2021 Independent Spirit Awards: “Nomadland” and “Sound of Metal” Win Big

Riz Ahmed in
Riz Ahmed in "Sound of Metal"

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