And the winner goes to...
Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars celebrated the crème de la crème of the entertainment industry at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Thursday, April 22.
Nomadland was the major standout, nabbing four prizes including Best Feature, in addition to Best Director for Chloé Zhao. The drama heads into this weekend's Oscars ceremony as the likely front-runnner in both categories.
Riz Ahmed won Best Male Lead for Sound of Metal, and in his acceptance speech, he offered encouragement for anyone who has endured hardship throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Sound of Metal is about how a health crisis can throw your life off track, and on the other side of that, there can be a lot of discomfort but also some clarity," he shared. "And for everyone who's gone through some upheaval this year, I wish you peace on the other side of it."
In accepting the Best Female Lead trophy for Promising Young Woman, Carey Mulligan dedicated the award to actress Helen McCrory, who died on April 16 at age 52 after battling cancer.
"I just want to dedicate this award to a true independent spirit—an actress that I have looked up to and will continue to look up to for the rest of my career, Helen McCrory," Carey said. "Thank you to her for everything she gave us."
And even though the pandemic has temporarily kicked traditional award shows to the curb, this year's ceremony offered a night to remember with its interactive visual experience.
However, that wasn't the only change-up this evening. For the first time in history, the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards recognized performances in television, as well as streaming, with some of the nominees including I May Destroy You, Little America and Unorthodox.
As for the movie leading the film categories ahead of this year's ceremony? That honor went to Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always. The movie earned seven nominations total, including Best Director, Best Feature and Best Screenplay, although it didn't prevail in any of its categories.
But that's enough lip action! Ready to see who took home an award? Keep on scrolling to see the complete list of the winners.
Best Feature
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
WINNER: Nomadland
Best First Feature
I Carry You With Me
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Miss Juneteenth
Nine Days
WINNER: Sound Of Metal
Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt, First Cow
WINNER: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Best Screenplay
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
WINNER: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Mike Makowsky, Bad Education
Alice Wu, The Half of It
Best First Screenplay
Kitty Green, The Assistant
Noah Hutton, Lapsis
Channing Godfrey Peoples, Miss Juneteenth
WINNER: Andy Siara, Palm Springs
James Sweeney, Straight Up
John Cassavetes Award
The Killing Of Two Lovers
La Leyenda Negra
Lingua Franca
WINNER: Residue
Saint Frances
Best Male Lead
WINNER: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger
Rob Morgan, Bull
Steven Yeun, Minari
Best Female Lead
Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner, The Assistant
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
WINNER: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Best Supporting Male
Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Orion Lee, First Cow
WINNER: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Benedict Wong, Nine Days
Best Supporting Female
Alexis Chikaeze, Miss Juneteenth
Yeri Han, Minari
Valerie Mahaffey, French Exit
Talia Ryder, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
WINNER: Yuh-jung Youn, Minari
Best Cinematography
Jay Keitel, She Dies Tomorrow
Shabier Kirchner, Bull
Michael Latham, The Assistant
Hélène Louvart, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
WINNER: Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Best Editing
Andy Canny, The Invisible Man
Scott Cummings, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Merawi Gerima, Residue
Enat Sidi, I Carry You With Me
WINNER: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Best International Film
Bacurau (Brazil)
The Disciple (India)
Night Of The Kings (Ivory Coast)
Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time (Hungary)
WINNER: Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia And Herzegovina)
Best Documentary
Collective
WINNER: Crip Camp
Dick Johnson Is Dead
The Mole Agent
Time
Robert Altman Award
One Night In Miami
Producers Award
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
WINNER: Gerry Kim
Someone To Watch Award
David Midell, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
WINNER: Ekwa Msangi, Farewell Amor
Annie Silverstein, Bull
Truer Than Fiction Award
Cecilia Aldarondo, Landfall
WINNER: Elegance Bratton, Pier Kids
Elizabeth Lo, Stray
Best New Non-Scripted Or Documentary Series
Atlanta’s Missing And Murdered: The Lost Children
City So Real
WINNER: Immigration Nation
Love Fraud
We’re Here
Best New Scripted Series
WINNER: I May Destroy You
Little America
Small Axe
A Teacher
Unorthodox
Best Female Performance In A New Scripted Series
Elle Fanning, The Great
WINNER: Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Abby McEnany, Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever
Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are
Best Male Performance In A New Scripted Series
Adam Ali, Little America
Nicco Annan, P-Valley
Conphidance, Little America
WINNER: Amit Rahav, Unorthodox
Harold Torres, ZeroZeroZero
Best Ensemble Cast In A New Scripted Series
I May Destroy You