2020 Spirit Awards Winners List: ‘Farewell’ Wins Best Film, ‘Uncut Gems’ Takes Three Prizes
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The winners of the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards have been announced. “The Farewell” took home the ceremony’s biggest prize for Best Film, but it was the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems” that dominated the show with three prizes: Best Actor for Adam Sandler, Best Director, and Best Editing. Both “The Farewell” and “Uncut Gems” were released by A24, which was the most nominated movie at the Spirit Awards with 18 nominations. “Uncut Gems” and Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” lead all movies with five nominations each. Both of these films are nominated for Best Feature along with Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” and Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency.”
Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” began the ceremony as a Spirit Award winner as the recipient of this year’s Robert Altman Ensemble Award, which goes to cast members Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and more. Because “Marriage Story” received the ensemble prize, individual cast members were not eligible in the acting categories.
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Movies that won multiple awards include “The Lighthouse” (Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor for Willem Dafoe) and “The Farewell” (Best Film, Best Supporting Actress for Zhao Shuzhen). “American Factory” and “Parasite” took home honors for Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film, prizes both films could repeat at the Oscars tomorrow.
Unlike the Oscars, this year’s Indie Spirit Awards featured an inclusive batch of nominations. Two women were nominated for the Best Director prize (Alma Har’el for “Honey Boy” and Lorene Scafaria for “Hustlers”), while acting nominees of color include Best Actress noms Hong Chau (“Driveways”) and Alfre Woodard (“Clemency”), Best Actor nom Kelvin Harrison Jr. (“Luce”), and Best Supporting Actress noms Taylor Russell (“Waves”), Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”), and Octavia Spencer (“Luce”).
The full list of winners for the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards are listed below. IndieWire will update the winners of each category in bold as they are announced live.
Best Feature
A HIDDEN LIFE
CLEMENCY
THE FAREWELL (Winner)
MARRIAGE STORY
UNCUT GEMS
Best Director
Robert Eggers – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Alma Har’el – HONEY BOY
Julius Onah – LUCE
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS (Winner)
Lorene Scafaria – HUSTLERS
Best First Feature
BOOKSMART (Winner)
THE CLIMB
DIANE
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE MUSTANG
SEE YOU YESTERDAY
Best Female Lead
Karen Allen – COLEWELL
Hong Chau – DRIVEWAYS
Elisabeth Moss – HER SMELL
Mary Kay Place – DIANE
Alfre Woodard – CLEMENCY
Renée Zellweger – JUDY (Winner)
Best Male Lead
Chris Galust – GIVE ME LIBERTY
Kelvin Harrison Jr. – LUCE
Robert Pattinson – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Adam Sandler – UNCUT GEMS (Winner)
Matthias Schoenaerts – THE MUSTANG
Best Supporting Female
Jennifer Lopez – HUSTLERS
Taylor Russell – WAVES
Zhao Shuzhen – THE FAREWELL (Winner)
Lauren “Lolo” Spencer – GIVE ME LIBERTY
Octavia Spencer – LUCE
Best Supporting Male
Willem Dafoe – THE LIGHTHOUSE (Winner)
Noah Jupe – HONEY BOY
Shia Labeouf – HONEY BOY
Jonathan Majors – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
Wendell Pierce – BURNING CANE
Best Screenplay
Noah Baumbach – MARRIAGE STORY (Winner)
Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder – TO DUST
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS
Chinonye Chukwu – CLEMENCY
Tarell Alvin Mccraney – HIGH FLYING BIRD
Best First Screenplay
Fredrica Bailey, Stefon Bristol – SEE YOU YESTERDAY (Winner)
Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen – DRIVEWAYS
Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy – BLOW THE MAN DOWN
Jocelyn Deboer, Dawn Luebbe – GREENER GRASS
James Montague, Craig W. Sanger – THE VAST OF NIGHT
Best Cinematography
Todd Banhazl – HUSTLERS
Jarin Blaschke – THE LIGHTHOUSE (Winner)
Natasha Braier – HONEY BOY
Chananun Chotrungroj – THE THIRD WIFE
Pawel Pogorzelski – MIDSOMMAR
Best Editing
Julie Béziau – THE THIRD WIFE
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie – UNCUT GEMS (Winner)
Tyler L. Cook – SWORD OF TRUST
Louise Ford – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Kirill Mikhanovsky – GIVE ME LIBERTY
John Cassavetes Award
BURNING CANE
COLEWELL
GIVE ME LIBERTY (Winner)
PREMATURE
WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY
Robert Altman Award
“Marriage Story”
Best Documentary
AMERICAN FACTORY (Winner)
APOLLO 11
FOR SAMA
HONEYLAND
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
Best International Film
INVISIBLE LIFE, Brazil
LES MISERABLES, France
PARASITE, South Korea (Winner)
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, France
RETABLO, Peru
THE SOUVENIR, United Kingdom
Piaget Producers Award
Mollye Asher
Krista Parris
Ryan Zacarias
Someone to Watch Award
Rashaad Ernesto Green – PREMATURE
Ash Mayfair – THE THIRD WIFE
Joe Talbot – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
Truer Than Fiction Award
Khalik Allah – BLACK MOTHER
Davy Rothbart – 17 BLOCKS
Nadia Shihab – JADDOLAND (Winner)
Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside – AMéRICA
Annual Bonnie Award
Marielle Heller
Lulu Wang
Kelly Reichardt (Winner)
Launch Gallery: Independent Spirit Awards Red Carpet Gallery 2020
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