The 2024 Independent Spirit Awards are set to take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 25. The 39th annual awards will recognize achievements in American independent film and television and celebrate the power of independent visual storytelling. The February date, on a Sunday, puts the awards two weeks ahead of the March 10 Oscars, rather than the day before as the Spirits had been in some previous years.
This year, the Spirit Awards embraced non-gendered award categories. ““For the first time in history, all the men will know how all the women feel when they find out they are competing against Cate Blanchett,” said the host of the evening, comedian, producer and writer Hasan Minhaj. The joke was met with a close-up of Blanchett looking quite confused.
Aside from Minhaj’s sleue of jokes, the awards honored many for their outstanding independent work on screen. The Oscar-sweeping “Everything Everywhere All At Once” took home Best Screenplay, Best Director(s), Best Editing and Best Feature, along with Best Supporting Performance, Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Lead Performance for the film’s Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Michelle Yeoh.
Quinta Bronson won Best Lead Perfomance in a New scripted Series for her role on “Abbott Elementary.” Ayo Edibiri won Best Supporting Perfomance in a New scripted Series for “The Bear,” which took home the award for Best New scripted Series. Laura Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” won Best documentary.
Each year, Film Independent gives out the John Cassavettes award which honors the best independent feature made under $500,000. This year, the cap was extended to $1 million, and the award was given to “The Cathedral,” which cost $200,000 to make.
Film Independent also provides year-round programs, grants, workshops and labs to support creative professionals. Spirit Awards have been awarded to films like “Pulp Fiction,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Moonlight.”
