is very beautiful.” Kailash Satyarthi

In Sean Baker’s excellent The Florida Project we see the glorious, almost technicolor world through the eyes of six year old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), who is living below the poverty line in post-election America. However, she doesn’t see a bleak world where the working class have to scrape by just to pay the motel room bill for one night, she sees a world full of adventure and awe.

To be young is to see the beauty in the world, and this is what Baker so effortlessly captures in this gem of a film. The film dazzles, but is steeped in realism, a cross between Tim Burton and Ken Loach. There is a dirty grimness to the sunshine landscape of Florida, which to the soft millennial generation would be their idea of hell, but to the generation alpha Moonee and her merry band of friends it offers excitement, entertainment and wonder.

Director Baker has already scored critical success with his brilliant little indie flick Tangerine (2015), which was shot on i-Phone, and he’s not afraid to try new things. He makes sure that his camera is more than just a passive onlooker and allows it to become its own character.

The real world of The Florida Project would make a grown man cry, dirt poor citizens reduced to living in sleazy down ridden motels as they tried to make money in whatever way possible. And in the hands of someone else, The Florida Project could have ended up a very different film, one lacking in humour and humanity. However, Sean Baker has created a careful balance between tragedy and comedy, he isn’t afraid to trend on the dark side showing us a drunken brawl taking place in the motel car park. But he manages to show us how magical life can be, when we join Moonee showing her new friend a fallen down tree which still has green leaves. Even when the situation looks dire, a fallen tree can still offer beauty and hope.

Brooklynn Prince runs away with the film, her acting is truly genuine, and she shines like a real star. Her performance reminded me of the smart wittiness and charm of Tatum O’Neal in Paper Moon (1973), however Prince has more sass and is more streetwise. There is already Oscar buzz that she is 2017’s hottest contender for best supporting actress, which needs to happen if there is any justice in this world. She’s a fearless child who has more guts than most adults, and she is an unlikely inspiration (people, we need to be taking a leaf out of her book).

Prince is not the only actor that gives a noteworthy performance, 24-year-old Bria Vinaite as Halley (Moonee’s mother) is a pro at this whole acting lark despite having no previous acting experience whatsoever. Amazingly Baker simply came across her Instagram account and reached out. She’s feisty, real and tough but reveals she has a vulnerable soft side to her. She’s not your average bad Mom, she has a good heart but she’s just a child herself. We know very little about her past, but that’s what makes her character so interesting, it’s not about her troubled past, it’s about her troubled present. She is a victim of the failed welfare system but don’t you dare say that to her face. Vinaite is the opposite of a snowflake, she’s a tough shard of ice.

Willem Dafoe is surely a hot contender for best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of Bobby, the manager of the motel. He’s the father figure for the children, keeping an eye out for them and saving them from sexual predators, a fallen guardian angel if you will. He also takes pity on Halley and is often the only ‘normal’ functioning adult around, and that’s saying something! It’s charming to witness just how much Bobby cares about his rundown motel, painting it purple so it becomes a brilliant contrast from the swampy Florida setting. Dafoe is warm, witty and human in this role and it’s great to see him shaking off the ‘comic book villain’ image. Honestly, there is not a mediocre performance from any of the performers in this film.

Perhaps, what makes The Florida Project truly memorable is it’s glorious scenes set in the daytime which were shot on 35mm film, creating an almost super 8 home film feel, only in the world of The Magic Castle motel, summer lasts forever. This is a film that will only get better with age, it’s a timeless classic and I can only urge you to see it. It’s so refreshing to have a film-maker like Sean Baker on the scene and I’m waiting eagerly to see what he has to offer us next. Keep up the good work, Sean!