2020 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: 'The Lighthouse' And 'Uncut Gems' Lead The Pack With Five Nominations Each

There's no denying it: awards season is upon us. And this morning marked the arrival of the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards nominations, where A24's The Lighthouse and Uncut Gems tied for the highest number of nominations with five each. Honey Boy also had a strong showing, locking down four noms, along with a movie called Give Me Liberty, which I'm embarrassed to admit I've never heard of until this very moment. Read the full list of nominees below.

The full list of nominees (via The Playlist) represents a solid group of talent (shout-out to Jonathan Majors in The Last Black Man in San Francisco), but there are still some gaps that I feel compelled to point out. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite was only nominated for Best International Film, and the same goes for Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire. For my money, those are the top two movies of all of 2019, and the fact that they aren't being recognized for things like screenplay, editing, cinematography, or any of its performances is baffling. A similar thing is true for Ari Aster's Midsommar: the film received one nomination for cinematography, but was shut out in every other category. No Florence Pugh? No best director nod for Aster? I'm pulling my hair out over here.

But this list did put Give Me Liberty on my radar, and I hope it does the same for you with films that you maybe haven't heard of or ones that fell through the cracks for you as the year went on.

BEST FEATURE

A Hidden Life

Producers: Elisabeth Bentley, Dario Bergesio, Grant Hill, Josh Jeter

Clemency

Producers: Timur Bekbosunov, Julian Cautherley, Bronwyn Cornelius, Peter Wong

The Farewell

Producers: Anita Gou, Daniele Melia, Andrew Miano, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Lulu

Wang, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng

Marriage Story

Producers: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman

Uncut Gems

Producers: Eli Bush, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Scott Rudin

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Booksmart

Director: Olivia Wilde

Producers: Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Jessica Elbaum, Megan Ellison,

Katie Silberman

The Climb

Director/Producer: Michael Angelo Covino

Producers: Noah Lang, Kyle Marvin

Diane

Director: Kent Jones

Producers: Luca Borghese, Ben Howe, Caroline Kaplan, Oren Moverman

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Director/Producer: Joe Talbot

Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Khaliah Neal, Christina Oh

The Mustang

Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Producer: Ilan Goldman

See You Yesterday

Director: Stefon Bristol

Producer: Spike Lee

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Burning Cane

Writer/Director/Producer: Phillip Youmans

Producers: Ojo Akinlana, Jakob Johnson, Karen Kaia Livers, Mose Mayer,

Wendell Pierce, Isaac Webb, Cassandra Youmans

Colewell

Writer/Director: Tom Quinn

Producers: Joshua Blum, Alexandra Byer, Craig Shilowich, Matthew Thurm

Give Me Liberty

Writer/Director/Producer: Kirill Mikhanovsky

Writer/Producer: Alice Austen

Producers: Val Abel, Wally Hall, Michael Manasseri, George Rush, Sergey Shtern

Premature

Writer/Director/Producer: Rashaad Ernesto Green

Writer: Zora Howard

Producer: Darren Dean, Joy Ganes

Wild Nights With Emily

Writer/Director/Producer: Madeleine Olnek

Producers: Anna Margarita Albelo, Casper Andreas, Max Rifkind-Barron

BEST DIRECTOR

Alma Har'el

Honey Boy

Lorene Scafaria

Hustlers

Julius Onah

Luce

Robert Eggers

The Lighthouse

Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie

Uncut Gems

BEST SCREENPLAY

Noah Baumbach

Marriage Story

Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder

To Dust

Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie

Uncut Gems

Chinonye Chukwu

Clemency

Tarell Alvin McCraney

High Flying Bird

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Fredrica Bailey & Stefon Bristol

See You Yesterday

Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen

Driveways

Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy

Blow the Man Down

Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe

Greener Grass

James Montague & Craig W. Sanger

The Vast of Night

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Todd Banhazl

Hustlers

Jarin Blaschke

The Lighthouse

Natasha Braier

Honey Boy

Chananun Chotrungroj

The Third Wife

Pawel Pogorzelski

Midsommar

BEST EDITING

Julie Béziau

The Third Wife

Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie

Uncut Gems

Tyler L. Cook

Sword of Trust

Louise Ford

The Lighthouse

Kirill Mikhanovsky

Give Me Liberty

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Karen Allen

Colewell

Hong Chau

Driveways

Elisabeth Moss

Her Smell

Mary Kay Place

Diane

Alfre Woodard

Clemency

Renée Zellweger

Judy

BEST MALE LEAD

Chris Galust

Give Me Liberty

Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Luce

Robert Pattinson

The Lighthouse

Matthias Schoenaerts

The Mustang

Adam Sandler

Uncut Gems

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jennifer Lopez

Hustlers

Taylor Russell

Waves

Lauren "LoLo" Spencer

Give Me Liberty

Octavia Spencer

Luce

Zhao Shuzhen

The Farewell

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Willem Dafoe

The Lighthouse

Noah Jupe

Honey Boy

Shia LaBeouf

Honey Boy

Jonathan Majors

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Wendell Pierce

Burning Cane

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

Marriage Story

Director: Noah Baumbach

Casting Directors: Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler

Ensemble Cast: Alan Alda, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Scarlett Johansson,

Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Merritt Wever

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

American Factory

Director/Producer: Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert

Producers: Julie Parker Benello, Jeff Reichert

Apollo 11

Director/Producer: Todd Douglas Miller

Producers: Evan Krauss, Thomas Baxley Petersen

For Sama

Director: Edward Watts

Director/Producer: Waad al-Kateab

Honeyland

Director: Tamara Kotevska

Director/Producer: Ljubo Stefanov

Producer: Atanas Georgiev

Island of the Hungry Ghosts

Director/Producer: Gabrielle Brady

Producers: Gizem Acarla, Samm Haillay, Alex Kelly, Alexander Wadouh

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Invisible Life

Brazil

Director: Karim Aïnouz

Les Misérables

France

Director: Ladj Ly

Parasite

South Korea

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

France

Director: Céline Sciamma

Retablo

Peru

Director: Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L.

The Souvenir

United Kingdom

Director: Joanna Hogg

BONNIE AWARD – Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the third Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.

Marielle Heller

Kelly Reichardt

Lulu Wang

PRODUCERS AWARD – The 23rd annual Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Mollye Asher

Krista Parris

Ryan Zacarias

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 26th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Rashaad Ernesto Green

Director of Premature

Ash Mayfair

Director of The Third Wife

Joe Talbot

Director of The Last Black Man in San Francisco

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 25th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Khalik Allah

Director of Black Mother

Davy Rothbart

Director of 17 Blocks

Nadia Shihab

Director of Jaddoland

Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside

Director of América