The 2025 Indie Spirit nominations were announced today. Film Independent boldly replicated the Gotham Awards, only their presentation will be in a cold, rainy tent on the beach. The Gothams were held at Cipriani 55 Wall Street.

The Spirits pissed all over Netflix, snubbing “Emilia Perez,” “The Piano Lesson,” and “Maria.” They copied the National Board of Review and gave most of their attention to A24. (An A24 exec is on the board of the NBR, which helps a lot.)

Somehow they also ignored “The Brutalist” for Best Picture, but gave a nod to Brady Corbet for Best Director. Best Director of what? They obviously didn’t like it since they also snubbed Adrien Brody. How hilarious! “The Brutalist” was made for $10 million and is the definition of a great indie film.

Spirits also ignored James Mangold’s excellent “A Complete Unknown.”

Oh well. These awards mean nothing. No one watches them on streaming. They’re no longer given on Oscars weekend. They don’t even have a gift bag anymore. What good are they?

Also, these are gender neutral awards. But they total skipped the only gender fluid actress, Karla Sofia Gascon, of “Emilia Perez,” who should have been nominated. So, really, again, what is the point of all this?

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)

Anora
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan

I Saw the TV Glow
Producers: Ali Herting, Sam Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Sarah Winshall

Nickel Boys
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine

Sing Sing
Producers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Monique Walton

The Substance
Producers: Tim Bevan, Coralie Fargeat, Eric Fellner

 
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)

Dìdi
Director/Producer: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters

In the Summers
Director: Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio
Producers: Janek Ambros, Lynette Coll, Alexander Dinelaris, Cynthia Fernandez De La Cruz, Cristóbal Güell, Sergio Alberto Lira, Rob Quadrino, Jan Suter, Daniel Tantalean, Nando Vila, Slava Vladimirov, Stephanie Yankwitt

Janet Planet
Director/Producer: Annie Baker
Producers: Andrew Goldman, Dan Janvey, Derrick Tseng

The Piano Lesson
Director: Malcolm Washington
Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington

Problemista
Director/Producer: Julio Torres
Producers: Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Emma Stone
 

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. (Award given to the writer, director, and producer)

Big Boys
Writer/Director/Producer: Corey Sherman
Producer: Allison Tate

Ghostlight
Writer/Director: Kelly O’Sullivan
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Producers: Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Chelsea Krant, Eddie Linker, Alex Wilson

Girls Will Be Girls
Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne

Jazzy
Writer/Director/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer/Producer: Lainey Shangreaux
Writers: Andrew Hajek, Vanara Taing
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Tommy Heitkamp, John Way, Natalie Whalen, Elliott Whitton

The People’s Joker
Writer/Director: Vera Drew
Writer: Bri LeRose
Producer: Joey Lyons
 

BEST DIRECTOR

Ali Abbasi
The Apprentice

Sean Baker
Anora

Brady Corbet
The Brutalist

Alonso Ruizpalacios
La Cocina

Jane Schoenbrun
I Saw the TV Glow

 
BEST SCREENPLAY

Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Heretic

Jesse Eisenberg
A Real Pain

Megan Park
My Old Ass

Aaron Schimberg
A Different Man

Jane Schoenbrun
I Saw the TV Glow

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Joanna Arnow
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

Annie Baker
Janet Planet

India Donaldson
Good One

Julio Torres
Problemista

Sean Wang
Dìdi

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Amy Adams
Nightbitch

Ryan Destiny
The Fire Inside

Colman Domingo
Sing Sing

Keith Kupferer
Ghostlight

Mikey Madison
Anora

Demi Moore
The Substance

Hunter Schafer
Cuckoo

Justice Smith
I Saw the TV Glow

June Squibb
Thelma

Sebastian Stan
The Apprentice

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Yura Borisov
Anora

Joan Chen
Dìdi

Kieran Culkin
A Real Pain

Danielle Deadwyler
The Piano Lesson

Carol Kane
Between the Temples

Karren Karagulian
Anora

Kani Kusruti
Girls Will Be Girls

Brigette Lundy-Paine
I Saw the TV Glow

Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin
Sing Sing

Adam Pearson
A Different Man

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Isaac Krasner
Big Boys

Katy O’Brian
Love Lies Bleeding

Mason Alexander Park
National Anthem

René Pérez Joglar
In the Summers

Maisy Stella
My Old Ass

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Dinh Duy Hung
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

Jomo Fray
Nickel Boys

Maria von Hausswolff
Janet Planet

Juan Pablo Ramírez
La Cocina

Rina Yang
The Fire Inside

 
BEST EDITING

Laura Colwell, Vanara Taing
Jazzy

Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm
The Apprentice

Anne McCabe
Nightbitch

Hansjörg Weissbrich
September 5

Arielle Zakowski
Dìdi

 
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast

His Three Daughters
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

Gaucho Gaucho
Directors/Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Producers: Christos Konstantakopoulos, Cameron O’Reilly, Matthew Perniciaro

Hummingbirds
Directors: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
Co-Directors/Producers: Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger
Producers: Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow

No Other Land
Directors/Producers: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producers: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning

Patrice: The Movie
Director: Ted Passon
Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Producers: Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius

 
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

All We Imagine as Light
France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
Director: Payal Kapadia

Black Dog
China
Director: Guan Hu

Flow
Latvia, France, Belgium
Director: Gints Zilbalodis

Green Border
Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium
Director: Agnieszka Holland

Hard Truths
United Kingdom
Director: Mike Leigh
 
PRODUCERS AWARD – The Producers Award, now in its 28th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality independent films.

Alex Coco
Sarah Winshall
Zoë Worth

 SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD  – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 31st year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

Nicholas Colia
Director of Griffin in Summer

Sarah Friedland
Director of Familiar Touch

Pham Thien An
Director of Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
 

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 30th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Directors of Sugarcane

Carla Gutiérrez
Director of Frida

Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Director of A Photographic Memory

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color
Executive Producers: Idris Elba, Johanna Woolford Gibbon, Jamilla Dumbuya, Jos Cushing, Khaled Gad, Matt Robins, Chris Muckle, Sean David Johnson, Simon Raikes
Co-Executive Producer: Annabel Hobley

Hollywood Black
Executive Producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhart
Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant

Photographer
Executive Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan
Co-Executive Producers: Anna Barnes, Brent Kunkle

Ren Faire
Executive Producers: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Dani Bernfeld, Lance Oppenheim, David Gauvey Herbert, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
Co-Executive Producers: Abigail Rowe, Christian Vasquez, Max Allman

Social Studies
Creator/Executive Producer: Lauren Greenfield
Executive Producers: Wallis Annenberg, Regina K. Scully, Andrea van Beuren, Frank Evers, Caryn Capotosto

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Baby Reindeer
Creator/Executive Producer: Richard Gadd
Executive Producers: Wim De Greef, Petra Fried, Matt Jarvis, Ed Macdonald

Diarra From Detroit
Creator/Executive Producer: Diarra Kilpatrick
Executive Producers: Kenya Barris, Miles Orion Feldsott, Darren Goldberg
Co-Executive Producers: Ester Lou, Mark Ganek

English Teacher
Creator/Executive Producer: Brian Jordan Alvarez
Executive Producers: Paul Simms, Jonathan Krisel, Dave King
Co-Executive Producers: Kathryn Dean, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn

Fantasmas
Creator/Executive Producer: Julio Torres
Executive Producers: Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Olivia Gerke, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell
Co-Executive Producer: Ali Herting

Shōgun
Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michaela Clavell
Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Brian Jordan Alvarez
English Teacher

Richard Gadd
Baby Reindeer

Lily Gladstone
Under the Bridge

Kathryn Hahn
Agatha All Along

Cristin Milioti
The Penguin

Julianne Moore
Mary & George

Hiroyuki Sanada
Shōgun

Anna Sawai
Shōgun

Andrew Scott
Ripley

Julio Torres
Fantasmas

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Tadanobu Asano
Shōgun

Enrico Colantoni
English Teacher

Betty Gilpin
Three Women

Chloe Guidry
Under the Bridge

Moeka Hoshi
Shōgun

Stephanie Koenig
English Teacher

Patti LuPone
Agatha All Along

Nava Mau
Baby Reindeer

Ruth Negga
Presumed Innocent

Brian Tee
Expats

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Jessica Gunning
Baby Reindeer

Diarra Kilpatrick
Diarra From Detroit

Joe Locke
Agatha All Along

Megan Stott
Penelope

Hoa Xuande
The Sympathizer

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
How to Die Alone
Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims

The National Bored of Review. They are predictable.

The NBR is a fan group whose members pay big annual fees and also pay to be at their annual dinner.

They chose Universal’s “Wicked” as Best Picture. They ignored “The Brutalist,” which just won Best Picture from the NY Film Critics Circle. They also completely snubbed “Dune Part Two.”

Their 10 other Best Films include Clint Eastwood’s “Juror Number 2,” which was dumped by Warner Bros and never got a proper release. The NBR’s 501 c3 loves Eastwood and has been underwriting his archives at Wesleyan University for years.

The 10 Best films include: Anora, Babygirl, A Complete Unknown, Conclave,
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Gladiator II, Juror #2, Queer, A Real Pain, Sing Sing.

A24 got three Best Picture nods: Babygirl, Sing Sing, and Queer are each from A24 Films. This is no surprise since an exec from that studio has been on the NBR board of directors for years. Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, stars of those respective films, are Best Actress and Actor.

“The Brutalist” is also an A24 film, but I guess Annie Schulhof really didn’t like it. But A24 also got mentions for “A Different Man” and “Love Lies Bleeding” on the NBR’s Top 10 Indie Films list.

The National Board of Review is a joke. I’ve written about it for years. Like the Hollywood Foreign Press Association their choices are based purely on their own needs. But people eat this stuff up, and the studios love the attention for their films.

The NBR is really leaning on Universal Pictures. They also gave an extra award to “Wicked,” included “Conclave” as their Best Ensemble.

Best documentary went to pro-Palestinian “No Other Land.”

Completely wiped out: Netflix’s big three movies “Maria,” “Emilia Perez,” and “The Piano Lesson.” I guess Netflix finally stopped entertaining the NBR.

Best Film: Wicked

Best Director: Jon M. Chu, Wicked

Best Actor: Daniel Craig, Queer

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, Babygirl

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Best Supporting Actress: Elle Fanning, A Complete Unknown

Best Ensemble: Conclave

Breakthrough Performance: Mikey Madison, Anora

Best Directorial Debut: India Donaldson, Good One

Best Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, Hard Truths

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing

NBR Spotlight Award: Creative Collaboration of Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: No Other Land

Best Animated Feature: Flow

Best International Film: The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Documentary: Sugarcane

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Top Films (in alphabetical order):
Anora
Babygirl
A Complete Unknown
Conclave

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Gladiator II
Juror #2
Queer
A Real Pain
Sing Sing

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):
All We Imagine As Light
The Girl with the Needle
I’m Still Here
Santosh

Universal Language

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
Black Box Diaries
Dahomey
Look Into My Eyes
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):
Bird
A Different Man

Dìdi
Ghostlight
Good One
Hard Truths
His Three Daughters
Love Lies Bleeding
My Old Ass
Thelma

I’m telling you this story backwards:

I can tell you Bob Dylan met with writer-director James Mangold five times when the coming biopic “A Complete Unknown” was being made. Mangold himself told me so at the Gotham Awards on Monday night.

Now this afternoon Dylan himself speaks about the film, which is off the charts great and stars Timothee Chalamet as the young superstar poet and songwriter back in 1965.

Dylan Tweets:

There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah…

— Bob Dylan (@bobdylan) December 4, 2024

Is Dylan writing these occasional Tweets himself? Or is someone in his office doing it? I don’t know. But this is Bob’s official account. So we’ll take it for what it’s worth.

Mangold says Dylan has not seen the finished film. But I can tell you he will be more than pleased. Mangold, Chalamet, and co. have made something great, akin at least to Mangold’s “Walk the Line” about Johnny Cash. It’s full of beautiful touches. Chalamet leads a best ensemble cast. It’s Timothee’s best work. They are tangled up in success!

Good for Bob Dylan or whomever for chiming in days before reviews are allowed to be published. “A Complete Unknown” is going to blow up the awards race!

The cozy Metrograph Theater is at the corner of Chinatown and Who-knows-where, but a lot of A-listers showed up tonight for a screening of “Wicked” with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Peter Dinklage, producer Marc Platt, and director Jon M. Chu.

Presented a low key event in out of the way place, “Wicked” turned up the Oscar heat. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively brought a couple of their daughters. Brooke Shields popped in, so did Joe Pantoliano, famed composer Carter Burwell, and a large contingent of Academy voters.

“Wicked” may have $266 million in the bank, but now they want nominations.

There’s no doubt they will get them, too, as this group is ready to pitch in. Big Pop Star Ariana told me that despite having a lot of pop hits she loves singing Broadway showtunes. “That’s where it all started,” she reminded. I mentioned that she sampled “My Favorite Things” in one of her songs, which rocked her memory. “Well, in a way!” she said. This is the second time I met her this year, and she is totally delightful.

I was very eager to see Cynthia Erivo, who’s staring a Best Actress nod down her broom. Her Elphaba is just a straight line from her Tony Award win in “The Color Purple” on Broadway. How does she feel about being in such a huge hit, I asked? Isn’t it time for Universal or the producers to send her a big gift marking the occasion?

Erivo joked, “I’ll take an Hermes bag! A Birkin!”

Director Chu told me he’s just started editing Part 2 for release a year from now. I complained that the Wizard in these versions has gone from affable con man to really bad guy. Can’t he do anything about that? (‘Fraid not.) Chu also told me it doesn’t look like we’ll ever see a sequel to his classic comedy hit, “Crazy Rich Asians.”

“We couldn’t a script,” he said. “We had a few versions.” Nothing with Gemma Chan picking up the baton? He said, “I don’t think people want to see a story about really rich people right now. And so much time has passed, we’d have to take a lot in.”

I did tell Peter Dinklage I watched him over the weekend in “Elf.” His review: “It’s the Citizen Kane of Christmas movies. A classic.” Did he love making it? “What do you think?” he replied.

No surprise: the New York Film Critics Circle has given Best Picture to Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.”

The film’s star, Adrien Brody, is Best Actor. But Corbet, oddly, is not Best Director. That honor went to RaMell Ross for ” Nickel Boys.”

Best Actress went unexpectedly to Marianne Jean Baptiste for “Hard Truths.”

Supporting Actor went to Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain.”

Supporting Actress went to beloved NY actress Carol Kane for “Between the Temples.”

The screenplay award went to Sean Baker for “Anora.”

Keep refreshing

Monday night’s Gotham Awards were packed with A list stars, notching up the importance of the evening as the opening salvo for Hollywood prizes

Among the guests were Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Chastain, Timothee Chalamet, Demi Moore, and Colman Domingo.

But gender neutral nominations produced a tricky outcome. Only men won acting awards, leaving the women empty handed.

Here’s a list:
The winner for Best Feature was A Different Man.

The winner for Best International Feature was All We Imagine as Light.

The winner for Best Documentary Feature was presented to No Other Land.

The winner for Best Director was RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys.

The winner for Best Screenplay was Azazel Jacobs for His Three Daughters.

The winner for Breakthrough Director Gotham was Vera Drew for The People’s Joker.

The winner for Outstanding Lead Performance was Colman Domingo in Sing Sing.

The winner for Outstanding Supporting Performance was Clarence Maclin in Sing Sing.

The winner for Breakthrough Performer was Brandon Wilson in Nickel Boys.

The three acting winners all went to men. Big name actresses with knockout performances were completely overlooked.

Nevertheless the evening itself ran smoothly and on time, and tables at 55 Wall Street Cipriani were filled with movie stars and the top tier up and comers. The left field choice for Best Feature was the unexpected “A Different Man,” keeping the Gothams still the most important venue for indie films