Independent Spirit Award for Best Film explained
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Film (or Best Feature) is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards, presented to recognize the best in independent filmmaking, it was first awarded in 1985 with Martin Scorsese's film After Hours being the first recipient of the award.
Criteria
In order to be considered as an independent film and therefore being eligible to this category, nomination committees base their decision on four criteria, "uniqueness of vision, original, provocative subject matter, percentage of financing from independent sources and economy of means"; the latter refers to a budget ceiling of $22.5 million.[1] In 2022, Film Independent increased the budget cap for eligible films to $30 million to account for the rising cost of production.[2]
In the following lists, the first titles listed are winners. These are also in bold and in blue background; those not in bold are nominees.
Winners and nominees
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
| Year | Winner | Distributing company(s) | Director(s) |
|---|
2020
[26] [27] | Nomadland | Searchlight Pictures | Chloé Zhao |
| First Cow | A24 | Kelly Reichardt |
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Netflix | George C. Wolfe |
| Minari | A24 | Lee Isaac Chung |
| Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Focus Features | Eliza Hittman |
2021
[28] | The Lost Daughter | Netflix | Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| A Chiara | Neon | Jonas Carpignano |
| C’mon C’mon | A24 | Mike Mills |
| The Novice | IFC Films | Lauren Hadaway |
| Zola | A24 | Janicza Bravo |
2022
[29] | Everything Everywhere All at Once | A24 | Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert |
| Bones and All | MGM/United Artists Releasing | Luca Guadagnino |
| Our Father, the Devil | Resolve Media | Ellie Foumbi |
| Tár | Focus Features | Todd Field |
| Women Talking | MGM/United Artists Releasing | Sarah Polley |
2023
[30] | Past Lives | A24 | David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, and Christine Vachon |
| All of Us Strangers | Searchlight Pictures | Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and Sarah Harvey |
| American Fiction | Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios | Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, and Ben LeClair |
| May December | Netflix | Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, and Christine Vachon |
| Passages | Mubi | Michel Merkt and Saïd Ben Saïd |
| We Grown Now | Sony Pictures Classics | Minhal Baig and Joe Pirro | |
Distributors with most wins and nominations (3 or more)
- Netflix - 4 (one win)
- A24 - 14 (four wins)
- Island Pictures - 3 (one win)
- Fox Searchlight/Searchlight Pictures - 17 (eight wins)
- Orion Pictures - 4 (one win)
- Columbia/Sony Pictures Classics - 20 (one win)
- The Weinstein Company - 4 (two wins)
- Miramax - 9 (three wins)
- Universal/Focus Features - 13 (four wins)
- Fine Line Features - 7 (two wins)
- IFC Films - 5 (no wins)
- Samuel Goldwyn - 8 (no wins)
- MGM/United Artists/Amazon - 6 (1 win)
- Artisan Entertainment - 3 (no wins)
- New Line Cinema - 6 (one win)
- October Films - 7 (one win)
- Lionsgate - 7 (two wins)
- New Yorker Films - 3 (no wins)
- Warner Bros/Warner Independent Films - 3 (two wins)
- Paramount/Paramount Vantage - 5 (one win)
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: FAQ. Film Independent. December 24, 2021.
- Web site: Hammond . Pete . 2022-08-23 . Spirit Awards Set 2023 Date, Go Gender-Neutral And Increase Budget Cap . 2023-10-17 . Deadline . en-US.
- https://s3.amazonaws.com/SA_SubForm_etc/2019_SA_NomsWinners_092619.pdf Film Independent Spirit Awards - 34 Years of Nominees and Winners
- Web site: 'The Limey,' 'Election' Got the Spirit. January 14, 2000. Hollywood.com. August 17, 2012.
- Web site: 'Election' Elected by Spirit Awards. March 26, 2000. Hollywood.com. August 17, 2012.
- Web site: Tiger Takes 3 Spirit Awards. March 24, 2001. ABC News. August 19, 2012.
- Web site: "Memento" Has the Spirit. March 23, 2002. E! Online. August 19, 2012.
- Web site: "Far From Heaven" Sweeps 2003 Independent Spirit Awards. March 22, 2003. IndieWire. Eugene. Hernandez. Brian. Brooks. August 20, 2012.
- Web site: "Lost In Translation" Tops Independent Spirit Awards, "Station Agent" Another Big Winner. February 28, 2004. IndieWire. Eugene. Hernandez. August 20, 2012.
- Web site: Sideways Wins Six at Independent Spirit Awards. February 28, 2005. IndieWire. Eugene. Hernandez. August 21, 2012.
- Web site: 'Brokeback' named best independent film. March 4, 2006. USA Today. David. Germain. August 21, 2012.
- Web site: 'Sunshine' brightens Spirit Awards. February 24, 2007. Variety. Dave. McNary. August 21, 2012.
- Web site: 'Juno' tops Spirit Awards. February 23, 2008. Variety. Tatiana. Siegel. August 22, 2012.
- Web site: "The Wrestler" Leads 2009 Spirit Award Winners. February 21, 2009. IndieWire. Brian. Brooks. August 25, 2012.
- Web site: 'Precious' dominates Spirit Awards with 5 prizes. March 6, 2010. USA Today. Anthony. Breznican. August 25, 2012.
- Web site: "Black Swan" Lead Spirit Award Winners. February 27, 2011. IndieWire. Peter. Knegt. August 25, 2012.
- Web site: 'The Artist' dominates Spirit Awards. McNary. Dave. February 25, 2012. Variety. August 26, 2012.
- Web site: Independent Spirit Awards 2013: Winners List. February 23, 2013. February 23, 2013. The Hollywood Reporter.
- Web site: Independent Spirit Awards 2014: The winners list. Entertainment Weekly. Katie. Atkinson. en. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: Spirit Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List. The Hollywood Reporter. en. February 21, 2015. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: Spirit Awards 2016: Complete Winners List. February 27, 2016. Variety. en. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: 2017 Independent Spirit Awards: Full Winners List. Earl. William. February 26, 2017. IndieWire. en. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: 2018 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners List (Updating Live). Nyren. Erin. March 3, 2018. Variety. en. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: Independent Spirit Awards 2019: Complete Winners List. Welk. Brian. February 24, 2019. TheWrap. en-US. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: Independent Spirit Awards Redresses Female Balance With Wins For Lulu Wang, Olivia Wilde & Julia Reichert – Complete Winners List. Blyth. Anthony. D'Alessandro. Antonia. February 8, 2020. Deadline. en. February 9, 2020.
- Web site: 'Nomadland' Wins Independent Spirit Awards For Best Picture, Director, Editing & Cinematography, Further Solidifying Oscars Prospects. Deadline. Matt. Grobar. April 22, 2021. December 24, 2021.
- Web site: 2021 Independent Spirit Awards Winner's List. IndieWire. Zack. Sharf. April 23, 2021. December 24, 2021.
- Web site: Indie Spirit Awards 2022: Full List of Nominations . Brent . Jazz . Long . Tangcay . . December 14, 2021 . December 14, 2021.
- Web site: Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: ‘Everything Everywhere’ Leads With Eight Noms . Clayton. Davis. . November 22, 2022 . November 22, 2022.
- Web site: Film Independent Spirit Awards (2024) . 2024-02-25 . IMDb.
