Independent Spirit Awards 2021: Complete Winners List

Nomadland

Winners for the Independent Spirit Awards were announced this week. As an indication of who will win on Sunday at the Oscars.

Winners List Below.

BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the producer)

NOMADLAND (WINNER)
Producers: Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao

FIRST COW
Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany Wolf

MINARI
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
Producers: Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski

BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to director and producer)

SOUND OF METAL (WINNER)
Director: Darius Marder
Producers: Bill Benz, Kathy Benz, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche

I CARRY YOU WITH ME
Director/Producer: Heidi Ewing
Producers: Edher Campos, Mynette Louie, Gabriela Maire

THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
Director/Producer: Radha Blank
Producers: Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Jordan Fudge, Rishi Rajani, Jennifer Semler, Lena Waithe

MISS JUNETEENTH
Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples
Producers: Toby Halbrooks, Tim Headington, Jeanie Igoe, James M. Johnston, Theresa Steele Page, Neil Creque Williams

NINE DAYS
Director: Edson Oda
Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Matthew Linder, Laura Tunstall, Datari Turner

BEST DIRECTOR

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (WINNER)

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Kelly Reichardt, First Cow

BEST SCREENPLAY

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman (WINNER)

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Mike Makowsky, Bad Education

Alice Wu, The Half of It

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Andy Siara, Palm Springs (WINNER)

Kitty Green, The Assistant

Noah Hutton, Lapsis

Channing Godfrey Peoples, Juneteenth

James Sweeney, Straight Up

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; Award given to the writer, director and producer)

RESIDUE (WINNER)
Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima

THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS
Writer/Director/Producer: Robert Machoian
Producers: Scott Christopherson, Clayne Crawford

LA LEYENDA NEGRA
Writer/Director: Patricia Vidal Delgado
Producers: Alicia Herder, Marcel Perez

LINGUA FRANCA
Writer/Director/Producer: Isabel Sandoval
Producers: Darlene Catly Malimas, Jhett Tolentino, Carlo Velayo

SAINT FRANCES
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Writer: Kelly O’Sullivan
Producers: James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Raphael Nash, Roger Welp

BEST MALE LEAD

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal (WINNER)

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger

Rob Morgan, Bull

Steven Yeun, Minari

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman (WINNER)

Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Julia Garner, The Assistant

Frances McDormand, Nomadland

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal (WINNER)

Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Orion Lee, First Cow

Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Benedict Wong, Nine Days

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari (WINNER)

Alexis Chikaeze, Miss Juneteenth

Yeri Han, Minari

Valerie Mahaffey, French Exit

Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Joshua James Richards, Nomadland (WINNER)

Jay Keitel, She Dies Tomorrow

Shabier Kirchner, Bull

Michael Latham, The Assistant

Hélène Louvart, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

BEST EDITING

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (WINNER)

Andy Canny, The Invisible Man

Scott Cummings, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Merawi Gerima, Residue

Enat Sidi, I Carry You With Me

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
(Award given to the director)

QUO VADIS, AIDA? (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (WINNER)
Director: Jasmila Zbanic

BACURAU (Brazil)
Director: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho

THE DISCIPLE (India)
Director: Chaitanya Tamahane

NIGHT OF THE KINGS (Ivory Coast)
Director: Philippe Lacôte

PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME (Hungary)
Director: Lili Horvát

BEST DOCUMENTARY
(Award given to the director and producer)

CRIP CAMP (WINNER)
Directors/Producers: Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
Producer: Sara Bolder

COLLECTIVE
Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
Producers: Hanka Kastelicová, Bernard Michaux, Bianca Oana

DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
Producers: Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness

THE MOLE AGENT
Director: Maite Alberdi
Producer: Marcela Santibáñez

TIME
Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Director: Regina King
Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin
Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

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

Gerry Kim (WINNER)

Lucas Joaquin

Kara Durrett

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(The Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition)

EKWA MSANGI (WINNER)
Director of Farewell Amor

DAVID MIDELL
Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

ANNIE SILVERSTEIN
Director of Bull

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(The 26th Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition)

ELEGANCE BRATTON (WINNER)
Director of Pier Kids

CECILIA ALDARONDO
Director of Landfall

ELIZABETH LO
Director of Stray

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

IMMIGRATION NATION (WINNER)
Executive Producers: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Brandon Hill, Christian Thompson
Co-Executive Producers: Andrey Alistratov, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Lauren Haber

ATLANTA’S MISSING AND MURDERED: THE LOST CHILDREN
Executive Producers: Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius

CITY SO REAL
Produced by: Zak Piper, Steve James
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder

LOVE FRAUD
Executive Producers: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Amy Goodman Kass, Vinnie Malhotra, Jihan Robinson, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman

WE’RE HERE
Creators/Executive Producers: Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram
Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Peter LoGreco
Co-Executive Producers: Erin Haglund, Sabrina Mar

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

I MAY DESTROY YOU (WINNER)
Creator/Executive Producer: Michaela Coel
Executive Producers: Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni

A TEACHER
Creator/Executive Producer: Hanna Fidell
Executive Producers: Michael Costigan, Kate Mara, Louise Shore, Jason Bateman, Danny Brocklehurst
Co-Executive Producer: Daniel Pipski

LITTLE AMERICA
Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Joshuah Bearman, Joshua Davis, Arthur Spector, Alan Yang, Siân Heder, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon

SMALL AXE
Executive Producers: Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen

UNORTHODOX
Creator/Executive Producer: Anna Winger
Creator: Alexa Karolinski
Executive Producer: Henning Kamm

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Shira Haas, Unorthodox (WINNER)

Elle Fanning, The Great

Abby McEnany, Work in Progress

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever

Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Amit Rahav, Unorthodox (WINNER)

Conphidance, Little America

Adam Ali, Little America

Nicco Annan, P-Valley

Harold Torres, ZeroZeroZero

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

I MAY DESTROY YOU
Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia, Stephen Wight

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About Phyllis Thomas 3357 Articles
Phyllis Thomas – Owner/Managing Editor Phyllis Thomas is the owner/managing editor of TVMusic Network. She writes all things TV, Music and Movies for TVMusic Network. She also serves as co-host of the TVMusic Network Podcast with Phyllis and Belinda which is available wherever you get your podcasts. Favorite TV Shows: Abbott Elementary, The Bear, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The West Wing, and so many more. Follow Phyllis @Phyllis_Thomas on Twitter and by email at phyllis@tvandmusicnetwork.com