The 36th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, the last major awards show before Sunday’s Oscars, showed Searchlight’s Nomadland winning the marquee Best Feature category. The Chloé Zhao film, which has been a frontrunner in the film awards season, took home four trophies in the virtual ceremony on Thursday. Riz Ahmed for Best Lead Actor, Paul Raci for Supporting Actor, and director Darius Marder and his producers for Best First Feature were among the three awards given out by the flagship indie-focused awards show, which was hosted by Melissa Villasenor from SNL.
Carey Mulligan won the Lead Actress award for her role in Focus Features’ Promising Young Woman, beating out Frances McDormand and Viola Davis. Emerald Fennell, the writer-director of Promising Young Woman, also won the Screenplay award. At the Oscars on Sunday, Fennell and Zhao will compete in the Directors category. Yuh-jung Youn of Minari won the award for best supporting actress, solidifying her role as the frontrunner for Sunday. Other winners included Andy Siara for Palm Springs for Best First Screenplay, and Regina King and the ensemble cast of Amazon’s One Night in Miami, which won the Robert Altman Award.
