Nominations for Best Feature at Spirit Awards include ‘Train Dreams’, ‘The Plague’, ‘Sorry, Baby’, ‘Twinless’ & ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’

The 41st Film Independent Spirit Awards revealed its nominations, highlighting a lineup of distinctly indie films. The contenders for Best Feature include Peter Hujars Day, The Plague, Sorry, Baby, Train Dreams, and Twinless.

Four of these films debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, while The Plague premiered at Cannes. Twinless opened Sundances screening lineup, and Netflix secured Train Dreams for a mid-to-high teen million-dollar deal. Starring Joel Edgerton as an early 20th-century railroad worker and logger, Train Dreams is now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix dominated the nominations this year with 18 nods, double its count from last year. A24 follows with ten nominations. Best Director nominees include Clint Bentley (Train Dreams), Mary Bronstein (If I Had Legs Id Kick You), Lloyd Lee Choi (Lucky Lu), Ira Sachs (Peter Hujars Day), and Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby).

The awards focus on films with budgets under $30 million, excluding higher-budget productions like Weapons and The Smashing Machine.

Best Feature Nominees

• Peter Hujars Day Producers: Jonah Disend, Jordan Drake, Derek Dauchy, Joel Edgerton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Lizzie Shapiro
• Sorry, Baby Producers: Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
• Train Dreams Producers: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman, David Permut, James Sweeney
• The Plague
• Twinless

Best Director Nominees

• Clint Bentley Train Dreams
• Mary Bronstein If I Had Legs Id Kick You
• Lloyd Lee Choi Lucky Lu
• Ira Sachs Peter Hujars Day
• Eva Victor Sorry, Baby

Notable Awards

The Robert Altman Award, honoring a director, casting director, and ensemble cast, goes to Lionsgates The Long Walk.

Other Key Categories

Best First Feature

• Blue Sun Palace Director: Constance Tsang; Producers: Sally Sujin Oh, Eli Raskin, Tony Yang
• Director/Producer: Bryan Fuller
• Director: Kate Beecroft East of Wall
• Director: Alex Russell One of Them Days
• Director: Lawrence Lamont One of Them Days

John Cassavetes Award (Films under $1M)

• The Baltimorons Jay Duplass
• Boys Go to Jupiter Julian Glander, Carson Lund
• Esta Isla (This Island) Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina
• Familiar Touch Sarah Friedland

Best Lead Performance

• Everett Blunck If I Had Legs Id Kick You
• Joel Edgerton Train Dreams
• Keke Palmer One of Them Days
• Tessa Thompson Peter Hujars Day

Best Supporting Performance

• Naomi Ackie Sorry, Baby
• Kirsten Dunst Nouvelle Vague
• Rebecca Hall Peter Hujars Day

Best Breakthrough Performance

• Misha Osherovich The Baltimorons
• Tabatha Zimiga East of Wall

Best Cinematography

• Peter Hujars Day
• Train Dreams

Best Editing

• Splitsville
• The Testament of Ann Lee

Documentary and International Film

• Best Documentary: Come See Me in the Good Light, Endless Cookie, My Undesirable Friends: Part I Last Air in Moscow
• Best International Film: All Thats Left of You, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, The Secret Agent

Emerging Talent Awards

• Producers Award: Emma Hannaway, Luca Intili
• Someone to Watch Award: Tatti Ribeiro, Annapurna Sriram
• Truer Than Fiction Award: Rajee Samarasinghe, Brittany Shyne

Best New Series

• Best New Non-Scripted Series: Citizen Nation, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time, Pee-wee as Himself
• Best New Scripted Series: Adolescence, Common Side Effects, Mr Loverman, North of North

Series Performance Awards

• Lead Performance: Sydney Chandler, Stephen Graham, Ethan Hawke, Lennie James, Lola Petticrew, Lovie Simone, Michelle Williams
• Supporting Performance: Ariyon Bakare, Babou Ceesay, Sharon D. Clarke, Taylor Dearden, Erin Doherty, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Poorna Jagannathan, Xosha Roquemore, Jenny Slate, Ben Whishaw
• Breakthrough Performance: Wally Baram, Owen Cooper, Michael Cooper Jr., Ernest Kingsley Junior
• Ensemble Cast: Chief of War

Author: Jackson Miller