The multiverse-hopping adventure film 鈥� 鈥� has a leading eight nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards with nods for best feature, best director, best lead actor for Michelle Yeoh, supporting actors Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis and breakthrough for Stephanie Hsu.
The organization announced nominees for its 38th edition on Tuesday, where other top contenders include Todd Field鈥檚 classical music thriller 鈥� ,鈥� with seven nominations 鈥� including for feature, director, actor for Cate Blanchett and supporting actor for Nina Hoss 鈥� Charlotte Wells鈥� 鈥� ,鈥� Sarah Polley鈥檚 鈥淲omen Talking" and Luca Guadagnino鈥檚 鈥� ." Aside from 鈥淎ftersun,鈥� nominated for best first feature, all are best feature nominees alongside the sole nomination for 鈥淥ur Father, the Devil.鈥�
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's 鈥淓verything Everywhere All At Once鈥� has become a bit of a Cinderella story this year, earning over $100 million at the global box office against a $25 million budget. It was also nominated for editing and screenplay.
The cannibal romance 鈥淏ones and All,鈥� which expands nationwide this week, got nominations for Taylor Russell鈥檚 lead performance and Mark Rylance鈥檚 supporting role, but none for Timoth茅e Chalamet.
鈥淲omen Talking,鈥� about women living in an isolated religious colony, did not receive any solo acting nominations but did get the Robert Altman Award for its ensemble, in addition to best director and screenplay nods.
Joining 鈥淎ftersun" in the first feature category are 鈥淓mily the Criminal," 鈥� ," 鈥� ," and 鈥淧alm Trees and Power Lines.鈥�
Paul Mescal was nominated for his leading performance in "Aftersun'' while his co-star Frankie Corio was singled out in the breakthrough category.
The awards celebrate the best in independent filmmaking and recently raised the budget cap from $22.5 million to $30 million for the main prizes and $1 million for the John Cassavetes Award. The organization also shifted to gender neutral acting awards. The main acting categories now have 10 nominees each.
Lead performance nominees, in addition to Blanchett, Russell, Mescal and Yeoh, are ), ), Regina Hall (鈥淗onk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.鈥�), Aubrey Plaza (鈥淓mily the Criminal鈥�), Jeremy Pope (鈥淭he Inspection鈥�) and Andrea Riseborough (鈥淭o Leslie鈥�).
Other supporting performers nominated are: Brian Tyree Henry (鈥淐auseway鈥�), Brian d鈥橝rcy James (鈥淭he Cathedral鈥�), Trevante Rhodes (鈥淏ruiser鈥�), Theo Rossi (鈥淓mily the Criminal鈥�), Jonathan Tucker (鈥淧alm Trees and Power Lines鈥�) and Gabrielle Union (鈥淭he Inspection鈥�).
A24 was far and away the most nominated studio with 24 nods total from its slate, which included 鈥淓verything Everywhere All At Once,鈥� 鈥淎ftersun,鈥� 鈥淭he Inspection,鈥� 鈥淎fter Yang鈥� and 鈥淧earl.鈥� Focus Features, which made 鈥湴彰“�� and 鈥淗onk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.鈥� followed with nine.
鈥淶ola鈥檚鈥� Taylour Paige and 鈥淭he Inspection鈥檚鈥� Ra煤l Castillo read the nominations, which are chosen by committees made up of film critics, producers, festival programmers, filmmakers, past winners and Film Independent鈥檚 Board of Directors. Film independent president Josh Welsh said they considered 409 films.
Films nominated for best documentary included Laura Poitras鈥� Venice-winner 鈥� ,鈥� 鈥淎ll that Breathes,鈥� 鈥淎 House Made of Splinters,鈥� 鈥淩iotsville, U.S.A.鈥� and 鈥淢idwives.鈥�
Best international nominees were: 鈥淐orsage,鈥� 鈥淛oyland,鈥� "Leonor Will Never Die,鈥� 鈥淩eturn to Seoul鈥� and 鈥淪aint Omer.鈥�
At the , Maggie Gyllenhaal鈥檚 Elena Ferrente adaptation 鈥淭he Lost Daughter鈥� won best feature, best director and best screenplay. But Netflix won't have a repeat showing in March: The streamer received zero nominations Tuesday. The budget cap meant that several of its films like, 鈥淲hite Noise鈥� and 鈥淏ardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,鈥� were not eligible.
Some other high-profile award hopefuls that received zero nominations were James Gray鈥檚 鈥淎rmageddon Time鈥� and Darren Aronofsky鈥檚 鈥� .鈥�
The Spirit Awards also hand out awards to television shows, but those nominees won鈥檛 be announced until Dec. 13. The beachside ceremony will be held in Santa Monica on March 4, 2023, the weekend before the Oscars.
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
