and got a leading five nominations, including best feature, from the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Natalie Morales and Joel Kim Booster announced the nominees Tuesday on a YouTube livestream.
Song鈥檚 quietly romantic film, starring Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as childhood friends who reconnect later in life, earned nominations for her direction, script and for both actors. 鈥淢ay December,鈥� about an actress preparing to play a Mary Kay Letourneau-like role got nods for Natalie Portman, Charles Melton and screenwriter Samy Burch. MGM鈥檚 鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� featuring Jeffrey Wright as a frustrated novelist, got recognition for Wright, Erika Alexander and Sterling K. Brown. Jefferson was nominated for his script but not for his direction, however.
It was a good morning for A24. In addition to the nominations for 鈥淧ast Lives,鈥� the indie film company received 11 overall for 鈥淎ll Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,鈥� 鈥淓arth Mama鈥� and 鈥淭he Zone of Interest.鈥� was also named winner of the Robert Altman Award, which is given to one film鈥檚 director, casting director and ensemble cast. Michelle Williams plays a small-time sculptor in the film, leading an ensemble that includes Andr茅 Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch and Amanda Plummer.
about a curmudgeonly teacher played by , got four nominations including for cinematography, best screenplay, best supporting performance for Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph and best breakthrough for newcomer Dominic Sessa. Neither Payne nor Giamatti were nominated.
Directing nominees were: Andrew Haigh ("All of Strangers"); Ira Sachs ("Passages"); William Oldroyd ("Eileen"); and Haynes and Song.
鈥淧assages" and 鈥淎ll of Us Strangers," nuanced portraits of gay relationships, were also nominated for best feature, as was 鈥淲e Grown Now.鈥�
The Spirit Awards limit eligibility to productions with budgets of $30 million or less, meaning films like 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� 鈥淢aestro鈥� and 鈥淧oor Things鈥� did not qualify for nominations. The organization also switched to gender neutral acting awards in 2022.
Lead performance nominees include Wright, Lee, Yoo, Portman, Jessica Chastain ("Memory"), Trace Lysette ("Monica"), Judy Reyes ("Birth/Rebirth"), Andrew Scott ("All of Us Strangers"), Franz Rogowski ("Passages") and Teyana Taylor ("A Thousand and One").
Supporting performance nods went to Noah Galvin ("Theater Camp"), , Glenn Howerton ("BlackBerry"), Marin Ireland ("Eileen"), Catalina Saavedra ("Rotting in the Sun") and Ben Whishaw ("Passages"), in addition to the aforementioned Melton, Randolph, Brown and Alexander.
NFL veteran Marshawn Lynch was also nominated for his breakthrough performance in the wild high school comedy 鈥淏ottoms.鈥�
Films nominated for best international film include , Justine Triet鈥檚 鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥� and Jonathan Glazer鈥檚 鈥淭he Zone of Interest,鈥� from Poland, as well as Denmark/Iceland鈥檚 鈥淕odland,鈥� Nigeria鈥檚 鈥淢ama Wata鈥� and Mexico鈥檚 鈥淭贸tem.鈥�
Last year鈥檚 big winner was 鈥� ,鈥� which accepted seven awards including best feature, best director and acting prizes for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan 鈥� categories in which it would .
Josh Welsh, the president of Film Independent, said the spirit awards look for films and shows that, 鈥渄emonstrate the uniqueness of vision, original, provocative subject matter, economy of means and diversity, both on screen and off.鈥�
The Spirit Awards also recognize television series. The nominees include 鈥淛ury Duty,鈥� for best series and best ensemble cast, 鈥淏eef鈥� for series, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, and 鈥淭he Last of Us鈥� which got acting nods for Bella Ramsey, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman. Billie Eilish was also nominated for 鈥淪warm.鈥�
Saturday Night Live鈥檚 Aidy Bryant is hosting the show, which will take place on Feb. 25 in Santa Monica, California. The awards will be streamed live on IMDb and Film Independent鈥檚 YouTube channels.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
