Nomadland is the clear front-runner of this year’s award season and it further solidified its Oscar chances at the Independent Spirit Awards. It topped the list of winners with a total of three awards, and it was closely followed by Sound of Metal with three trophies.
Nomadland managed to beat the likes of First Cow, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Minari, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always to win the biggest award of the night—best feature. Chloé Zhao picked up awards for directing and editing the film, while Joshua James Richards won the best cinematography.
Sound of Metal was also amongst the major winners with a total of three trophies—best male lead (Riz Ahmed), best supporting male (Paul Raci), and best first feature (Darius Marder). Promising Young Woman was right behind with two awards—best female lead (Carey Mulligan) and best screenplay (Emerald Fennell).
What made this year’s Independent Spirit Awards ceremony different was the introduction of TV categories. I May Destroy You led the way in this field with two awards for best new scripted series and best ensemble cast, while Unorthodox dominated acting categories.
The 36th Independent Spirit Awards took place on April 22nd, with Melissa Villaseñor serving as host.
FULL LIST OF 2021 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS WINNERS:
BEST FEATURE
Nomadland
BEST MALE LEAD
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Yuh-jung Youn, Minari
BEST DIRECTOR
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
QUO VADIS, AIDA? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
BEST FIRST FEATURE
SOUND OF METAL
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Andy Siara, Palm Springs
BEST EDITING
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
RESIDUE
Writer/Director: Merawi Gerima
BEST DOCUMENTARY
CRIP CAMP
PRODUCERS AWARD
Gerry Kim
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
ELEGANCE BRATTON
Director of Pier Kids
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
EKWA MSANGI
Director of Farewell Amor
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I MAY DESTROY YOU
Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Weruche Opia, Stephen Wight
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Amit Rahav, Unorthodox
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I MAY DESTROY YOU
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
IMMIGRATION NATION