‘Eighth Grade’ And ‘First Reformed’ Lead The 2019 Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Awards season has officially kicked off with the nominations announcement for the 34th Independent Spirit Awards, and some clear frontrunners are in sight. Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, a film so realistic that it may have caused junior-high PTSD, and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, which starred Ethan Hawke as an alcoholic clergyman, have both scored four nominations, including Best Feature. Ahead of those two films, at least as far as sheer quantity of noms is concerned, We The Animals, a visceral coming-of-age tale, brings in a total of five nominations.

Notably, Suspiria has snagged the Robert Altman award along with a Best Cinematography nod, although director Luca Guadagnino hasn’t been singled out in his respective category. Other perceived omissions include Spike Lee’s BLACKkKLANSMAN, which was left out of the major categories, although Adam Driver was nominated for his supporting performance. Whether these snubs stick can’t be predicted, but the Indie Spirit Awards have increasingly been viewed as sniffing out Oscar voting trends. If that’s still the case, then Eighth Grade‘s middle finger to the MPAA may have scored some points.

Here’s the full list of Independent Spirit Nominations.

Best Feature

Eighth Grade

First Reformed

If Beale Street Could Talk

Leave No Trace

You Were Never Really Here

Best First Feature

Hereditary

Sorry to Bother You

The Tale

We the Animals

Wildlife

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

A Bread Factory

En el Séptimo Día

Never Goin’ Back

Sócrates

Thunder Road

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 Screenplay

Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, Colette

Nicole Holofcener and 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 & Laurie Shephard, Blame

Best Cinematography

Ashley Connor, Madeline’s Madeline

Diego Garcia, Wildlife

Benjamin Loeb, Mandy

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria

Zak Mulligan, We the Animals

Best Editing

Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here

Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals

Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, American Animals

Anne Fabini, Alex Hall & Gary Levy, The Tale

Nick Houy, Mid90s

Best Female Lead

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 Male Lead

John Cho, Searching

Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting

Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

Christian Malheiros, Sócrates

Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here

Best Supporting Female

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

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

Robert Altman Award

Suspiria

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

The Favourite

Happy as Lazzaro

Roma

Shoplifters

Bonnie Award

Debra Granik

Tamara Jenkins

Karyn Kusama

Piaget Producers Award

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams

Gabrielle Nadig

Shrihari Sathe

Someone To Watch

Alex Moratto, Sócrates

Ioana Uricaru, Lemonade

Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals

Truer Than Fiction

Alexandria Bombach, Director of On Her Shoulders

Bing Liu, Minding the Gap

RaMell Ross, Hale County This Morning, This Evening