The 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films and television series of 2023, were presented by Film Independent on February 25, 2024. The ceremony took place at the

Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. Attractions Pacific Park Th ...

in Santa Monica, California, and was hosted by American actress and comedian Aidy Bryant. For the second year in a row, the ceremony was streamed live on the YouTube channels of both IMDb and Film Independent, among other social platforms. The nominations were announced live via YouTube on December 5, 2023, by actors Joel Kim Booster and Natalie Morales. ''

American Fiction American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

'', ''

May December ''May December'' is a 2023 American dark comedy film directed by Todd Haynes from a screenplay by Samy Burch, based on a story by Burch and Alex Mechanik. Loosely inspired by Mary Kay Letourneau, it stars Natalie Portman as an actress who trav ...

'', and '' Past Lives'' led the film nominations with five each, followed by ''

The Holdovers ''The Holdovers'' is an upcoming American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, written by David Hemingson and starring Paul Giamatti. It will be given a limited release in theatres on November 10, 2023, followed by a wide release on ...

'' and '' Passages'' with four apiece; for the television categories, '' I'm a Virgo'' and '' The Last of Us'' received the most nominations with four each. The grant recipients of the Emerging Filmmakers Awards were announced on January 6, 2024.

Changes

This year, Film Independent added a new category: Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series. This move evens the number of performance categories for film and TV; three on the film side ( Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, and Best Breakthrough Performance) and three on the television side (Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series, Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series, and now Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series).

Winners and nominees

Film

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Television

Series with multiple nominations and awards

Special awards

John Cassavetes Award

(The award is given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer) '' Fremont'' –

Babak Jalali Babak Jalali ( fa, بابک جلالی) is an Iranian film director and producer, notably directing ''Radio Dreams'', for which he won the Hivos Tiger Award at the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam. Early life Jalali was born in Iran an ...

(director/writer); Carolina Cavalli (writer); Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, and Laura Wagner (producers) * ''

The Artifice Girl ''The Artifice Girl'' is a 2022 science fiction psychological thriller written and directed by Franklin Ritch, produced by Aaron B. Koontz and released directly to video on demand (VOD). It stars Tatum Matthews, Sinda Nichols, David Girard, ...

'' – Franklin Ritch (director/writer);

Aaron B. Koontz Aaron B. Koontz is an American producer, writer and director. He is the founder and CEO of Paper Street Pictures, a film production company in Austin, Texas. He is also a producer behind ''The Pale Door'', the ''Scare Package'' franchise, and ...

and Ashleigh Snead (producers) * ''Cadejo Blanco'' – Justin Lerner (director/writer/producer); Mauricio Escobar, Ryan Friedkin, and Jack Patrick Hurley (producers) * '' Rotting in the Sun'' – Sebastián Silva (director/writer);

Pedro Peirano Pedro Pablo Peirano Olate (born December 25, 1972) is a Chilean director, screenwriter, journalist, cartoonist and television producer. He wrote the film '' No'' (script developed from a theatrical monologue written by Antonio Skármeta), which w ...

(writer); Jacob Wasserman (producer) * '' The Unknown Country'' – Morrisa Maltz (director/writer/producer); Lily Gladstone (writer); Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux and Vanara Taing (writers/producers); Katherine Harper, Laura Heberton, and Tommy Heitkamp (producers)

Robert Altman Award

(The award is given to the film's director, casting director, and ensemble cast) * '' Showing Up'' –

Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt (; born March 3, 1964) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for her minimalist films closely associated with slow cinema, many of which deal with working-class characters in small, rural communities. Reich ...

(director); Gayle Keller (casting director);

André Benjamin André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

Hong Chau Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...

, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James LeGros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, and Michelle Williams (cast)

Emerging Filmmakers Awards

Producers Award

The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. * Monique Walton ** Rachael Fung ** Graham Swon

Someone to Watch Award

The award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. * Monica Sorelle – ''Mountains'' ** Joanna Arnow – '' The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed'' ** Laura Moss – '' Birth/Rebirth''

Truer than Fiction Award

The award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. * Set Hernandez – ''Unseen'' ** Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli – '' Lakota Nation vs. United States'' ** Sierra Urich – ''Joonam''

Israel-Hamas protest

Outside the venue, a handful of protesters were located on the beach in Santa Monica playing previously recorded chants on a megaphone, such as "free Palestine", "long live Palestine" and "ceasefire now", which played on a loop throughout most of the ceremony and was audible to everyone inside; host Aidy Bryant, and winners

and

referenced the chants in their speeches. It was also revealed that the disruption was coming from one young male who was holding the loudspeaker and standing on the outer part of the Spirits barricade; a group of security guards and Spirits showrunners tried to reason with the protester, who was quite calm and tranquil, but to no success. Another group of Spirits security guards stood by and watched; three police officers, one in fully armed gear, looked on. Additionally, '' The New York Times'' pop culture reporter Kyle Buchanan spoke to the protester who refused to give a statement and revealed that he is with the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression; the protester elaborated that ''The New York Times'' "is a publication that has been complicit in misinformation and distortion of the facts". Furthermore, film critic Tomris Laffly was able to speak to one of the protesters, Vivian Wiseman, about disrupting awards events to keep a light on the events happening in Palestine; Wiseman told Laffly: "We want everyone to know that the activists and the people who care are going to disrupt them wherever they go because we believe in love, we believe in peace, and we believe in liberation of the Palestinian people." Afterward, Josh Welsh, the long-serving president of Film Independent, responded to the scene, saying: "We embrace the First Amendment and

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

, and this is clearly a moment when people feel passionately about what's happening in the world and want to speak about it. We support that. Of course, we also want to honor the filmmakers here today in their moment being recognized for their beautiful work. But I think today was a beautiful show and people incorporated what was going on into their remarks in really great ways." The following day, the '' Los Angeles Times'' revealed that filmmaker Merawi Gerima was among the protesters; Gerima previously won the John Cassavetes Award for his film '' Residue'' at the

36th Independent Spirit Awards The 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films and television series of 2020, were presented by Film Independent on April 22, 2021. Though it was initially intended for the ceremony to air on April 24, 2021, it was ...

in 2021. A video posted to the

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page of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) showed the beginning of the protest, with Gerima speaking into a loudspeaker to announce they are there on behalf of the USPCN and the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression. "We say it is far better to stand with the oppressed people around the world than with the oppressors here in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

," Gerima said in the video, before specifically calling out multiple times actor Jeffrey Wright, star of the film ''

''; the film won two awards, including Best Lead Performance for Wright. "It's not enough to have a film about racism, Mr. Jeffrey Wright," said Gerima. "It's not enough to have a film about oppression in the United States, Jeffrey Wright. It is far more important to stand against oppression and racism as it exists in the world today in solidarity with the Black and brown people of the planet, particularly Palestinians." Gerima stated in another video: "A whole industry of communicators is absolutely silent in the face of genocide. And so we say no business as usual, not even in Hollywood." A request for comment from Gerima was not responded to while Film Independent did not respond to a request for comment on the protest.

References

External links

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2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards Hosted by Aidy Bryant
a
Film Independent
on YouTube
Show Highlights , The 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards hosted by Aidy Bryant
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Film Independent
on YouTube {{IS Awards Chron I 2023 television awards Independent Spirit Awards 2024 awards in the United States