‘The Lost Daughter’ is the big winner at 2022 Spirit Awards, ‘Drive My Car’ steers towards the Oscars

The 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards were revealed today at an in-person ceremony in their traditional tent in Santa Monica and The Lost Daughter, Drive My Car and Reservation Dogs were the big winners. The ceremony was hosted for the first time by comedic super-couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally and and aired live on IFC.

The Film Independent Spirit Awards hand out the best in indie film. Passing, which was egregiously snubbed at the Oscars for Outstanding Cinematography, won the award for Best Cinematography. Janicza Bravo’s Zola, which also received zero nominations at the Oscars this year, took home the award for Best Editing. Neither of these categories had any current Oscar contenders in them this year. There are two screenplay awards at the Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay and Best First Screenplay. Maggie Gyllenhaal accepted the award for Best Screenplay for her directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, while Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block won the award for Best First Screenplay for NEON’s Pig. The John Cassavetes Award, which is given to the best feature made for under $500,000, went to Shiva Baby. Best International Film went to Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, which is nominated the Oscars for Best Picture and Best International Film (and the only Oscar nominee in this bunch). Best Documentary went to Oscar-nominated Summer of Soul, beating out other Oscar nominees Flee and Ascension. In the acting categories, there are only two current Oscar nominees among the twenty performances nominated, Troy Kutsor from CODA and Jessie Buckley from The Lost Daughter. Kutser won the award for Best Supporting Male, while Buckey lost Best Supporting Female to Passing‘s Ruth Negga (who missed out on an Oscar nomination). In the lead performance categories, Taylour Paige took home the award for Best Female Lead for playing the titular role in Zola, while Simon Rex took home the award for Best Male Lead for his performance in Sean Baker’s Red Rocket. The biggest award of the night, Best Feature, went to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter.

Four of the five directing nominees this year were women: Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter, Lauren Hadaway for The Novice, Ninja Thyberg for Pleasure and Bravo for Zola. Of the nominated writers and directors, 44% are women and 38% are BIPOC. Of all nominated actors, 60% are BIPOC. And of all 2022 nominees, 46% are women and 32% are BIPOC.

The Film Independent Spirit Awards also awarded some of the best in television. Lee Jung-jae kept his newfound winning streak going by taking home the award for Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series for his performance in Netflix’s mega-hit Squid Game, which premiered last September to critical acclaim and becoming a huge hit on the streaming platform. With this and the SAG Award under his belt now, he should be a shoo-in at the Emmys later this year. In Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series, Thuso Mbedu took home the award for her brilliant performance in Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of The Underground Railroad. FX comedy Reservation Dogs took home the award for Best New Scripted Series, adding another award to the shows mantel and propelling it forward to be included at this year’s Emmys. Reservation Dogs also received the award for Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series, tallying up a total of two awards for the night. In the Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series category, HBO original Black and Missing bested the competition and won.

A24 was the most-nominated studio, receiving 13 in total, for The Humans, C’mon, C’mon and Zola. NEON, distributor of Pig and A Chiara, and Netflix, which backed The Lost Daughter and Passing, were just behind with 9 nominations apiece. Janicza Bravo’s tweet-inspired road comedy Zola lead the nominations with seven. Netflix ended the night with 5 awards (6 including the television categories), bringing home the biggest prize for The Lost Daughter. A24 ended up with 3 awards at the end of the night, taking home the awards for both lead performance categories. NEON took home 1 award for Best First Screenplay.

Bleecker Street’s Mass was selected for the Robert Altman Award, which goes to a film’s director, casting director(s) and cast.

Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart (Spencer) was this year’s honorary chair and a presenter. Past Honorary Chairs include Shaka King, Lena Waithe, Ava DuVernay, Jessica Chastain, Ang Lee, David Oyelowo, Jodie Foster, Javier Bardem, Kerry Washington, Tom Cruise, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore, among others. 

Other presenters this year included Dianna Agron, Javier Bardem, Murray Bartlett, Jennifer Beals, Rosario Dawson, Daveed Diggs, Colman Domingo, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Hannah Einbinder, Bridget Everett, Andrew Garfield, Regina Hall, Lily James, Marlee Matlin, Bob Odenkirk, Sam Richardson, Rhea Seehorn, Sebastian Stan, Sydney Sweeney, Taika Waititi, Michelle Yeoh and Chloé Zhao

Alex Camilleri (Luzzu) received the Someone to Watch Award. The award recognizes talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition. The award is in its 28th year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. Finalists for the award were Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society). 

Lizzie Shapiro received the Producers Award. The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The annual award, in its 25th year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. Finalists for the award were Brad Becker-Parton and Pin-Chun Liu.

Jessica Beshir (Faya Dayi) received the Truer Than Fiction Award. The award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award is in its 27th year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. Finalists for the award were Angelo Madsen Minax (North By Current) and Debbie Lum (Try Harder!).

The Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by Premier Sponsor IFC; the Official Spirit, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey; the Official Non-Alcoholic Spirit, Seedlip; Official Water, FIJI Water and Official Beer, Stella Artois. Getty Images is the Official Photographer.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Best Feature

• A Chiara
• C’mon C’mon
• The Lost Daughter – WINNER
• The Novice
• Zola

Best First Feature

• 7 Days – WINNER
• Hollers
• Queen Glory
• Test Pattern
• Wild Indian

Best Director

• Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
• Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter – WINNER
• Lauren Hadaway – The Novice
• Ninja Thyberg – Pleasure
• Janicza Bravo – Zola

Best Male Lead

• Clifton Collins, Jr. – Jockey
• Frankie Faison – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
• Michael Greyeyes – Wild Indian
• Udo Kier – Swan Song
• Simon Rex – Red Rocket – WINNER

Best Supporting Male

• Colman Domingo – Zola
• Meeko Gattuso – Queen Glory
• Troy Kotsur – CODA – WINNER
• Will Patton – Sweet Thing
• Chaske Spencer – Wild Indian

Best Female Lead

• Isabelle Fuhrman – The Novice
• Brittany S. Hall – Test Pattern
• Patti Harrison – Together Together
• Taylour Paige – Zola – WINNER
• Kali Reis – Catch the Fair One

Best Supporting Female

• Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
• Amy Forsyth – The Novice
• Ruth Negga – Passing – WINNER
• Revika Anne Reustle – Pleature
• Suzanna Son – Red Rocket

Robert Altman Award: Mass (Director: Fran Kranz; Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein and Allison Estrin; Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimptonand Breeda Wool)

Best Screenplay

• C’mon C’mon
• The Lost Daughter – WINNER
• Swan Song
• Together Together
• Zola

Best First Screenplay

• Cicada
• Mass
• Pig – WINNER
• Test Pattern
• Wild Indian

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

• Cryptozoo
• Jockey
• Shiva Baby – WINNER
• Sweet Thing
• This is Not a War Story

Best Editing

• A Chiara
• The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
• The Novice
• The Nowhere Inn
• Zola – WINNER

Best Cinematography

• A Chiara
• Blue Bayou
• The Humans
• Passing – WINNER
• Zola

Best Documentary

• Ascension
• Flee
• In the Same Breath
• Procession
• Summer of Soul – WINNER

Best International Film

• Compartment No. 6 (Finland)
• Drive My Car (Japan) – WINNER
• Parallel Mothers (Spain)
• Petite Maman (France)
• Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico)

Producers Award (Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films)

Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
Lizzie Shapiro – WINNER

Someone to Watch Award

Alex Camilleri, Luzzu – WINNER
Michael Sarnoski, Pig
Gillian Wallace Horvat, I Blame Society

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series

• Black and Missing – WINNER
• The Choe Show
• The Lady and The Dale
• Nuclear Family
• Philly D.A.

Best New Scripted Series

• Blindspotting
• It’s a Sin
• Reservation Dogs – WINNER
• The Underground Railroad
• We Are Lady Parts

Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad – WINNER
• Anjana Vasan, We Are Lady Parts
• Jana Schmieding, Rutherford Falls
• Jasmine Cephus Jones, Blindspotting
• Deborah Ayorinde, THEM: Covenant

Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game – WINNER
• Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin
• Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls
• Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
• Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
Reservation Dogs

Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis/Netflix