Independent Spirit Awards 2024: The Winner’s List and Best Dressed

Hollywood’s indie scene sparkled at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, where Past Lives snagged the crown for Best Independent Feature and saw Celine Song triumph as Best Director. The ceremony, a brilliant afternoon affair, was abuzz with exceptional talents and groundbreaking wins.

Breaking barriers, Jeffrey Wright of American Fiction and Da’Vine Joy Randolph from The Holdovers clinched top honors in the gender-neutral acting showdowns. Meanwhile, fresh face Dominic Sessa emerged victorious with the Breakthrough Performance Award for his role in “The Holdovers.”

Script wizards Cord Jefferson (American Fiction) along with Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik (May December) were lauded for their storytelling prowess, nabbing the top screenplay accolades. The visual marvel The Holdovers dazzled with a win for cinematography, and How to Blow Up a Pipeline cut through the competition to win for editing.

Globally, Anatomy of a Fall was celebrated as the best international film, while Four Daughters took the documentary prize home. Newcomer A Thousand and One wowed in the Best First Feature category, and Fremont was honored with the John Cassavetes Award for its stellar production on a shoestring budget.

Echoing a theme of diversity and representation, this year marked another triumph for filmmakers of Asian heritage, illustrating Indie Spirit’s penchant for celebrating global stories and talents. Past Lives not only etches its name in indie greatness but also follows in the steps of potential Oscar glory, mirroring past nominees’ trajectory.

Entrance to this prestige-packed event demanded less than $30 million in the kitty and a showcase in festivals or markets, underscoring Spirit Awards’ commitment to diversity and discovery in storytelling.
Reflecting on a closing note, the Indie Spirit Awards have evolved from an underdog predictor to an Oscar bellwether, marking a celebrated pivot in recognizing cinematic excellence as it parallels, and occasionally predicts, the Oscar dazzle.

Hosted by Aidy Bryant, the show, which took place in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California. For much of the ceremony, a pro-Palestinian protestor blasted “Free free Palestine!” and other slogans through a bullhorn that was occasionally audible on the broadcast.

Here Is the Complete List of Independent Spirit Awards 2024 Winners

BEST FEATURE 
“All of Us Strangers”
“American Fiction”
“May December”
“Passages”
“Past Lives” *WINNER
“We Grown Now” 

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”
“Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”
“Earth Mama”
“A Thousand and One” *WINNER
“Upon Entry”
 
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000 
“The Artifice Girl”
“Cadejo Blanco”
“Fremont” *WINNER
“Rotting in the Sun”
“The Unknown Country”
 
BEST DIRECTOR
Andrew Haigh, “All of Us Strangers”
Todd Haynes, “May December”
William Oldroyd, “Eileen”
Ira Sachs, “Passages”
Celine Song, “Past Lives” *WINNER
 
BEST SCREENPLAY
David Hemingson, “The Holdovers”
Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction” *WINNER
Laura Moss, Brendan J. O’Brien, “Birth/Rebirth”
Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott, “Bottoms”
Celine Song, “Past Lives” 
 
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik, “May December” *WINNER
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt, “Theater Camp”
Tomás Gómez Bustillo, “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”
Laurel Parmet, “The Starling Girl”
Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez, “Upon Entry”
 
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Jessica Chastain, “Memory”
Greta Lee, “Past Lives”
Trace Lysette, “Monica”
Natalie Portman, “May December”
Judy Reyes, “Birth/Rebirth”
Franz Rogowski, “Passages”
Andrew Scott, “All of Us Strangers”
Teyana Taylor, “A Thousand and One”
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction” *WINNER
Teo Yoo, “Past Lives”
 
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Erika Alexander, “American Fiction”
Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”
Noah Galvin, “Theater Camp”
Anne Hathaway, “Eileen”
Glenn Howerton, “BlackBerry”
Marin Ireland, “Eileen”
Charles Melton, “May December”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” *WINNER
Catalina Saavedra, “Rotting in the Sun”
Ben Whishaw, “Passages”
 
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Marshawn Lynch, “Bottoms”
Atibon Nazaire, “Mountains”
Tia Nomore, “Earth Mama”
Dominic Sessa, “The Holdovers” *WINNER
Anaita Wali Zada, “Fremont”
 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Katelin Arizmendi, “Monica”
Eigil Bryld, “The Holdovers” *WINNER
Jomo Fray, “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”
Pablo Lozano, “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint”
Pat Scola, “We Grown Now”
 
BEST EDITING
Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz, Sofía Subercaseaux, “Rotting in the Sun”
Stephanie Filo, “We Grown Now”
Daniel Garber, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” *WINNER
Jon Philpot, “Theater Camp”
Emanuele Tiziani, “Upon Entry”
 
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD 
(Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
“Showing Up” *WINNER
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Casting Director: Gayle Keller
Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
“Four Daughters” *WINNER
“Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”
“Kokomo City”
“The Mother of All Lies” 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM 
“Anatomy of a Fall” *WINNER
“Godland”
“Mami Wata”
“Tótem”
“The Zone of Interest”
 
PRODUCERS AWARD
Rachael Fung
Graham Swon
Monique Walton *WINNER
 
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD  
Joanna Arnow, director of “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed”
Laura Moss, director of “Birth/Rebirth”
Monica Sorelle, director of “Mountains” *WINNER
 
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD  
Set Hernandez, director of “unseen” *WINNER
Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli, director of “Lakota Nation vs. United States”
Sierra Urich, director of “Joonam”
 
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES  
“Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court”
“Dear Mama” *WINNER
“Murder in Big Horn”
“Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence”
“Wrestlers” 

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Beef” *WINNER
“Dreaming Whilst Black”
“I’m a Virgo”
“Jury Duty”
“Slip” 

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Emma Corrin, “A Murder at the End of the World”
Dominique Fishback, “Swarm”
Betty Gilpin, “Mrs. Davis”
Jharrel Jerome, “I’m a Virgo”
Zoe Lister-Jones, “Slip”
Bel Powley, “A Small Light”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Ramón Rodríguez, “Will Trent”
Ali Wong, “Beef” *WINNER
Steven Yeun, “Beef”
 
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Murray Bartlett, “The Last of Us”
Billie Eilish, “Swarm”
Jack Farthing, “Rain Dogs”
Nick Offerman, “The Last of Us” *WINNER
Adina Porter, “The Changeling”
Lewis Pullman, “Lessons in Chemistry”
Benny Safdie, “The Curse”
Luke Tennie, “Shrinking”
Olivia Washington, “I’m a Virgo”
Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”
 
BEST BREAKTRHOUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Clark Backo, “The Changeling”
Aria Mia Loberti, “All the Light We Cannot See”
Adjani Salmon, “Dreaming Whilst Black”
Keivonn Montreal Woodard, “The Last of Us” *WINNER
Kara Young, “I’m a Virgo”
 
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Jury Duty” *WINNER
Ensemble Cast: Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, Evan Williams

Independent Spirit Awards 2024: The Best Dressed

Anne Hathaway wearing Valentino with Bulgari jewels and Aquazzura shoes

Taylor Zakhar Perez wearing Alexander McQueen

Greta Lee wearing Lii Studio

Charles Melton wearing Louis Vuitton with an Omega watch and Anita Ko jewelry

Da’Vine Joy Randolph wearing a Da Shon By DaSh look, Steve Madden shoes, a Gucci clutch, and Misho Designs jewelry

Colman Domingo wearing custom Versace

Jessica Chastain wearing an Oscar de la Renta dress, Jimmy Choo shoes, and Simon G earrings

Natalie Portman wearing a Balmain dress, Jimmy Choo shoes, and Nouvel Heritage Jewelry