‘Zola’ leads in Spirit Awards with seven nominations

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The 2020 social media-inspired film Zola leads the pack with seven nominations for the 2022 Independent Spirit Awards, as announced by Film Independent.

Based on a 2015 viral Twitter thread that went viral, Zola is part crime film, part dark comedy that follows part-time stripper Aziah “Zola” King and the exploits that follow after going on a money earning road trip from Detroit to Tampa with fellow stripper Stefani. The movie, distributed by A24, is up for Best Feature.

Zola’s titular character is played by Taylour Paige, who is nominated for Best Female Lead. Paige is also known for her appearance opposite Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Filmmaker Janicza Bravo is nominated for Best Director for Zola. Bravo is a veteran director who works mostly in television — perhaps most notably the “Juneteenth” episode in season one of FX’s Atlanta.

Bravo is also nominated for Best Screenplay for Zola, along with Jeremy O. Harris. Rounding out Zola’s Spirit Award nominations are Ari Wegner for Best Cinematography, Joi McMillon for Best Editing and Colman Domingo for Best Supporting Male.

In the television categories, Barry Jenkins’ Prime Video drama The Underground Railroad is nominated for Best New Scripted Series, going up against Daveed Diggs, co-creator of Starz series Blindspotting. HBO’s docuseries, Black and Missing, is up for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series.

The 2022 Independent Spirit Awards will air on March 6 at 8 p.m. EST, exclusively on IFC. Here is the complete list of nominees:

FILM CATEGORIES

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

A Chiara
Producers: Jonas Carpignano, Paolo Carpignano, Jon Coplon, Ryan Zacarias

C’mon C’mon
Producers: Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub

The Lost Daughter
Producers: Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler

The Novice
Producers: Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker

Zola
Producers: Kara Baker, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Haggard, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Christine Vachon, Gia Walsh

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)

7 Days
Director: Roshan Sethi
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn

Holler
Director: Nicole Riegel
Producers: Adam Cobb, Rachel Gould, Katie Mcneill, Jamie Patricof, Christy Spitzer Thornton

Queen of Glory
Director: Nana Mensah
Producers: Baff Akoto, Anya Migdal, Kelley Robins Hicks, Jamund Washington

Test Pattern
Director/Producer: Shatara Michelle Ford
Producers: Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su

Wild Indian
Director/Producer: Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Producers: Thomas Mahoney, Eric Tavitian

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.)

Cryptozoo
Writer/Director: Dash Shaw
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way

Jockey
Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley
Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar
Producer: Nancy Schafer

Shiva Baby
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro

Sweet Thing
Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal

This Is Not a War Story
Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy
Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West

BEST DIRECTOR

Janicza Bravo, Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Lauren Hadaway, The Novice

Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon

Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure

BEST SCREENPLAY

Nikole Beckwith, Together Together

Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris, Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon

Todd Stephens, Swan Song

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., Wild Indian

Matt Fifer; story by Sheldon D. Brown, Cicada

Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern

Fran Kranz, Mass

Michael Sarnoski; story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski, Pig

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang, Blue Bayou

Lol Crawley, The Humans

Tim Curtin, A Chiara

Edu Grau, Passing

Ari Wegner, Zola

BEST EDITING

Affonso Gonçalves, A Chiara

Ali Greer, The Nowhere Inn

Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent, The Novice

Joi McMillon, Zola

Enrico Natale, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice

Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern

Patti Harrison, Together Together

Taylour Paige, Zola

Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One

BEST MALE LEAD

Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey

Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian

Udo Kier, Swan Song

Simon Rex, Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Amy Forsyth, The Novice

Ruth Negga, Passing

Revika Reustle, Pleasure

Suzanna Son, Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Colman Domingo, Zola

Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Will Patton, Sweet Thing

Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian

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

Mass
Director: Fran Kranz
Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin
Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

Ascension
Director/Producer: Jessica Kingdon
Producers: Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell

Flee
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen

In the Same Breath
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
Producers: Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Jialing Zhang

Procession
Director: Robert Greene
Producers: Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Compartment No. 6 (Finland/Russia)
Director: Juho Kuosmanen

Drive My Car (Japan)
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Parallel Mothers (Spain)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Pebbles (India)
Director: P S Vinothraj

Petite Maman (France)
Director: Céline Sciamma

Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico)
Director: Tatiana Huezo

PRODUCERS AWARD (The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.)

Brad Becker-Parton

Pin-Chun Liu

Lizzie Shapiro

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD (The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)

Alex Camilleri, Luzzu

Michael Sarnoski, Pig

Gillian Wallace Horvat, I Blame Society

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD (The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.)

Angelo Madsen Minax, North By Current

Jessica Beshir, Faya Dayi

Debbie Lum, Try Harder!

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

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

Black and Missing
Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir
Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

The Choe Show
Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe
Executive Producers: Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

The Lady and the Dale
Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Nick Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller

Nuclear Family
Series By: Ry Russo-Young
Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer

Philly D.A.
Creators: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin
Co-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman

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

Blindspotting
Creators/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann

It’s a Sin
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler

Reservation Dogs
Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch

The Underground Railroad
Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins
Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt

We Are Lady Parts
Creator: Nida Manzoor
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad

Anjana Vasan, We Are Lady Parts

Jana Schmieding, Rutherford Falls

Jasmine Cephas Jones, Blindspotting

Deborah Ayorinde, THEM: Covenant

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin

Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls

Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus

Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Reservation Dogs
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone

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