38th Film Independent Spirit Awards: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ sweeps with history-making seven wins

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The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards were Saturday afternoon where Everything Everywhere All at Once swept, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed won Best Documentary Feature, and Joyland won Best International Film.

As is tradition, the show was held in a tent the beach at Santa Monica Pier where winners were chosen by members of Film Independent. Hasan Minhaj hosted, his opening monologue brimming with jokes about the industry and its hypocrisy (namely, IFC not distributing the Indie Spirits as they have in years past). Minhaj rounded out his monologue by taking aim at Deadline for their headlines and content.

A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once, the studio’s biggest box office hit ever, was the best in field with eight nods including Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay (The Daniels) and three acting nominations: Michelle Yeah in Lead plus Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis in Supporting. The film made Indie Spirits history by sweeping and taking home seven wins (the only loss being Curtis losing to Quan in the Supporting Performance category). This happens less than a week after the film made SAG history by taking home more awards than any film ever has.

TÁR was right behind with seven nominations, including Feature, Director, Lead Performance (Cate Blanchett) and Supporting Performance (Nina Hoss); the film only took home the award for Cinematography. Women Talking, the Robert Altman ensemble winner, earned four including Best Feature, a category rounded out by Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All and Our Father, the Devil. Charlotte Wells’ debut feature Aftersun earned five nods and took home the award for Best First Feature, not long after she won the BAFTA for Debut Feature.

New to the nominations this year is the Best Breakthrough Performance category, honoring actors making themselves known to wider audiences through noteworthy character portrayals. The nominees included, in addition to Stephanie Hsu, Frankie Corio of Aftersun, Gracija Filipović of Murina, Lily McInerny of Palm Trees and Power Lines and Daniel Zolghadri of Funny Pages. Hsu took home the award in the category, maintaining Everything Everywhere‘s domination over the Indie Spirits.

For the first time in Spirit Awards history, Film Independent moved to gender neutral acting categories, with the former separate lead and supporting actor and actress categories being replaced by the ten-nominee Best Lead and Best Supporting Performance awards. Both categories were competitive, honoring the best of last year’s performances. In the lead category, Michelle Yeoh, Cate Blanchett and Paul Mescal are just a few of the nominees that were vying for the award, which Yeoh took home. The Supporting Performance category was no different, both in terms of quality performances and Everything Everywhere All at Once providing another winner: Ke Huy Quan.

409 films were submitted, a record number for the organization. This year the Spirit Awards Film Nominating Committees selected nominees from over 25 different countries, applying the following guidelines in determining nominees: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means. The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees are comprised of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors, critics, casting directors, film festival programmers and other working film professionals. Of all nominated writers and directors, 61% are women and 34% are BIPOC. Of all nominated actors, 70% are women and 27% are BIPOC. And of all 2023 nominees, 51% are women and 33% are BIPOC. This year, the Spirit Awards nominating committees are 50% female, 6% Nonbinary, 3% Transgender, and 61% BIPOC; 32% identify as LGBTQ+ and 8% identify as people with disabilities (PWD).

The budget cap for eligible films is increased to $30 million and the cap for the John Cassavetes Award has also doubled to $1 million. The John Cassavetes Award went to The Cathedral, both written and directed by Ricky D’Ambrose.

In television, Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Severance and Station Eleven led the way with three nominations each for scripted series. The Bear ended the night with two twins: Best New Scripted Series and Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series. Severance and Station Eleven both went home empty-handed.

In the Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series category, the nominees were made up of Children of the Underground, Mind Over Murder, Pepsi, Where’s my Jet?, The Rehearsal and We Need to Talk About Cosby. The Nathan Fielder-led The Rehearsal was crowned the winner in this category.

New this year, as with the film nominees, is a switch to gender neutral acting awards, with the best actor and actress categories being replaced by a ten-nominee Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series award. In addition to this change, a Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series award has been added to honor performances outside of the leading roles. Quinta Brunson took home the award for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series for her performance in Abbott Elementary, a series that only grows more popular by the week. In the Supporting Performance category, Ayo Edebiri won for her performance in Hulu’s The Bear. Pachinko was also honored with Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.

This year the Spirit Awards Television Nominating Committees selected nominees applying the following guidelines: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means. The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees are comprised of creators, writers, directors, producers, actors, critics, film festival programmers and other working film professionals. Of all nominated television creators, executive producers and co-executive producers, 37% are women and 26% are BIPOC. Of all nominated television performers, 47% are women and 67% are BIPOC. This year, the Spirit Awards nominating committees are 50% female, 6% Nonbinary, 3% Transgender, and 61% BIPOC; 32% identify as LGBTQ+ and 8% identify as people with disabilities (PWD).  

Here is the complete list of winners of the 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards:

FILM

Best Feature

Bones and All
Producers: Timothée Chalamet, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Luca Guadagnino, David Kajganich, Lorenzo Mieli, Marco Morabito, Gabriele Moratti, Theresa Park, Peter Spears

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Producers: Daniel Kwan, Mike Larocca, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang

Our Father, the Devil
Producers: Ellie Foumbi, Joseph Mastantuono

TÁR
Producers: Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra Milchan

Women Talking
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Frances McDormand

Best First Feature

Aftersun
Director: Charlotte Wells
Producers: Mark Ceryak, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski

Emily the Criminal
Director: John Patton Ford
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Aubrey Plaza, Drew Sykes

The Inspection
Director: Elegance Bratton
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Chester Algernal Gordon

Murina
Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Producers: Danijel Pek, Rodrigo Teixeira

Palm Trees and Power Lines
Director/Producer: Jamie Dack
Producer: Leah Chen Baker

Best Director

Todd Field, TÁR
Kogonada, After Yang
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All At Once
Sarah Polley, Women Talking
Halina Reijn, Bodies Bodies Bodies

Best Lead Performance

Cate Blanchett, TÁR
Dale Dickey, A Love Song
Mia Goth, Pearl
Regina Hall, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Paul Mescal, Aftersun
Aubrey Plaza, Emily the Criminal
Jeremy Pope, The Inspection
Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
Taylor Russell, Bones and All
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Performance

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
Nina Hoss, TÁR
Brian d’Arcy James, The Cathedral
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Trevante Rhodes, Bruiser
Theo Rossi, Emily the Criminal
Mark Rylance, Bones and All
Jonathan Tucker, Palm Trees and Power Lines
Gabrielle Union, The Inspection

Best Breakthrough Performance

Frankie Corio, Aftersun
Gracija Filipović, Murina
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Lily McInerny, Palm Trees and Power Lines
Daniel Zolghadri, Funny Pages

Best Screenplay

Lena Dunham, Catherine Called Birdy
Todd Field, TÁR
Kogonada, After Yang
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Best First Screenplay

Joel Kim Booster, Fire Island
Jamie Dack, Audrey Findlay, Story by Jamie Dack, Palm Trees and Power Lines
K.D. Dávila, Emergency
Sarah DeLappe, Story by Kristen Roupenian, Bodies Bodies Bodies
John Patton Ford, Emily the Criminal

Best Cinematography

Florian Hoffmeister, TÁR
Hélène Louvart, Murina
Gregory Oke, Aftersun
Eliot Rockett, Pearl
Anisia Uzeyman, Neptune Frost

Best Editing

Ricky D’Ambrose, The Cathedral
Dean Fleischer Camp and Nick Paley, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Blair McClendon, Aftersun
Paul Rogers, Everything Everywhere All At Once
Monika Willi, TÁR

Robert Altman Award: Women Talking (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast)

Director: Sarah Polley
Casting directors: John Buchan, Jason Knight
Ensemble cast: Shayla Brown, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Kira Guloien, Kate Hallett, Judith Ivey, Rooney Mara, Sheila McCarthy, Frances McDormand, Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, Ben Whishaw, August Winter

 Best Documentary (Award given to the director and producer)

All That Breathes
Producers: Teddy Leifer, Aman Mann

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Producers: Howard Gertler, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, John Lyons

A House Made of Splinters
Producers: Monica Hellström

Midwives
Producers: Mila Aung-Thwin, Ulla Lehmann, Bob Moore

Riotsville, U.S.A. 
Producers: Sara Archambault, Jamila Wignot

Best International Film (Award given to the director)

Corsage
Austria/Luxembourg/France/Belgium/Italy/England
Director: Marie Kreutzer

Joyland
Pakistan/USA
Director: Saim Sadiq

Leonor Will Never Die
Philippines
Director: Martika Ramirez Escobar

Return to Seoul
South Korea/France/Belgium/Romania
Director: Davy Chou

Saint Omer
France
Director: Alice Diop

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000; Award given to the writer, director, and producer)

The African Desperate
Writer/Director/Producer: Martine Syms
Writer/Producer: Rocket Caleshu
Producer: Vic Brooks

A Love Song
Writer/Director/Producer: Max Walker-Silverman
Producers: Jesse Hope, Dan Janvey

The Cathedral
Writer/Director: Ricky D’Ambrose
Producer: Graham Swon

Holy Emy
Writer/Director: Araceli Lemos
Writer/Producer: Giulia Caruso
Producers: Mathieu Bompoint, Ki Jin Kim, Konstantinos Vassilaros

Something in the Dirt
Writer/Director/Producer: Justin Benson
Director/Producer: Aaron Moorhead
Producer: David Lawson Jr.

Producers Award presented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey – The Producers Award, now in its 26th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.

Liz Cardenas
Tory Lenosky
David Grove Churchill Viste

 Someone to Watch Award – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 29th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

Adamma Ebo, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Nikyatu Jusu, Nanny
Araceli Lemos, Holy Emy

 Truer Than Fiction Award – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 28th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

Isabel Castro, Mija
Reid Davenport, I Didn’t See You There
Rebeca Huntt, Beba

TELEVISION

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

The Bear (FX)
Creator/Executive Producer: Christopher Storer ; Executive Producers: Joanna Calo, Josh Senior, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson; Co-Executive Producer: Rene Gube 

Pachinko (Apple TV+)
Creator/Executive Producer: Soo Hugh ; Executive Producers: Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Theresa Kang-Lowe, Richard Middleton, Justin Chon, Kogonada ; Co-Executive Producers: Dani Gorin, Sebastian Lee, David Kim, Ethan Kuperberg 

The Porter (CBC)
Creators/Executive Producers: Marsha Greene, Annmarie Morais, Arnold Pinnock ; Creator/Co-Executive Producer: Bruce Ramsay; Creator: Aubrey Nealon; Executive Producers: Ian Dimerman, Jennifer Kawaja, Charles Officer, R.T. Thorne, Aml Ameen, Bruno Dubé, Alfre Woodard, Rose Catherine Pinkney, Devin Griffin; Co-Executive Producers: Elise Cousineau, Andrea Glinski, Steve Cochrane, Daphne Park 

Severance (Apple TV+)
Creator/Executive Producer: Dan Erickson; Executive Producers: Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock, Jackie Cohn, Mark Friedman, Andrew Colville, Chris Black, John Cameron; Co-Executive Producers: Jill Footlick, Kari Drake 

Station Eleven (HBO Max)
Creator/Executive Producer: Patrick Somerville; Executive Producers: Jessica Rhoades, Scott Steindorff, Dylan Russell, Scott Delman, Jeremy Podeswa, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson; Co-Executive Producers: David Nicksay, Nick Cuse 

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES 

Aml Ameen, The Porter
Mohammed Amer, Mo
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere
KaMillion, Rap Sh!t
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets
Himesh Patel, Station Eleven
Sue Ann Pien, As We See It
Adam Scott, Severance
Ben Whishaw, This is Going to Hurt

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Danielle Deadwyler, Station Eleven
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere
Gbemisola Ikumelo, A League of Their Own
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
Frankie Quiñones, This Fool
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Molly Shannon, I Love That For You
Tramell Tillman, Severance

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (a juried award) 

Pachinko 

Ensemble Cast: Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Inji Jeong, Minha Kim, Kaho Minami, Lee Minho, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Jimmi Simpson, Yuh-jung Youn 

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Children of the Underground
Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Kate Barry; Co-Executive Producer: Julie Gaither 

Mind Over Murder
Executive Producers: Marc Smerling, Nanfu Wang, Max Heckman, Chad Mumm, Mark W. Olsen, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez 

Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?
Executive Producers: Nick Boak, Andrew Renzi, Andrew D. Corkin, Theo James, Andrew Fried, Jordan Wynn, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma; Co-Executive Producer: Jeremiah Murphy 

The Rehearsal
Creator/Executive Producer: Nathan Fielder; Executive Producers: Dave Paige, Dan McManus, Christie Smith; Co-Executive Producers: Carrie Kemper, Eric Notarnicola 

We Need to Talk About Cosby
Executive Producers: W. Kamau Bell, Andrew Fried, Katie A. King, Vinnie Malhotra, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma, Jordan Wynn; Co-Executive Producer: Geraldine L. Porras