Independent Spirit Awards: 'Eighth Grade,' 'First Reformed' Among Best Feature Nominees

'We the Animals' scored the most mentions, racking up five.

Film Independent on Friday announced the nominees for the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards.

The nominees were revealed at a press conference co-hosted by Gemma Chan and Molly Shannon at Los Angeles' W Hotel.

We the Animals, documentary filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar's narrative debut about a mixed-race family with three young sons in upstate New York and based on Justin Torres' 2011 debut novel of the same name, scored the most mention with five. Eighth Grade, First Reformed and You Were Never Really Here landed four apiece.

Eighth Grade, First Reformed and You Were Never Really Here were nominated for the best feature award, where they will face off against If Beale Street Could Talk and Leave No Trace.

Beale Street and Leave No Trace each received three noms, as did Private Life, Socrates, The Tale and Wildlife.

Films recognized twice include A Bread Factory; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Hereditary; Madeline's Madeline; Minding the Gap; Nancy; On Her Shoulders; Sorry to Bother You; and Suspiria.

Suspiria will receive the Robert Altman Award, given to a film's director, casting director and ensemble cast. Additionally, Luca Guadagnino's Dakota Johnson starrer is up for best cinematography.

Best director nominees include Leave No Trace's Debra Granik, Beale Street's Barry Jenkins, Private Life's Tamara Jenkins, You Were Never Really Here's Lynne Ramsay and First Reformed's Paul Schrader.

Best first feature nominees include Hereditary, Sorry to Bother You, The Tale, We the Animals and Wildlife.

Schrader and Jenkins are also up for best screenplay alongside the writers of Colette, Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Sorry to Bother You.

Meanwhile, Eighth Grade screenwriter Bo Burnham will vie for best first screenplay, along with the writers of Nancy, Thoroughbreds, The Tale and Blame.

Best female lead nominees are Glenn Close (The Wife), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Regina Hall (Support the Girls), Helena Howard (Madeline's Madeline) and Carey Mulligan (Wildlife).

In the category of best male lead, First Reformed's Ethan Hawke and You Were Never Really Here's Joaquin Phoenix will compete against Searching's John Cho, Blindspotting's Daveed Diggs and Socrates' Christian Malheiros.

In the best supporting female category, the nominees are Kayli Carter (Private Life), Tyne Daly (A Bread Factory), Regina King (Beale Street), Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (Leave No Trace) and J. Smith-Cameron (Nancy).

Best supporting male nominees are Raul Castillo (We the Animals), Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade) and John David Washington (Monsters and Men).

This summer's hit Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? is up for best documentary alongside Hale County, Minding the Gap, Of Fathers and Sons, On Her Shoulders and Shirkers.

Two of this year's high-profile awards contenders were recognized with best international film nominations: Roma (representing Mexico) and The Favourite (U.K.). Other nominees in the category include South Korea's Burning, Italy's Happy as Lazzaro and Japan's Shoplifters.

The 34th Spirit Awards will air live Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. PT on IFC. The ceremony will, as usual, be held on the beach in Santa Monica.

In terms of distributor breakdown, A24 scored 12 noms, followed by Amazon Studios, Netflix and The Orchard with six each and Annapurna Pictures with five.

A full list of this year's nominees follows.

Best Feature

Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.

'Eighth Grade'

Courtesy of A24

Eighth Grade
Producers: Eli Bush, Scott Rudin, Christopher Storer, Lila Yacoub

First Reformed
Producers: Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon

If Beale Street Could Talk
Producers: Dede Gardner, Barry Jenkins, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski

Leave No Trace
Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini

You Were Never Really Here
Producers: Rosa Attab, Pascal Caucheteux, Rebecca O'Brien, Lynne Ramsay, James Wilson
Best First Feature

Award given to the director and producer.

'Sorry to Bother You'

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Hereditary
Director: Ari Aster
Producers: Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen, Buddy Patrick

Sorry to Bother You
Director: Boots Riley
Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, Forest Whitaker, Kelly Williams

The Tale
Director/Producer: Jennifer Fox
Producers: Sol Bondy, Lawrence Inglee, Mynette Louie, Oren Moverman, Simone Pero, Reka Posta, Laura Rister, Regina K. Scully, Lynda Weinman

We the Animals
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Producers: Andrew Goldman, Christina D. King, Paul Mezey, Jeremy Yaches

Wildlife
Director/Producer: Paul Dano
Producers: Andrew Duncan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Oren Moverman, Ann Ruark, Alex Saks
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.)

'A Bread Factory'

In the Family LLC

A Bread Factory
Writer/Director/Producer: Patrick Wang
Producers: Daryl Freimark, Matt Miller

En el Septimo Dia
Writer/Director/Producer: Jim McKay
Producers: Alex Bach, Lindsey Cordero, Caroline Kaplan, Michael Stipe

Never Goin' Back
Writer/Director: Augustine Frizzell
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston

Socrates
Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Moratto
Writer: Thayná Mantesso
Producers: Ramin Bahrani, Jefferson Paulino, Tammy Weiss

Thunder Road
Writer/Director: Jim Cummings
Producers: Natalie Metzger, Zack Parker, Benjamin Weissner
Best Director

Debra Granik on set of 'Leave No Trace'

Courtesy of Bleecker Street Media

Debra Granik
Leave No Trace

Barry Jenkins
If Beale Street Could Talk

Tamara Jenkins
Private Life

Lynne Ramsay
You Were Never Really Here

Paul Schrader
First Reformed
Best Screenplay

'Private Life'

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland
Colette

Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Tamara Jenkins
Private Life

Boots Riley
Sorry to Bother You

Paul Schrader
First Reformed
Best First Screenplay

'Thoroughbreds'

Bo Burnham
Eighth Grade

Christina Choe
Nancy

Cory Finley
Thoroughbreds

Jennifer Fox
The Tale

Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By), Laurie Shephard (Story By)
Blame
Best Cinematography

'Wildlife'

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Ashley Connor
Madeline's Madeline

Diego Garcia
Wildlife

Benjamin Loeb
Mandy

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Suspiria

Zak Mulligan
We the Animals
Best Editing

'Mid90s'

Courtesy of TIFF

Joe Bini
You Were Never Really Here

Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, Jeremiah Zagar
We the Animals

Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, Julian Hart
American Animals

Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, Gary Levy
The Tale

Nick Houy
Mid90s
Best Female Lead

Glenn Close in 'The Wife'

Sony Pictures Classics/Photofest

Glenn Close
The Wife

Toni Collette
Hereditary

Elsie Fisher
Eighth Grade

Regina Hall
Support the Girls

Helena Howard
Madeline's Madeline

Carey Mulligan
Wildlife
Best Male Lead

John Cho in 'Searching'

Elizabeth Kitchens/CTMG

John Cho
Searching

Daveed Diggs
Blindspotting

Ethan Hawke
First Reformed

Christian Malheiros
Socrates

Joaquin Phoenix
You Were Never Really Here
Best Supporting Female

Thomasin McKenzie in 'Leave No Trace'

Bleecker Street Media/Photofest

Kayli Carter
Private Life

Tyne Daly
A Bread Factory

Regina King
If Beale Street Could Talk

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie
Leave No Trace

J. Smith-Cameron
Nancy
Best Supporting Male

Adam Driver in 'BlackKklansman'

Courtesy of Focus Features

Raul Castillo
We the Animals

Adam Driver
BlackKklansman

Richard E. Grant
Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Josh Hamilton
Eighth Grade

John David Washington
Monsters and Men
Robert Altman Award

Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

'Suspiria'

Alessio Bolzoni/Amazon Studios

Suspiria
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Casting Directors: Avy Kaufman, Stella Savino
Ensemble Cast: Malgosia Bela, Ingrid Caven, Lutz Ebersdorf, Elena Fokina, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Dakota Johnson, Gala Moody, Chloe Grace Moretz, Renée Soutendijk, Tilda Swinton, Sylvie Testud, Angela Winkler
Best Documentary

Award given to the director and producer.

'On Her Shoulders'

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Director/Producer: RaMell Ross
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim

Minding the Gap
Director/Producer: Bing Liu
Producer: Diane Quon

Of Fathers and Sons
Director: Talal Derki
Producers: Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert

On Her Shoulders
Director: Alexandria Bombach
Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams

Shirkers
Director/Producer: Sandi Tan
Producers: Jessica Levin, Maya Rudolph

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Director/Producer: Morgan Neville
Producers: Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma
Best International Film

Award given to the director

'Roma'

Carlos Somonte

Burning
South Korea
Director: Lee Chang-Dong

The Favourite
United Kingdom
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Happy as Lazzaro
Italy
Director: Alice Rohrwacher

Roma
Mexico
Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Shoplifters
Japan
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu
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 second Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.

Debra Granik

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Debra Granik

Tamara Jenkins

Karyn Kusama
Producers Award

The 22nd 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.

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams

Gabrielle Nadig

Shrihari Sathe
Someone to Watch Award

The 25th 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.

'We the Animals'

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Alex Moratto
Director of Socrates

Ioana Uricaru
Director of Lemonade

Jeremiah Zagar
Director of We the Animals
Truer Than Fiction Award

The 24th 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.

'Minding the Gap'

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Alexandria Bombach
Director of On Her Shoulders

Bing Liu
Director of Minding the Gap

RaMell Ross
Director of Hale County This Morning, This Evening