"Moonlight," "Spotlight," "Birdman," and more all won the Spirit Award for Best Feature the day before taking Best Picture at the Oscars.

The nominations for the 35th Independent Spirit Awards are dominated by A24, which is the most nominated studio at this year’s ceremony. Unlike the Oscars, in which Netflix leads all studios and studio-driven fare like “Joker” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” are major contenders, the Indie Spirit Awards offer a chance for the 2019-20 awards season to spotlight deserving but overlooked awards contenders such as “Luce,” “Clemency,” “A Hidden Life,” and “Hustlers” filmmaker Lorene Scafaria. The annual indie awards ceremony is presented by Film Independent and takes place the day before the Academy Awards on the beach in Santa Monica, California.

This year’s Spirit Award nominations are led by Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” and the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems,” both of which earned five nominations each. “Uncut Gems” is considered the frontrunner to win the Spirit Award for Best Picture against “Clemency,” “The Farewell,” “Marriage Story,” and “Uncut Gems.” Of all the this year’s Spirit Award narrative feature nominees, only Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” is a crossover contender with the Oscars.

It’s important to note the Indie Spirit Awards has a budget ceiling of $22.5 million, meaning any movie made for more than this amount is ineligible for nominations. For this reason, Martin Scorsese’s Netflix-backed “The Irishman” was not eligible for 2020 nominations (the film had a budget north of $150 million). “Marriage Story” was eligible, but it did not receive individual acting nominations for Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, or Laura Dern (all Oscar nominees on Sunday) because the film is being awarded the Robert Altman prize for ensemble cast instead.

Last year’s big Spirit Award winner was Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” which won prizes for Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress for Regina King. The next night, King repeated at the Oscars. While “Beale Street” was not nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the Spirit Awards have a strong history of crossing over with the Academy’s biggest prize. “Moonlight,” “Spotlight,” “Birdman,” “12 Years a Slave,” and “The Artist” all won the top Spirit Award followed by the Best Picture Oscar the next day. Spirit Award winners “Get Out” and “Silver Linings Playbook” were Oscar Best Picture nominees.

The 35th Independent Spirit Awards will take place Saturday, February 8. The nominees for the Spirit Awards are listed below.

Best Feature

A HIDDEN LIFE

CLEMENCY

THE FAREWELL

MARRIAGE STORY

UNCUT GEMS

Best Director

Robert Eggers – THE LIGHTHOUSE

Alma Har’el – HONEY BOY

Julius Onah – LUCE

Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS

Lorene Scafaria – HUSTLERS

Best First Feature

BOOKSMART

THE CLIMB

DIANE

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

THE MUSTANG

SEE YOU YESTERDAY

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

Adam Sandler – UNCUT GEMS

Matthias Schoenaerts – THE MUSTANG

Best Supporting Female

Jennifer Lopez – HUSTLERS

Taylor Russell – WAVES

Zhao Shuzhen – THE FAREWELL

Lauren “Lolo” Spencer – GIVE ME LIBERTY

Octavia Spencer – LUCE

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

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

John Cassavetes Award

BURNING CANE

COLEWELL

GIVE ME LIBERTY

PREMATURE

WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY

Robert Altman Award

“Marriage Story”

Best Documentary

AMERICAN FACTORY

APOLLO 11

FOR SAMA

HONEYLAND

ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS

Best International Film

INVISIBLE LIFE, Brazil

LES MISERABLES, France

PARASITE, South Korea

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, France

RETABLO, Peru

THE SOUVENIR, United Kingdom

Piaget Producers Award

Mollye Asher

Krista Parris

Ryan Zacarias

Someone to Watch Award

Rashaad Ernesto Green – PREMATURE

Ash Mayfair – THE THIRD WIFE

Joe Talbot – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

Truer Than Fiction Award

Khalik Allah – BLACK MOTHER

Davy Rothbart – 17 BLOCKS

Nadia Shihab – JADDOLAND

Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside – AMÉRICA

Annual Bonnie Award

Marielle Heller

Lulu Wang

Kelly Reichardt

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