35th Independent Spirit Awards

35th Independent Spirit Awards
35th Independent Spirit Awards
Awarded for	Best in independent film
Date	February 8, 2020
Site	Santa Monica Pier ; Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Hosted by	Aubrey Plaza
Highlights
Best Feature	The Farewell
Most awards	Uncut Gems (3)
Most nominations	The Lighthouse (5); Uncut Gems (5)
Television coverage
Channel	IFC
	← 34th; Independent Spirit Awards; 36th →;

The 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2019, were presented by Film Independent on February 8, 2020.^[1] The nominations were announced on November 21, 2019 by actresses Zazie Beetz and Natasha Lyonne.^[2]^[3]^[4] The ceremony was televised in the United States by IFC, taking place inside its usual tent setting on a beach in Santa Monica, California. Aubrey Plaza returned to host the ceremony for the second time.^[5]

Winners and nominees[edit]

Best Feature	Best Director
The Farewell Clemency A Hidden Life Marriage Story Uncut Gems	Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie – Uncut Gems Robert Eggers – The Lighthouse Alma Har'el – Honey Boy Julius Onah – Luce Lorene Scafaria – Hustlers
Best Male Lead	Best Female Lead
*Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems* as Howard Ratner** Chris Galust – Give Me Liberty as Vic Kelvin Harrison Jr. – Luce as Luce Edgar Robert Pattinson – The Lighthouse as Ephraim Winslow Matthias Schoenaerts – The Mustang as Roman Coleman	*Renée Zellweger – Judy* as Judy Garland** Karen Allen – Colewell as Nora Pancowski Hong Chau – Driveways as Kathy Elisabeth Moss – Her Smell as Becky Something Mary Kay Place – Diane as Diane Alfre Woodard – Clemency as Bernadine Williams
Best Supporting Male	Best Supporting Female
*Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse* as Thomas Wake** Noah Jupe – Honey Boy as Otis Lort Shia LaBeouf – Honey Boy as James Lort Jonathan Majors – The Last Black Man in San Francisco as Montgomery "Mont" Allen Wendell Pierce – Burning Cane as Reverend Tillman	*Zhao Shu-zhen – The Farewell* as Nai Nai** Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers as Ramona Vega Taylor Russell – Waves as Emily Williams Lauren "Lolo" Spencer – Give Me Liberty as Tracy Octavia Spencer – Luce as Harriet Wilson
Best Screenplay	Best First Screenplay
Noah Baumbach – Marriage Story Jason Begue and Shawn Snyder – To Dust Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, and Benny Safdie – Uncut Gems Chinonye Chukwu – Clemency Tarell Alvin McCraney – High Flying Bird	Fredrica Bailey and Stefon Bristol – See You Yesterday Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen – Driveways Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy – Blow the Man Down Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe – Greener Grass James Montague and Craig W. Sanger – The Vast of Night
Best First Feature	Best Documentary Feature
Olivia Wilde – Booksmart Stefon Bristol – See You Yesterday Michael Angelo Covino – The Climb Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre – The Mustang Kent Jones – Diane Joe Talbot – The Last Black Man in San Francisco	American Factory Apollo 11 For Sama Honeyland Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Best Cinematography	Best Editing
Jarin Blaschke – The Lighthouse Todd Banhazl – Hustlers Natasha Braier – Honey Boy Chananun Chotrungroj – The Third Wife Pawel Pogorzelski – Midsommar	Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie – Uncut Gems Julie Béziau – The Third Wife Tyler L. Cook – Sword of Trust Louise Ford – The Lighthouse Kirill Mikhanovsky – Give Me Liberty
Best International Film
Parasite ( South Korea) The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão ( Brazil) Les Misérables ( France) Portrait of a Lady on Fire ( France) Retablo ( Peru) The Souvenir ( United Kingdom)

Films with multiple nominations and awards[edit]

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
5	The Lighthouse
5	Uncut Gems
4	Give Me Liberty
4	Honey Boy
3	Clemency
	Hustlers
	The Last Black Man in San Francisco
	Luce
	Marriage Story
	The Third Wife
2	Burning Cane
	Colewell
	Diane
	Driveways
	The Farewell
	The Mustang
	Premature
	See You Yesterday

Films that won multiple awards
Awards	Film
3	Uncut Gems
2	The Farewell
	The Lighthouse
	Marriage Story

Special awards[edit]

John Cassavetes Award[edit]

Give Me Liberty

Robert Altman Award[edit]

(The award is given to its film director, casting director, and ensemble cast)

Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach, Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler, Alan Alda, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Scarlett Johansson, Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, and Merritt Wever

Someone to Watch Award[edit]

Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl's.

Rashaad Ernesto Green – Premature
- Ash Mayfair – The Third Wife
- Joe Talbot – The Last Black Man in San Francisco

The BONNIE Award[edit]

Recognizes mid-career women directors with a body of work that demonstrates uniqueness of vision and a groundbreaking approach to film making. The award includes a $50,000 unrestricted grant funded by American Airlines.

Kelly Reichardt
- Marielle Heller
- Lulu Wang

Producers Award[edit]

Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Mollye Asher
- Krista Parris
- Ryan Zacarias

Truer than Fiction Award[edit]

Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Nadia Shihab – Jaddoland
- Khalik Allah – Black Mother
- Davy Rothbart – 17 Blocks
- Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside – América

References[edit]

^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Blyth, Antonia (February 8, 2020). "Independent Spirit Awards Redresses Female Balance with Wins for Lulu Wang, Olivia Wilde & Julia Reichert – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
^ Sinha-Roy, Piya (November 6, 2019). "Natasha Lyonne, Zazie Beetz to Announce Nominees for Film Independent Spirit Awards (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 21, 2019). "Spirit Award Nominations: A24 leads for 4th Straight Year with 18 Noms as 'Uncut Gems' & 'The Lighthouse' Come Up Big". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
^ Lewis, Hilary (November 21, 2019). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Uncut Gems', 'The Lighthouse' lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
^ Warren, Matt (December 5, 2019). "Aubrey Plaza to Return as Host of the 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards". Film Independent. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

External links[edit]

Official website

[1] D'Alessandro, Anthony; Blyth, Antonia (February 8, 2020). "Independent Spirit Awards Redresses Female Balance with Wins for Lulu Wang, Olivia Wilde & Julia Reichert – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 8, 2020.

[2] Sinha-Roy, Piya (November 6, 2019). "Natasha Lyonne, Zazie Beetz to Announce Nominees for Film Independent Spirit Awards (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2019.

[3] D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 21, 2019). "Spirit Award Nominations: A24 leads for 4th Straight Year with 18 Noms as 'Uncut Gems' & 'The Lighthouse' Come Up Big". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2019.

[4] Lewis, Hilary (November 21, 2019). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Uncut Gems', 'The Lighthouse' lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 21, 2019.

[5] Warren, Matt (December 5, 2019). "Aubrey Plaza to Return as Host of the 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards". Film Independent. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Independent Spirit Awards
Current categories	Best Film Best Director Best Lead Performance Best Supporting Performance Best Breakthrough Performance Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Documentary Feature Best First Feature Best International Film Best Screenplay Best First Screenplay Best New Scripted Series Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series John Cassavetes Award Robert Altman Award
Retired categories	Best Male Lead Best Female Lead Best Supporting Male Best Supporting Female Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series
Ceremonies	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 (years are of film release; ceremonies are the following year)