Spirit Awards: Full List of Winners

Past Lives was named best feature at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were handed out Sunday afternoon in Santa Monica.

In addition, Celine Song was named best director for her work on the film.

Elsewhere, Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the Spirit Award for best supporting performance, for her role in The Holdovers, repeating her win from Saturday night’s SAG Awards and other shows this awards season. Her co-star, Dominic Sessa, won the Spirit Award for best breakthrough performance.

American Fiction also collected two trophies: Cord Jefferson won the award for best screenplay, while Jeffrey Wright won for best lead performance.

May December won the award for best first screenplay for Samy Burch (story by Burch and Alex Mechanik). Four Daughters was named best documentary.

On the TV side, Beef was named best new scripted series, while Ali Wong won best lead performance for her role in the show, also repeating her SAG Awards win from the night before.

The Last of Us picked up two trophies: Nick Offerman won the award for best supporting performance in a new scripted series, while Keivonn Montreal Woodard won best breakthrough performance in a new scripted series.

Dear Mama was named best new non-scripted or documentary series.

The 39th Spirit Awards were hosted by Saturday Night Live alum Aidy Bryant, with prizes presented in several film and TV categories. The ceremony was streamed live on the IMDb and Film Independent’s YouTube channels and other social media platforms. (See the red carpet arrivals.)

Winners were voted on by Film Independent members. (A few awards were handed out at an event last month.)

During the show, a handful protesters loudly interrupted presenters and winners’ speeches, chanting “free Palestine” and “ceasefire now” through a megaphone outside the tent located on the beach in Santa Monica.

Also during the show, Robert Altman Award, which is given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast, was presented to Showing Up, directed by Kelly Reichardt. The casting director is Gayle Keller, and the ensemble cast includes André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez and Michelle Williams.

In addition, Jury Duty was tapped for the award of best ensemble in a new scripted series, an honor bestowed on one show (there are no nominees). The cast includes Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song and Evan Williams.

The production team for the 2024 awards show included Eddie Delbridge of Live Digital Entertainment, Shawn Davis, Danielle Federico and Andrew Schaff.

A full list of winners follows.

FILM CATEGORIES

 BEST FEATURE 

(Award given to the producer)
 
All of Us Strangers
Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
 
American Fiction
Producers: Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, Ben LeClair
 
May December
Producers: Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Christine Vachon
 
Passages
Producers: Michel Merkt, Saïd Ben Saïd
 
Past Lives (WINNER)
Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
 
We Grown Now
Producers: Minhal Baig, Joe Pirro

BEST FIRST FEATURE 

(Award given to director and producer)
 
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Director: Raven Jackson
Producers: Maria Altamirano, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
 
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Director: Tomás Gómez Bustillo
Producers: Gewan Brown, Amanda Freedman
 
Earth Mama
Director/Producer: Savanah Leaf
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Shirley O’Connor, Medb Riordan, Cody Ryder
 
A Thousand and One (WINNER)
Director: A.V. Rockwell
Producers: Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Brad Weston
 
Upon Entry
Directors: Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez
Producers: Sergio Adrià, Carlos Juárez, Alba Sotorra, Carles Torras, Xosé Zapata

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD 

Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer)
 
The Artifice Girl
Director/Writer: Franklin Ritch
Producers: Aaron B. Koontz, Ashleigh Snead
 
Cadejo Blanco
Director/Writer/Producer: Justin Lerner
Producers: Mauricio Escobar, Ryan Friedkin, Jack Patrick Hurley
 
Fremont (WINNER)
Director/Writer: Babak Jalali
Writer: Carolina Cavalli
Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner
 
Rotting in the Sun
Director/Writer: Sebastián Silva
Writer: Pedro Peirano
Producer: Jacob Wasserman
 
The Unknown Country
Director/Writer/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer: Lily Gladstone
Writers/Producers: Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux, Vanara Taing
Producers: Katherine Harper, Laura Heberton, Tommy Heitkamp

BEST DIRECTOR 

Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers 
Todd Haynes, May December
 William Oldroyd, Eileen
 Ira Sachs, Passages
 Celine Song, Past Lives (WINNER)

BEST SCREENPLAY 

David Hemingson, The Holdovers 
Cord Jefferson, American Fiction (WINNER)
Laura Moss and Brendan J. O’Brien, Birth/Rebirth
Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott, Bottoms
Celine Song, Past Lives

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY 

Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik, May December (WINNER)
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt, Theater Camp
Tomás Gómez Bustillo, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Laurel Parmet, The Starling Girl
Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez, Upon Entry

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE 

Jessica Chastain, Memory
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Trace Lysette, Monica
Natalie Portman, May December
Judy Reyes, Birth/Rebirth
Franz Rogowski, Passages
Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction (WINNER)
Teo Yoo, Past Lives

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE 

Erika Alexander, American Fiction
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Noah Galvin, Theater Camp
Anne Hathaway, Eileen
Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry 
Marin Ireland, Eileen
Charles Melton, May December
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers (WINNER)
Catalina Saavedra, Rotting in the Sun
Ben Whishaw, Passages

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Marshawn Lynch, Bottoms
Atibon Nazaire, Mountains
Tia Nomore, Earth Mama
Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers (WINNER)
Anaita Wali Zada, Fremont

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 

Katelin Arizmendi, Monica
Eigil Bryld, The Holdovers (WINNER)
Jomo Fray, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Pablo Lozano, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Pat Scola, We Grown Now

BEST EDITING 

Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz, Sofía Subercaseaux, Rotting in the Sun
Stephanie Filo, We Grown Now
Daniel Garber, How to Blow Up a Pipeline (WINNER)
Jon Philpot, Theater Camp
Emanuele Tiziani, Upon Entry

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD 

(Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
 
Showing Up (WINNER)
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Casting Director: Gayle Keller
Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

(Award given to the director and producer)

Bye Bye Tiberias
Director: Lina Soualem
Producer: Jean-Marie Nizan
 
Four Daughters (WINNER)
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Producer: Nadim Cheikhrouha
 
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Directors/Producers: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
Producer: Tommy Oliver
 
Kokomo City
Director: D. Smith
Producers: Bill Butler, Harris Doran
 
The Mother of All Lies
Director/Producer: Asmae El Moudir

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM 

(Award given to the director)
 
Anatomy of a Fall (WINNER)
France
Director: Justine Triet
 
Godland
Denmark/Iceland
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
 
Mami Wata
Nigeria
Director: C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi
 
Tótem
Mexico
Director: Lila Avilés
 
The Zone of Interest
United Kingdom, Poland, USA
Director: Jonathan Glazer

PRODUCERS AWARD 

The Producers Award, now in its 27th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
 
Rachael Fung
Graham Swon
Monique Walton (WINNER)

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD  

The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 30th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
 
Joanna Arnow, Director of The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
Laura Moss, Director of Birth/Rebirth
Monica Sorelle, Director of Mountains (WINNER)

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD 

The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 29th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
 
Set Hernandez, director of unseen (WINNER)
Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, directors of Lakota Nation vs. United States
Sierra Urich, director of Joonam

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES 

(Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
 
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Executive Producers: Vinnie Malhotra, Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, Dawn Porter
 
Dear Mama (WINNER)
Executive Producers: Lasse Järvi, Quincy ‘QD3’ Jones III, Staci Robinson, Nelson George, Charles D. King, Peter Nelson, Adel ‘Future’ Nur, Jamal Joseph, Ted Skillman, Allen Hughes, Steve Berman, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, John Janick, Nicholas Ferrall, Nigel Sinclair
 
Murder in Big Horn
Executive Producers: Matthew Galkin, Vinnie Malhotra
Co-Executive Producers: Lisa Kalikow, Joshua Levine
 
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
Executive Producers: Mindy Goldberg, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Zach Heinzerling, Krista Parris, Daniel Barban Levin, Felicia Rosario
Co-Executive Producer: Julie Gaither
 
Wrestlers
Executive Producers: Greg Whiteley, Ryan O’Dowd
Co-Executive Producers: Alejandro Melendez, Adam Leibowitz

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

(Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
 
Beef (WINNER)
Creator/Executive Producer: Lee Sung Jin
Executive Producers: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Jake Schreier, Ravi Nandan, Alli Reich
Co-Executive Producers: Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper
 
Dreaming Whilst Black
Creator/Executive Producer: Adjani Salmon
Creators: Maximilian Evans, Natasha Jatania, Laura Seixas
Executive Producers: Tanya Qureshi, Dhanny Joshi, Bal Samra, Thomas Stogdon
 
I’m a Virgo
Creator/Executive Producer: Boots Riley
Executive Producers: Tze Chun, Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Jharrel Jerome, Rebecca Rivo
Co-Executive Producers: Marcus Gardley, Carver Karaszewski
 
Jury Duty
Creators/Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky
Executive Producers: David Bernad, Ruben Fleischer, Nicholas Hatton, Cody Heller, Todd Schulman, Jake Szymanski, Andrew Weinberg
 
Slip
Creator/Executive Producer: Zoe Lister-Jones
Executive Producers: Ro Donnelly, Dakota Johnson, Katie O’Connell Marsh, David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Emma Corrin, A Murder at the End of the World
Dominique Fishback, Swarm
Betty Gilpin, Mrs. Davis
Jharrel Jerome, I’m a Virgo
Zoe Lister-Jones, Slip
Bel Powley, A Small Light
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Ramón Rodríguez, Will Trent
Ali Wong, Beef (WINNER)
Steven Yeun, Beef

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Murray Bartlett, The Last of Us
Billie Eilish, Swarm
Jack Farthing, Rain Dogs
Nick Offerman, The Last of Us (WINNER)
Adina Porter, The Changeling
Lewis Pullman, Lessons in Chemistry
Benny Safdie, The Curse
Luke Tennie, Shrinking
Olivia Washington, I’m a Virgo
Jessica Williams, Shrinking

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Clark Backo, The Changeling
Aria Mia Loberti, All the Light We Cannot See
Adjani Salmon, Dreaming Whilst Black
Keivonn Montreal Woodard, The Last of Us (WINNER)
Kara Young, I’m a Virgo

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Jury Duty (WINNER)
Ensemble Cast: Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, Evan Williams