The 2022 Independent Spirit Award Nominations Are Here

Award season is officially in full swing, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards are the latest to announce a new batch of nominees. Per Deadline, Janicza Bravo's incisive, genre-exploding film "Zola" leads a wide-ranging group of nominees with six nominations.

A24 in general came away with plenty to celebrate. Aside from "Zola," the always-hip studio took home several nods for films including Sean Baker's "Red Rocket" and the Joaquin Phoenix-led Mike Mills movie "C'mon C'mon." In total, A24 films garnered 13 nominations, with Netflix and NEON scoring nine each. IFC Films ended up with eight nominations total.

The Independent Spirit Award nominees list includes several films that have been excluded from major awards ballots this year, including from the recently concluded Gotham Awards. Since this award, now in its 37th year, specifically honors films made with limited budgets (any film considered must have been made for $22.5 million or less), there are plenty of cinematic underdogs within the nominees. Along with "Zola” and "C'mon C'mon," the best feature category includes the Italian film "A Chiara," Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut, "The Lost Daughter," and the college-set thriller "The Novice."

Several festival favorites are recognized among the nominees, from the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary "Flee" to "The Novice," which won big at Tribeca earlier this year. Projects by first-time filmmakers, including Shatara Michelle Ford's excellent drama "Test Pattern" and Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.'s riveting thriller "Wild Indian," also hold several spots on the list. The two lead actors of "Wild Indian," Michael Greyeyes and Chaske Spencer, both received well-deserved nominations for intense performances that anchored the film.

This is a wide-ranging batch of nominees that ensures there won't be a clean sweep, but there are also some surprising snubs. The heartwarming Apple TV+ film "CODA," about a family of fishermen with only one hearing member, has picked up dozens of nominations across the festival circuit and in early award season this year, but only got one nod (for Troy Kotsur's performance) here. Plus, Michael Sarnoski's sneakily heartbreaking drama "Pig," for which Nicholas Cage has received deserved rave reviews, also only received a single nomination for best first screenplay.

No list of nominees is perfect. Above all else, this year's Independent Spirit Awards nominees prove that diverse, interesting, and challenging independent cinema is alive and well in spite of nearly two years of ongoing industry-wide hardship. Despite every obstacle, these great movies were produced and made their way to us so that we can celebrate them.

The Independent Spirit Awards will air live on IFC on Sunday, March 6, 2022. The full list of nominees is as follows:

BEST FEATURE

A Chiara

C'mon C'mon

The Lost Daughter

The Novice

Zola

BEST FIRST FEATURE

7 Days

Holler

Queen Glory

Test Pattern

Wild Indian

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice

Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern

Patti Harrison, Together Together

Taylour Paige, Zola

Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One

BEST MALE LEAD

Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey

Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian

Udo Kier, Swan Song

Simon Rex, Red Rocket

BEST DIRECTOR

Janicza Bravo, Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Lauren Hadaway, The Novice

Mike Mills, C'mon C'mon

Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Ascension

Flee

In the Same Breath

Procession

Summer of Soul

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Amy Forsyth, The Novice

Ruth Negga, Passing

Revika Anne Reustle, Pleasure

Suzanna Son, Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Colman Domingo, Zola

Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Will Patton, Sweet Thing

Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian

BEST SCREENPLAY

C'mon C'mon, Mike Mills

The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Swan Song, Todd Stephens

Together Together, Nikole Beckwith

Zola, Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr., Wild Indian

Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown, Cicada

Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern

Fran Kranz, Mass

Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski, Pig

BEST EDITING

Affonso Gonçalves, A Chiara

Ali Greer, The Nowhere Inn

Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent, The Novice

Joi McMillon, Zola

Enrico Natale, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang, Blue Bayou

Lol Crawley, The Humans

Tim Curtin, A Chiara

Edu Grau, Passing

Ari Wegner, Zola

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Compartment No. 6 Finland/Russia Director: Juho Kuosmanen

Drive My Car Japan Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Parallel Mothers Spain Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Pebbles India Director: P S Vinothraj

Petite Maman France Director: Céline Sciamma

Prayers for the Stolen Mexico Director: Tatiana Huezo

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

(Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Mass

Director: Fran Kranz Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Cryptozoo Writer/Director: Dash Shaw Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way

Jockey Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar Producer: Nancy Schafer

Shiva Baby Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro

Sweet Thing Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal

This is Not a War Story Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West

PRODUCERS AWARD (The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.) Brad Becker-Parton , Pin-Chun Liu, Lizzie Shapiro

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD(The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)

Alex Camilleri, Luzzu

Michael Sarnoski, Pig

Gillian Wallace Horvat, I Blame Society

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

(The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.)

Angelo Madsen Minax, North By Current

Jessica Beshir, Faya Dayi

Debbie Lum, Try Harder!

TV CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Black and Missing Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O'Brien, Geeta Gandbhir Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

The Choe Show Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe Executive Producers: Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

The Lady and The Dale Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Nick Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller

Nuclear Family Series By: Ry Russo-Young Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer

Philly D.A. Creators: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty QuillinCo-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Blindspotting Creators/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann

It's a Sin Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler

Reservation Dogs Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi Executive Producer: Garrett Basch

The Underground Railroad Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt

We Are Lady Parts Creator: Nida Manzoor Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad

Anjana Vasan, We Are Lady Parts

Jana Schmieding, Rutherford Falls

Jasmine Cephas Jones, Blindspotting

Deborah Ayorinde, THEM: Covenant

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Olly Alexander, It's a Sin

Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls

Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus

Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Reservation Dogs Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone