As independent films become increasingly prevalent at the Oscars, the Spirit Awards are now seen as the first major set of nominations of the awards season. That bodes well for several films after this year's announcement of the nominees, with presumed Best Picture contenders "Eighth Grade", "First Reformed" and "If Beale Street Could Talk" showing early strength. With many buzzy titles being ineligible this year, it remains to be seen whether there will be much crossover with the Academy's eventual picks. There's still a long way to go yet. So for now, let's just celebrate this year's esteemed list of Spirit Awards nominees:
Best Feature
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
You Were Never Really Here
Best Director
Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
Tamara Jenkins, Private Life
Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Best Female Lead
Glenn Close, The Wife
Toni Colette, Hereditary
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Regina Hall, Support the Girls
Helena Howard, Madeline's Madeline
Carey Mulligan, Wildlife
Best Male Lead
John Cho, Searching
Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Christian Malheiros, Socrates
Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
Best Supporting Female
Kayli Carter, Private Life
Tyne Daly, A Bread Factory
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace
J. Smith-Cameron, Nancy
Best Supporting Male
Raul Castillo, We the Animals
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Richard E Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
John David Washington, Monsters and Men
Best Screenplay
Colette
Can you Ever Forgive Me?
First Reformed
Private Life
Sorry to Bother You
Best First Feature
Hereditary
Sorry to Bother You
The Tale
We the Animals
Wildlife
John Cassavetes Award
A Bread Factory
En El Septimo Dia
Never Goin' Back
Socrates
Thunder Road
Best First Screenplay
Blame
Eighth Grade
Nancy
The Tale
Thoroughbreds
Best Cinematography
Madeline's Madeline
Mandy
Suspiria
We the Animals
Wildlife
Best Editing
American Animals
Mid 90s
The Tale
We the Animals
You Were Never Really Here
Best Documentary
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
On Her Shoulders
Shirkers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Best International Film
Burning
The Favourite
Happy as Lazzaro
Roma
Shoplifters
Robert Altman Award
Suspiria
Piaget Producers Award
Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
Gabrielle Nadig
Shrihari Sathe
Kiehls Someone to Watch Award
Alex Moratto, Socrates
Ioana Uricaru, Lemonade
Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals
Truer Than Fiction Award
Alexandria Bombach, On Her Shoulders
Bing Liu, Minding the Gap
RaMell Ross, Hale County This Morning This Evening