The Lost Daughter has won three of the top awards at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, held two weeks before the Oscars this year, rather than the day before.
As well as winning Best Feature, at the ceremony that honours low budget films, it also secured the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards for Maggie Gyllenhaal.
But it missed out on the actor awards, with Oscar nominee Olivia Colman not even nominated. The Best Female Lead went to Taylour Paige for Zola, with Simon Rex being named the Best Male for Red Rocket.
The supporting prizes went to Ruth Negga for Passing and Troy Kotsur for CODA.
Japan’s Drive My Car was named the Best International Film – the only category open to films with no US element.
The Spirits – voted on by members of the LA-based Film Independent organisation – recognise achievement in American films, made for less than $22.5 million, so the selection of films and make-up of voters mean that they’re not generally a reliable indicator of Oscar success.
Like many other awards, including the UK’s BIFAs and London Film Festival Awards, they also try to recognise up and coming talent. Roshan Sethi’s 7 Days was named the Best First Feature and Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block won the First Screenplay award for Pig.
They have recently branched out into TV as well as film, this year recognising Reservation Dogs as the best cast of a scripted series, with the acting awards going to Thuso Mbedu for The Underground Railroad and Lee Jung-jae for Squid Game.
Here is the full list of winners:
Best Feature
“The Lost Daughter” | WINNER
Producers: Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler
Female Lead
Taylour Paige, “Zola” | WINNER
Male Lead
Simon Rex, “Red Rocket” | WINNER
Supporting Female
Ruth Negga, “Passing” | WINNER
Supporting Male
Director
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter” | WINNER
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter” | WINNER
International Film
“Drive My Car” (Japan) | WINNER
Director – Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Cinematography
Edu Grau, “Passing” | WINNER
“Mass” | WINNER
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
Truer Than Fiction Award
Jessica Beshir – Director, “Faya Dayi” | WINNER
Editing
Joi McMillon, “Zola” | WINNER
Producers Award
Lizzie Shapiro | WINNER
First Feature
“7 Days” | WINNER
Director – Roshan Sethi; Producers – Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn
First Screenplay
Documentary
“Summer of Soul (… or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” | WINNER
Director – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson; Producers – David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel
Someone to Watch Award
Alex Camilleri – Director, “Luzzu” | WINNER
John Cassavetes Award
“Shiva Baby” | WINNER
Writer/Director/Producer – Emma Seligman; Producers – Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro
Ensemble cast in a new scripted series
“Reservation Dogs” | WINNER
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone
Female performance in a scripted series
Thuso Mbedu, “The Underground Railroad” | WINNER
Male performance in a new scripted series
Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game” | WINNER
New non-scripted or documentary series
“Black and Missing” | WINNER
Series By/Executive Producers – Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir; Executive Producers – Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
New scripted series
“Reservation Dogs” | WINNER
Creators/Executive Producers – Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi; Executive Producer – Garrett Basch